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HOLY  LAND 


« ) }    \  \ I  I. 

APOSTLE    I'M    1. 


SACRED  GEOGRAPHY, 


AND 


ANTIQUITIES 


WITH   MAPS   AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


BY   REV.  E.  P.  BARROWS,  D.  D. 


AMERICAN    TRACT    SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU-STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


ENTEBED.  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  is?  ,  by  the  AMERICAN 
TRACT  SOCIKTY,  in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


PREFATORY  REMARKS. 


THE  geographical  features  of  the  Holy  Land  were  peculiar,  as 
well  as  the  institutions  of  its  inhabitants.  It  lay  in  the  centre  of 
the  great  empires  of  antiquity,  and  was  yet  isolated  from  them  in  a 
remarkable  way.  On  the  south  were  Egypt  and  Ethiopia  ;  on  the 
east,  Assyria  and  Babylonia,  and  beyond  them  the  Medes  and  Per 
sians  ;  on  the  west,  Greece  and  Rome.  With  all  these  empires  they 
were  successively  brought  into  contact,  and  with  some  of  them  their 
relations  were  very  intimate  and  long  continued.  At  the  same  time 
they  were  separated  from  Egypt  and  the  eastern  empires  by  deserts 
on  the  south  and  east ;  between  them  and  the  western  empires  lay 
the  Mediterranean ;  and  on  the  north  were  the  mighty  walls  of 
Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon,  admitting  access  to  Palestine  only  by  a 
few  narrow  defiles.  Palestine  proper  had  on  the  east  the  addi 
tional  barrier  of  the  deep  Jordan  valley,  with  its  continuous  west 
ern  wall  of  mountains  stretching  without  interruption  from  the 
southern  desert  to  the  plain  of  Esdraelon.  Thus  were  the  Hebrews 
shut  out,  in  a  great  measure,  from  the  surrounding  heathen  na 
tions  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  these  nations  stood  ever  ready,  as 
God's  ministers,  to  execute  from  age  to  age  his  high  purposes  of 
discipline  and  training,  till  the  way  should  thus  be  prepared  for  the 
advent  of  Christ,  and  the  spread  of  the  gospel  "from  Palestine  as  a 
centre  though  all  the  surrounding  lands. 

Before  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonish  captivities  the  Hebrew  peo 
ple  were  mainly  confined  to  their  own  territory.  In  it  their  national 
character  was  formed,  and  its  peculiar  geographical  isolation  con 
spired  with  their  peculiar  institutions  to  cherish  an  intense  national 
spirit.  Palestine  was  their  world,  and  all  that  they  wrote  bore  the 
impress  not  only  of  the  Mosaic  institutions  and  the  national  history 
connected  with  them,  but  also  of  the  natural  scenery  that  surrounded 
them  and  the  natural  objects  with  which  they  were  familiar.  It  fol 
lows  that  the  reader  who  would  enter  fully  into  the  spirit  of  the 

_ 84640 


±  PREFATORY  REMARKS. 

biblical  writings,  especially  those  of  the  Old  Testament,  must  make 
himself  familiar  with  the  geography  and  natural  history  of  the 
Holy  Land.  ^ 

Within  the  present  century  the  investigations  of  missionaries  and 
intelligent  travellers  have  shed  a  flood  of  light  on  many  points  once 
involved  in  obscurity.  Still  clearer  light  may  be  expected  as  the 
result  of  further  investigations.  Meanwhile  it  seems  eminently  de 
sirable  that  the  great  mass  of  valuable  information  already  collected, 
which  is  scattered  through  so  many  volumes,  should  be  condensed 
and  put  into  a  methodical  form,  that  it  may  thus  be  made  available  to 
the  great  body  of  biblical  students.  In  the  present  Outlines  of  Sacred 
Geography  the  attempt  is  made  to  perform  this  work  with  as  much 
brevity  as  is  consistent  with  a  clear  statement  of  the  various  topics 
that  come  up  for  consideration.  In  the  Geography  of  the  Hohj  Land 
its  natural  divisions  have  been  followed,  all  of  which  lie  in  a  north 
and  south  direction.  To  the  description  of  each  division  is  appended 
an  account  of  its  principal  cities  and  villages,  with  the  scriptural 
reminiscences  connected  with  them.  Then  follows  a  brief  account  of 
the  Countries  adjacent  to  Palestine — on  the  south,  on  the  southeast  and 
east,  on  the  northeast  and  north  ;  and  finally  a  notice  of  the  J/o/v 
Distant  Empires  and  Regions  in  their  relation  to  the  covenant  people. 

In  the  preparation  of  these  outlines  a  large  number  of  works  has 
been  consulted,  and  it  has  been  the  author's  aim  to  give  credit  for 
everything  distinctive  or  peculiar.  If  in  any  instance  he  has  failed 
to  do  so,  it  is  from  inadvertence,  not  from  design.  In  a  multitude 
of  cases  the  information  used  comes  from  so  many  sources,  and  is  so 
blended  together,  that  particular  references  are  unnecessary.  The 
references  to  Robinson's  Biblical  Researches  are  always  to  the  sec 
ond  edition,  containing  his  latter  researches,  unless  otherwise  speci 
fied.  In  the  references  to  Hitter's  Geography  of  Palestine,  the  trans 
lation  made  by  the  Rev.  William  L.  Gage  has  been  used  :  a  trans 
lation  for  which  American  students  of  Scripture  are  much  indebted 
to  Mr.  Gage. 

The  final  end  of  these  Outlines  being  the  illustration  of  Holy 
Writ,  numerous  quotations  from  Scripture  or  references  to  it  have 
been  added.  The  writer  hopes  that  the  biblical  student  will  de 
rive  valuable  assistance  from  these  in  the  study  of  God's  word. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 
OUTLINES  OF  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTEK   I. 

GENEKAL  VIEW  OF   PALESTINE. 

1.  Ancient  Syria.  Its  extent  and  boundaries.  The  Hebrew  term  Aram,  how 
employed.  2.  Palestine  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word.  It  should  be 
carefully  distinguished  from  the  Palestine  of  our  version.  Various  Scriptu 
ral  designations — Land  of  Canaan  ;  Land  of  Israel  in  its  earlier  sense,  and 
in  its  later  as  distinguished  from  the  land  of  Judah ;  Glorious  land ;  Holy 
land ;  Land  of  promise.  3.  Extent  of  the  promised  land  according  to  the 
original  grant.  The  whole  of  this  territory  never  permanently  possessed. 
Distinction  between  the  river  of  Egypt  and  the  torrent  of  Egypt.  4.  The 
promised  land  as  described  by  Moses  and  Joshua — its  western  boundary,  its 
eastern,  its  southern.  Its  northern  border  as  described  by  Moses.  Position 
of  "the  entering  in  of  Hamath."  Its  eastern  border  to  the  base  of  Hermoti 
and  the  Jordan.  Its  northern  border  as  defined  in  the  Book  of  Joshua. 
This  lay  far  south  of  that  given  by  Moses.  5.  Extent  of  the  region  perma 
nently  occupied  by  the  Israelites.  Its  boundaries  on  the  west  and  north. 
•  Various  measurements  of  the  Israelitish  territory.  Oriental  modes  of  com- 
%  puting  distances.  General  outlines  of  Palestine  compared  with  those  of 
New  Hampshire.  6.  General  features  of  Palestine — the  deep  valley  of  the 
Jordan  and  Dead  sea.  7.  The  broad  mountainous  belt  on  the  west  side. 
Interruption  by  the  plain  of  Esdraelon.  Its  eastern  border  precipitous. 
Offset  of  lower  hills  on  its  western  border.  Its  breadth.  8.  The  Mediter 
ranean  plain.  Hebrew  names  for  the  different  parts  of  this  plain.  Its  extent. 
9.  The  highland  east  of  the  Jordan.  10.  Summary  of  the  outlines  of  Pales 
tine.  Direction  of  the  numerous  ravines.  Color  of  the  soil  in  the  limestone 
region  ;  in  the  basalt  region.  11.  lie  marks  on  the  roads  of  Palestine.  Lines 


6  CONTENTS. 

of  travel  north  and  south ;  east  and  west  between  the  highlands  and  the 
valleys.  Military  route  between  Egypt  and  the  eastern  empires.  Remarks 
on  the  use  of  wheeled  carriages.  12.  Peculiar  situation  of  Palestine  in  rela 
tion  to  the  great  empires  of  antiquity.  Strength  of  Palestine  in  a  military 
point  of  view.  Its  adaptation  to  the  purposes  of  the  theocracy PAGE  29 

CHAPTEE   II.. 

HIGHLANDS  WEST   OF   THE   JOKDAN  VALLEY. 

/.  Northern  Section— Galilee  in  Part.  1.  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon  with  the  inter 
vening  valley.  The  Leontes  and  its  course.  2.  Elevated  tract  north  of  the 
plain  of  Esdraelon.  Its  eastern  border.  Its  western  border.  Plains  of  Phoe 
nicia  and  Akka.  Mount  Naphtali.  Hills  around  Nazareth.  3.  Mount  Tabor. 
Its  character.  View  from  its  summit.  Incorrect  tradition  respecting  this 
mountain.  4.  Interspersed  plains— Kamah,  el-Buttauf.  5.  The  great  plain 
of  Esdraelon— its  eastern  side ;  its  southwestern,  its  northern.  Its  general 
character  and  condition.  Its  three  great  arms.  Description  of  the  middle 
arm  called  the  valley  of  Jezreel.  Position  of  Jezreel  and  Beth-shan.  Foun 
tain  of  Jezreel.  G.  The  Kishon  described.  Explanation  of  Elijah's  message 
to  Ahab.  7.  General  features  of  the  Galilean  mountains.  8.  Scriptural 
reminiscences  connected  with  this  region.  9.  Notice  of  its  towns.  Naza 
reth,  Cana  of  Galilee,  Dabareh,  Yafa,  Sepphoris,  Hattim,  Safed,  Kedesh  of 
Naphtali,  Hazor,  Taanach  and  Megiddo,  Hadad-rimmon,  En-gannim,  Jez 
reel.  The  ridges  of  Gilboa  and  Duhy.  Shunem,  Nain,  and  Endor 41 

//.  Middle  Section — Samaria  in  Part.  10.  Carrnel.  Its  direction  and  extent.  Its 
character.  Beauty  of  its  scenery.  Scene  of  Elijah's  sacrifice.  11.  Moun 
tainous  tract  of  Samaria.  How  distinguished  in  character  from  that  of  Gal 
ilee.  It  is  the  Mount  Ephraim  of  the  Old  Testament.  12.  Plains  of  this 
region — plain  of  Dothan,  Merj-el-Ghuruk,  plain  of  Mukhna.  13.  Situation 
of  Shechem  and  Samaria.  14.  Various  names  of  Shechem.  Description  of 
the  place.  Its  abundant  fountains,  verdure,  and  fruitfulness.  15.  Its  antiq 
uity  and  Scriptural  associations.  Hi.  Notices  of  Ebal  and  Gerizim.  Jotham's 
parable.  17.  Notice  of  the  people  called  Samaritans.  Their  origin.  Their 
worship.  Enmity  between  them  and  the  Jews.  Their  temple  on  Gerizim. 
18.  Jacob's  well.  Tomb  of  Joseph.  19.  Position  of  Samaria.  Its  beauty 
and  strength.  Its  modern  name  and  condition.  20.  Scriptural  reminiscen 
ces  connected  with  Samaria.  21.  Other  places  in  Mount  Ephraim — Dothan, 
Tirzah,  Thebez,  Shalem,  Shiloh,  Gilgal  of  the  mountainous  tract,  Timnath- 
serah -  52 

III.  Southern  Section — Judea  in  Part.  22.  General  features  of  the  mountainous 
region  of  Judea.  23.  Difference  between  its  western  and  eastern  slopes. 
Desert  character  of  the  eastern  slope.  Middle  region  on  the  west  between 
tin-  mountains  and  the  plain.  Greater  and  more  rapid  descent  on  the  east. 
24.  Wilderness  of  Judah.  Its  general  features.  Its  caverns.  Names  by 


CONTENTS.  7 

which  the  mountainous  tract  south  of  Mount  Ephraim  was  designated. 
Notice  of  the  South  or  South  country.  25.  Historical  notices  and  sacred 
reminiscences.  26.  Topography  of  Jerusalem.  Its  general  position.  The 
valley  of  Kidron  on  the  east  of  the  city.  Its  origin,  course,  and  general 
features.  Tombs  in  its  sides.  Not  a  perennial  stream.  Modern  name  of 
this  valley.  27.  Valley  of  Hinnom  on  the  south.  Its  origin,  course,  and 
character.  Figurative  use  of  the  name  Gehenna.  28.  Particular  description 
of  the  site  of  Jerusalem.  29.  Internal  divisions  of  the  city.  Account  of 
Tacitus  ;  of  Josephus,  with  remarks  on  his  description.  Course  of  the  val 
ley  of  Cheesemongers.  Hitter's  view  preferred.  Zion  and  Akra  according 
to  this  view.  Robinson's  view,  with  the  objections  to  it.  30.  Josephus' 
account  of  the  walls  and  towns.  The  question  of  the  site  of  the  tower  of 
Hippicus  and  the  holy  sepulchre.  Course  and  character  of  the  modern  walls. 
Gates  of  the  ancient  city.  31.  Zion.  The  hill  described.  David's  tomb. 
Zion  only  partly  enclosed  by  the  modern  walls.  Traditional  holy  sepulchre. 
Other  suggestions  respecting  its  site.  32.  The  ancient  temple  area.  Re 
marks  011  its  extent.  Substantial  identity  of  the  temple  area  with  the  pres 
ent  Haram.  Remains  of  ancient  foundations.  33.  General  structure  and 
appearance  of  the  temple.  34.  The  fortress  Antonia  according  to  Josephus' 
description.  35.  The  New  City  or  Bezetha  on  the  north.  Ophel  on  the 
south.  36.  Dome  of  the  Rock.  Mosque  el-Aksa.  37.  Pool  of  Siloam  described. 
Not  a  fountain,  but  a  receptacle  of  waters  from  the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin. 
Subterranean  channel  connecting  the  latter  with  the  former.  Fountain  of 
the  Virgin  described.  Its  irregular  flow.  Subterranean  canal  leading  to  it. 
38.  Immense  substructions  under  the  Haram.  Vast  subterranean  excava 
tion  northwest  of  the  Haram.  This  an  ancient  quarry.  39.  "Wells  and  foun 
tains — well  west  of  the  Haram  wall,  vast  reservoir  under  the  Haram,  subter 
ranean  water-channels,  well  En-rogel.  40.  Cisterns  and  pools.  Pool  of 
Hezekiah,  of  Bethesda  so-called,  Upper  pool  of  Gih/m,  Lower  pool  of  Gihon. 
41.  Solomon's  pools.  Their  number,  situation,  and  dimensions.  Sealed 
fountain  above  them.  Aqueduct  from  them  to  Jerusalem.  Their  site  the 
Etani  of  the  Talmud  and  Etharn  of  Josephus.  The  favorite  resort  of  Solo 
mon.  Josephus'  account  of  his  retinue.  42.  Site  of  Tophet.  Jerome's 
description  of  the  place.  Denied  by  Josiah.  Origin  of  the  term  Gehenna, 
and  its  typical  import.  Typical  use  of  Tophet.  43.  Tombs  around  Jerusa 
lem.  Their  general  form.  More  elaborate  tombs.  Tombs  of  the  Prophets 
so-called,  of  the  Kings,  of  the  Judges.  Fondness  of  the  ancients  for  mag 
nificent  sepulchres.  44.  Garden  of  Gethsemane.  Aceldama  and  the  Pot 
ters'  field.  The  Fullers'  field.  45.  Mount  of  Olives.  Its  course  and  extent. 
Its  character.  Mount  of  Offence.  Sacred  associations  connected  with  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  True  place  of  the  ascension.  46.  Valley  of  Rephaim. 
47.  Places  in  the  environs  of  Jerusalem — Bethany,  Auathoth.  Gibeah  of 
Saul,  Ramah  of  Benjamin.  Various  other  places  bearing  the  same  name. 
Ramah  of  Samuel.  Question  respecting  its  site.  Geba,  This  place  not  to 
be  confounded  with  Gibeah.  Michmash,  et-Taiyibeh.  Its  probable  identity 


8  CONTENTS. 

with  the  Ophrah  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  Ephraim  of  the  New.  Beth 
el.  Scriptural  notices  of  this  place.  Its  desecration  by  Jeroboam.  Ai, 
Mizpeh.  Scriptural  incidents  connected  with  the  place.  Gibeon.  Its  situ 
ation.  Scriptural  incidents  connected  with  it.  The  two  Beth-horons.  Their 
situation  described.  Valley  of  Ajalon.  Kirjiith-jrurim.  Beth-lehem.  Its 
original  name.  Its  site  and  environs.  Well  of  Beth-lehem.  Alleged  place 
of  our  Lord's  birth  and  its  surroundings.  Rachel's  tomb.  Frank  mountain. 
T.-koa.  48.  Hebron.  Its  antiquity.  Scriptural  events  connected  with  it. 
Its  situation.  Its  pools.  The  great  Haram  of  Hebron.  It  encloses  the  cave 
oi'  Maehpelah.  Some  account  of  its  structure.  Other  names  of  Hebron. 
Valley  of  Hebron.  49.  Places  south  of  Hebron — Ziph,  Carmel,  and  Maon, 
Juttah,  Anab,  etc.  50.  Beer-sheba  and  the  historic  incidents  connected  with 
it.  Wells  of  Beer-sheba - G6 

CHAPTEK   III. 

THE  MEDITERRANEAN  PLAIN. 

7.  Plain  of  Akka  or  Acre.     1.  Coast  from  Ras-el-Abyad  to  Carmel.     2.  Plain  and 
town  of  Akka.     3.  Other  places  on  the  plain — Haifa,  Achzib,  Cabul 116 

II.  Plain  of  Sharon.    4.  General  description  of  the  plain  south  of  Carmel.     5.  Its 
northern  part  is  the  ancient  Sharon.     Its  extent  and  general  character.     Its 
present  deserted  state.    Custom  of  the  inhabitants  of  Palestine  to  select  hills 
for  their  cities  and  villages.     6.  Ruins  of  ancient  places  in  Sharon.    Csesarea. 
Its  ancient  name.     Built  with  great  splendor  by  Herod  the  Great,  and  made 
his  residence.    Notices  of  Ceesarea  in  the  New  Testament.     Its  present  ruins 
described.     7.  Autipatris.     Its  site,  and  notice  of  it  in  the  New  Testament. 
Dor.     Arsuf.     8.  Joppa,  the  seaport  of  Jerusalem.     Scriptural  notices  of  it. 
Description  of  the  modern  city  and  its  environs.     9.  Lydda.     Its  various 
names.     Its  position*    Ramleh.     Plain  of  Ono.     Gilgal  of  the  plain 117 

III.  Tlie  Shephelah  or  Philistine  Plain.     10.  Line  of  division  between  this  and 
Sharon.     Various  renderings  of  the  term  in  our  version.     Extent  and  char 
acter  of  this  plain.     Hilly  district  on  its  eastern  border.     11.  This  plain  the 
proper  home  of  tbe  Philistines.     Scriptural  notices  of  the  origin  of  this 
people.      13.  The  five  Philistine  cities— Ekron,   Gath,  Ashdod,  Ashkelon, 
Gaza.     Samson's  exploit  in  connection  with  Gaza.     Notice  of  the  place  in 
the  New  Testament.    Its  present  name  and  condition.    Notice  of  some  other 
places  on  the  Philistine  plain — Jabneel  and  Eglon.     14.  Prophetic  denunci 
ations  upon  the  Philistine  cities,  and  their  fulfilment.     15.  Places  among  the 
hills  on  the  eastern  border.     Eleutheropolis.     Ruins  of  the  place  described. 
These  identified  by  Robinson.     Importance  of  this  to  sacred  geography. 
16.  Valley  of  Elah  and  its  environs.     This  the  scene  of  David's  encounter 
with  Goliath.     17.  Mareshah.     Beth-shemesh.     Timnath.     Zorah.     Eshtaol. 
Zanoah.     Emmaus  of  Josephus.     Question  of  the  identity  of  this  place  with 
the  Emmaus  of  the  New  Testament.     18.  Desert  south  of  the  plain.     Gerar. 
Rehoboth 122 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER    IV. 
VALLEY   OF   THE  JORDAN  AND  DEAD   SEA. 

J.  General  Remarks.  1.  Extent  and  direction  of  the  chasm  with  its  continuations 
south  and  north.  2.  Position  of  the  Dead  sea  and  its  immense  depression. 
Waters  flowing  into  it.  Waters  of  the  valley  of  Coalesyria  and  of  the  Leba 
non  ranges.  Waters  of  Wady-et-Teim.  3.  The  Jordan  never  flowed  into 
the  Ked  sea 134 

II.  Upper  Jordan  and  Lake  Hideh.  4.  Chief  sources  of  the  Jordan.  At  Tell  el- 
Kady.  This  the  site  of  the  ancient  Dan.  At  Banias,  the  ancient  Cresarea 
Philippi.  The  Hasbany.  This  the  most  remote  but  smallest  source  of  th.e 
Jordan.  Other  minor  streams.  5.  Lake  Phiala.  6.  Basin  of  the  Hiileh. 
Its  extent  and  adjacent  marshes.  This  lake  probably  identical  with  the 
Waters  of  Meroni.  7.  Course  of  the  Jordan  between  the  Huleh  and  sea  of 
Galilee.  Ridge.  Rapids.  Elevation  of  the  surface  of  Huleh  --- -  135 

///.  Sea  of  Galilee  and  the  Jordan  below.  8.  Sacred  associations  connected  with 
the  Sea  of  Galilee.  9.  Various  names  of  the  sea.  Description  of  it.  10.  Plain 
of  Gennesaret.  11.  Towns  around  the  lake.  Tiberias.  Situation  of  'the 
place.  Founded  by  Herod  Antipas.  Long  a  seat  of  Jewish  learning.  Warm 
baths  in  its  vicinity.  Magdala.  Dalmanutha.  Capernaum.  Question  re 
specting  its  site.  Khan  Minyeh,  Tell  Hum,  the  Round  Fountain.  Chorazin 
and  Bethsaida.  Another  Bethsaida  east  of  the  Jordan.  Place  where  the 
multitude  were  miraculously  fed.  Scene  of  the  healing  of  the  demoniacs. 
Wady  Hamain  and  Beth-arbel.  12.  Barnes  applied  to  the  Jordan  valley- 
modern  Arabic,  Greek  and  Roman,  Hebrew.  13.  General  description  of 
the  Ghor  or  outer  Jordan  valley.  Its  length  and  width.  Mountains  on  the 
west  and  east.  Its  upper  and  lower  divisions.  Character  of  the  different 
parts.  14.  Inner  valley  of  the  Jordan.  Its  width  and  straight  direction. 
Tortuous  course  of  the  Jordan  within  it.  Verdure  along  its  banks.  15.  An 
nual  rise  of  the  Jordan.  "The  pride  of  Jordan."  16.  Saracenic  bridge. 
Ruins  of  Roman  bridges.  Fords.  17.  Tributaries  of  the  Jordan.  The 
Hieromax.  The  Jabbok.  Nahr  el-Jalud.  18.  Climate  of  the  Ghor.  Some 
notice  of  its  peculiar  productions.  19.  Unique  character  of  the  Jordan  in 
its  origin,  course,  and  termination.  Its  unique  history.  Its  waters  thrice 
miraculously  divided.  Healing  of  Naaman.  Swimming  of  iron.  Baptism 
of  John.  Our  Lord  baptized  in  its  waters.  20.  Account  of  Jericho.  Differ 
ent  sites  of  the  place  in  different  ages.  Scriptural  incidents  connected  with 
it.  Immense  descent  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho.  Dangerous  character  of 
the  road.  21.  Oasis  of  Jericho,  how  produced.  Its  two  principal  fountains. 
Josephus'  description  of  its  extent  and  character.  Notice  of  some  of  its  prod 
ucts.  Its  present  condition.  22.  Other  places  in  the  Jordan  valley.  Gil- 
gal.  Fusail.  The  brook  Cherith.  Beisan  with  its  Scriptural  reminiscences. 
Site  of  Succoth.  Ford  of  Beth-barah.  2Enon.  Place  of  our  Lord's  baptism 
unknown 140 

1* 


10  CONTENTS. 

IV.  The  Dead  Sea  and  Us  Vicinity.     23.  Place  of  the  Dead  sea  in  the  valley,  how 
determined.     Its  immense  depression.     Its  depth.     Elevation  of  Jerusalem 

"  above  the  brow  of  the  cliffs  on  its  western  side.  These  three  measures 
equal.  No  known  chasm  has  as  great  depression.  Variable  depth  of  its 
waters.  24.  Extent  of  the  sea,  how  determined.  Average  length  and 
breadth.  Terraces  on  its  banks.  25.  How  shut  in  on  both  sides.  Western 
brow.  Eastern  brow.  Valleys  and  gorges  in  the  adjacent  cliffs.  Character 
of  the  rocks.  Low  belt  of  shore.  Peninsula  in  the  southern  part.  The 
Sabkhah,  or  salt  marsh  at  the  southern  end  of  the  sea.  Cliffs  of  Akrabbim. 
Marshes  at  the  north  end  of  the  sea.  lleference  to  these  in  Ezekiel.  26.  Ex 
cessive  heat  of  the  region,  and  tropical  character  of  its  vegetation.  Legends 
respecting  it.  27.  Salt  mountain  on  the  'southern  shore.  Its  extent  and 
character.  It  accounts  for  the  saltuess  of  the  waters  of  this  sea.  Valley  of 
salt,  and  City  of  salt.  28.  Volcanic  character  of  the  region.  Hot  springs. 
Sulphurous  formation.  Earthquakes.  Connection  between  the  earthquakes 
of  Italy  and  Syria.  29.  Bitumen  of  the  Dead  sea.  It  is  thrown  up  from  the 
bottom  after  earthquakes.  Traces  of  bitumen  on  the  shore.  30.  Character 
of  the  water.  Its  intense  saltness.  Its  buoyancy.  Analysis.  31.  Various 
names  applied  to  this  sea — The  Salt  sea,  Sea  of  the  Arabah,  East  sea, 
Asphaltic  lake,  Sea  of  Sodom,  Sea  of  Lot,  Dead  sea.  32.  Places  of 
interest  on  or  near  its  shore.  Pass  of  En-gedi.  Its  position.  Fountain. 
Vegetation.  Description  of  the  pass.  Its  use  in  ancient  times.  Scriptural 
references  to  it.  Streams  entering  the  Dead  sea.  Zurka  Main.  Arnon. 
Wady  Kerak.  Streams  entering  the  southern  bay.  Fertile  spots  on  the 
shore.  The  ancient  fortress  Masada.  Convent  of  Mar  Saba 157 

V.  Destruction  of  Sodom  and  the  Neighboring  Cities.     33.  The  Dead  sea  existed 

before  that  event.  34.  Various  hypotheses  respecting  the  mode  in  which 
the  chasm  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea  was  formed.  35.  Site  of  Sodom  and 
the  neighboring  cities.  Grove's,  hypothesis  that  it  was  at  the  north  end  of 
the  sea.  The  common  hypothesis  that  it  was  at  the  south  end.  Argument 
in  favor  of  this.  36.  Manner  of  the  overthrow  of  these  cities.  Scriptural 
account  of  the  same.  Changes  connected  with  the  catastrophe 168 

CHAPTEK   V. 

THE  KEGION  EAST  OF   THE  JOKDAN  VALLEY. 

1.  Joshua's  account  of  this  region.     Its  two  main  divisions 173 

I.  Sashan.  2.  Extent  of  Bashaii,  and  its  divisions  under  the  Komans.  3.  Gen 
eral  description  of  Bashan.  Jebel  Heish.  Gaulonitis  and  Auranitis.  Bata- 
naea.  Question  respecting  the  Mount  of  Bashan.  4.  Trachonitis  or  the 
Lejah.  It  is  the  Argob  of  the  Old  Testament.  Singular  character  of  Lejah. 
Its  borders  studded  with  the  remains  of  ancient  cities.  Josephus'  account 
of  Trachonitis.  5.  Fertility  of  Bashan.  Scriptural  notices  of  it.  6.  Ancient 
populousuess  of  the  region.  Its  present  desolate  condition.  Some  account 


CON  CENTS,  11 

of  its  dt'st-vtt'd  cities  and  ruins.  7.  Ancient  towns  ot  Bushan.  Bozruli. 
The  capital  city  of  the  region  under  Roman  sway.  Account  of  its  ruins. 
Its  citadel.  To  be  distinguished  from  the  Bozrah  of  Edom.  Salcah.  Beth- 

gamul.    Ashtaroth  and  Edrei.     Kenath 173 

II.  Gilead.  8.  Its  extent  and  two  general  divisions.  Its  northern  boundary. 
Application  of  the  term  Mishor.  9.  Northern  division  of  Gilead  or  Jebel 
AjlAu  desci'ibed.  10.  Southern  part  of  Gilead  or  the  Belka.  Site  of  Pisgah. 
Magnificent  view  from  its  summit,  Balaam  prophesied  from  the  same 
height.  11.  Rivers  of  Gilead— Hieroinax,  Jabbok,  Zurka  Main,  and  Arnon. 
12.  Remains  of  ancient  cities.  Gadara.  Tombs  in  its  vicinity.  Gerasa. 
Its  ruins  the  most  extensive  east  of  the  Jordan.  Site  of  Jabesh-gilead. 
Scriptural  notices  of  this  place.  Site  of  Pella.  Site  of  Ramoth-gilead,  and 
its  Scriptural  history.  Question  respecting  the  site  of  Mahanaim.  13.  Ruins 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  Belka.  These  places  originally  belonged  to  the 
Moabites,  and  fell  again  into  their  hands  upon  the  decline  of  the  Israelitish 
power.  Heshbon,  Elealeh,  Beth-meon,  Medeba,  Kiriathaim,  Dibon,  and 
Aroer.  14.  Remarks  on  the  present  condition  of  the  land  of  promise,  and 
its  future  prospects -- - 180 

CHAPTER   VI. 
ANCIENT  DIVISIONS  OF   THE   ISRAELITISH  LAND. 

1.  Recapitulation  of  its  natural  divisions - 191 

J.  Hebrew  Division  by  Tribes.  2.  The  boundaries  of  the  tribes  can  be  only  proxi- 
mately  determined.  3.  Tribes  east  of  the  Jordan.  Extent  of  the  kingdoms 
of  Sihon  and  Og.  How  divided  between  the  two  and  a  half  tribes.  Terri 
tory  of  Reuben.  Of  Gad.  That  of  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh.  4.  The 
eastern  frontier  of  the  above-named  tribes.  Their  warlike  character  and 
conquests.  Valor  of  the  Gadites.-  5.  Remarks  on  the  first  attempt  at  dis 
tribution  west  of  the  Jordan.  Idea  under  which  it  was  commenced.  This 
idea  not  realized.  6.  Territory  originally  assigned  to  Judah.  Its  northern 
boundary.  7.  Territory  of  Simeon.  It  fell  within  the  lot  of  Judah.  Jacob's 
prophetic  words  respecting  Simeon.  Remarkable  decrease  of  the  tribe  in 
the  wilderness.  8.  Territory  of  Benjamin.  Jerusalem  lay  within  this  tribe. 
9.  Territory  of  Dan.  Its  small  size.  Their  expedition  to  the  northern  bor 
der  of  the  land.  10.  Territory  of  Ephraim.  Of  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh. 
Excellence  of  the  portion  that  fell  to  the  sons  of  Joseph.  11.  Issachar. 
12.  Zebulun.  13.  Asher  and  Xaphtuli.  Beauty  and  fertility  of  this  part  of 
Galilee.  Prophetic  encomiums  of  Jacob  and  Moses.  *  14.  The  tribe  of  Levi 
received  no  separate  territory,  but  forty-eight  cities  with  their  suburbs. 
Form  and  dimensions  of  these  cities.  15.  The  terms  Judah  and  Israel  after 
the  separation  of  the  ten  tribes - 193 

//.  Divisions  of  Palestine  in  the  Roman  Age.  16.  The  three  provinces  west  of  the 
Jordan.  17.  Galilee.  Its  boundaries  and  two  subdivisions.  Origin  of  the 


12  CONTENTS. 

d  mi.  :iinl  its  original  application.  IN.  Boundaries  ol'  Samaria.  .losephus' 
account  of  its  southern  l>ord« T.  1!>.  Boundaries  of  Jud;va.  The  South 
country  of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Judah  reckoned  to  Idnnwa.  '10.  Bashan 
and  its  divisions  under  the  Romans.  The  Galaaditis  of  the  Romans  substan 
tially  the  same  as  Perrca 203 

CHAPTEK   VII. 

CLIMATE,  SOIL,  AND  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  PALESTINE. 

/.  Climate.  1.  Geographical  position  of  Palestine  contrasted  with  that  of  the 
gulf  states  of  America.  2.  Rainy  and  dry  season.  3.  Period  of  the  rainy 
season.  Wonderful  transformation  of  the  face  of  nature  produced  by  it. 
4.  Meaning  of  the  terms  Early  or  Former  and  Latter  Rain.  5.  Region  from 
which  the  rain  comes.  Scriptural  illustrations.  6.  Beginning  and  duration 
of  the  dry  season.  Its  effect  upon  vegetation.  7.  Distribution  of  rain.  How 
determined.  8.  Temperature  of  the  different  sections  of  Palestine.  How 
determined.  9.  Climate  of  the  mountainous  regions.  Bad  condition  of  the 
winter  roads.  10.  Climate  of  the  Jordan  valley.  Of  the  Mediterranean 
plain.  11.  Means  of  determining  the  relative  temperature  of  these  different 
regions.  Direct  observation  of  the  thermometer.  Times  of  harvest.  Pro 
ductions  peculiar  to  the  different  segions.  12.  The  Sirocco.  Its  debilitating 
effects.  Origin  of  the  name.  Scriptural  notices  of  it 200 

II.  Soil.     13.   Limestone  the  basis  of  the  rocks  of  Palestine.     Remains  of  a  later 
chalk  formation.     Sandstones  eastxof  the  Jordan  valley.     Basalt  formations. 
14.   Natural  capabilities  of  the  soil]     Question  respecting  the  physical  dete 
rioration  of  the  climate.     A  bad  government  the  main  cause  of  the  present 
desolations  of  Palestine.     Proofs  of  the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil.     Jose- 
phus'  account  of  Galilee.     Standard  of  comparison  in  Moses'  description  of 
the  promised  land - • 213 

III.  Natural  History.     15.   General  remarks.     10.  Plants  furnishing  food  to  man. 
17.  Plants  furnishing  clothing.     18.  Fruit-bearing  trees.     Excellence  of  the 
vineyards  of  Palestine.     Olive  orchards.      The  fig.      The  sycamore.     The 
pomegranate.     Question  respecting  the  apple-tree  of  our  version.     Oranges 
and  other  fruits.     19.  Nut-bearing  and  other  forest  trees.     The  oak.     Pista- 
cia.     Carob-tree.     20.  Odoriferous  and  other  plants.     The  hyssop  of  Scrip 
ture.     21.  Egyptian  plants  in  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea.    Notice 
of  the.  papyrus.     'I'l.  Variety  and  beauty  of  wild  flowers.     23.  Use  of  flower- 
stalks  and  weeds  for  fuel.     Of  the  ordure  of  animals.     Burnings  of  lime. 
24.  Domestic  animals  of  Palestine.     Buffaloes  tame  and  wild.     Broad-tailed 
sheep.     2">.   Wild  animals.     The  cony  of  Scripture.     Dogs  without  owners 
in  Palestine.     26.  Birds  of  Palestine.     Notice  of  the  Syrian  nightingale. 
Pigeons  in  the  clefts  of  the  rocks.     27.  Kept  lies.    Different  Scriptural  names 
for  venomous  serpents.    The  fiery  serpents  of  the  wilderness,  and  fiery  flying 
serpents  of  Isaiah.     28.  Fishes  and  marine  animals.     Badger  of  our  version. 


CONTENTS.  13 

Coracinus  of  Josephus.  _'M.  In-vcts.  Bees.  Different  kiuds  of  honey.  Lo 
cust  of  the  east  described.  Its  ravages.  Use  of  locusts  for  food.  30.  Uni 
corn  of  Scripture.  Not  a  one-horned  animal.  It  was  of  the  ox  kind,  and 
known  to  the  inhabitants  of  Palestine,  but  the  particular  species  is  uncer 
tain.  Question  respecting  the  behemoth  of  Job.  It  was  either  the  hippo 
potamus  or  the  elephant.  Meaning  of  the  word  leviathan 215 


CHAPTEE   VIII. 

COUNTKIES  ON  THE   SOUTH  OF   PALESTINE. 

General  remark • 228 

/.  Egypt  and  Ethiopia.  1.  Claim  of  Egypt  on  our  attention.  Its  names  and 
ancient  divisions.  2.  Manetho's  list  of  Egyptian  dynasties.  Remarks  on 
Egyptian  chronology.  3.  Religion  of  the  Egyptians.  Their  multiplication 
of  deities.  Relics  of  the  primitive  revelation.  Why  shepherds  were  an 
abomination  to  the  Egyptians.  4.  Government  of  Egypt.  Its  sacerdotal 
character.  5.  Civilization  of  the  Egyptians.  Their  progress  in  the  arts  and 
sciences.  6.  Early  relation  of  the  covenant  people  to  the  Egyptians.  7.  Their 
relation  after  the  exodus.  8.  Geographical  features  of  Egypt.  General 
divisions  and  extent  of  Egypt.  9.  Upper  Egypt.  Its  extent  and  character. 
Its  subdivisions.  Pathros.  10.  Lower  Egypt.  Its  boundaries.  The  coast. 
The  alluvial  plain  behind  it.  11.  Laud  of  Goshen.  Its  position  and  char 
acter.  Intercourse  between  the  Israelites  and  Egyptians.  12.  Description 
of  the  Nile.  13.  Annual  rise  of  the  Nile.  Its  amount  at  different  places. 
Effect  of  excessive  or  defective  inundations.  The  Nile  to  Egypt  the  source 
of  both  plenty  and  famine.  14.  Great  fertility  of  Egypt.  Modes  of  culture 
and  irrigation.  15.  Productions  of  Egypt.  16.  Climate  of  Egypt.  Liability 
to  famines.  17.  Ancient  cities  of  Egypt — Alexandria,  Zoar,  Sin,  Tahpauhes. 
Hanes  probably  identical  with  Tahpanhes.  Migdol.  Pi-beseth.  Pithoin 
and  Rameses.  On.  Noph.  Thebes,  the  No-amon  of  Scripture.  Syene. 
18.  Egyptian  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  souls.  19.  Processes  of 
embalming.  20.  Tombs.  The  pyramids  a  class  of  these.  Their  form  and 
dimensions.  Fruitlessness  of  the  toil  bestowed  by  the  Egyptians  on  the 
bodies  of  the  deceased.  21.  Ancient  Ethiopia,  the  Cush  of  the  Old  Testa 
ment.  Relation  of  Ethiopia  to  Egypt  and 'the  covenant  people.  22.  Can- 
dace  and  her  territory ^-  -- - -  228 

71.  Arabia.  23.  The  Sinaitic  peninsula.  24.  The  two  gulfs  that  enclose  the 
peninsiila.  Eziou-geber  and  the  site  of  Ophir.  25.  Description  of  the 
peninsula.  26.  Passage  of  the  Red  sea  by  the  Israelites.  27.  The  wil 
derness  of  Shur.  Route  of  the  Israelites  to  Sinai.  Distinction  between 
Horeb  and  Sinai.  28.  Question  of  the  place  whence  the  law  was  given. 
29.  Route  of  the  Israelites  after  leaving  Sinai.  Wilderness  of  Parau. 
?.0.  Question  of  the  site  of  Kadesh.  31.  Sinaitic  inscriptions.  32.  Adapta- 


14  CONTENTS. 

tion  of  this  region  to  the  designs  of  God.  33.  Question  of  the  maintenance 
of  the  flocks  and  herds  of  the  Israelites  in  the  desert.  The  manner  of  the 
forty  years'  wandering.  34.  The  Amalekites.  35.  The  Kenites -  247 

CHAPTER   IX. 
COUNTRIES  ON  THE   SOUTHEAST  AND  EAST. 

I.  Edom.      1.  Territory   of  Edoni  before  and  after  the   Babylonish  captivity. 

2.  Mount  Seir  described.  3.  The  Arabah  at  its  western  base.  4.  Places 
of  interest  in  and  around  Mount  Seir.  Petra.  Its  situation  described. 
Approach  from  the  east  by  the  Sik.  The  Khuzneh.  General  remarks.  Sela 
and  Petra  probably  identical.  Mount  Hor.  Bozrah  and  Tophel.  5.  Rela- 
tion  of  the  Edomites  to  the  Israelites.  The  occupancy  by  them  of  the  south 
country  of  Judah  during  the  captivity.  Present  desolation  of  Idumaea-  259 

II.  The,  Couniry  of  the  Modbites.     6.  Proper  Moabitish  territory,  and  its  charac 
ter.     7.  Its  eastern  cliffs  bordering  on  the  Dead  sea.     Wady  Kerak.     8.  Ar 
Moab.     Kir  Moab,  the  modern  Kerak.     9.  Relation  of  the  Moabites  to  the 
children  of  Israel.     Present  desolation  of  their  territory.     The  water  that 
came  by  the  way  of  Edom 2G4. 

III.  Tfie  Country  of  the  Ammonites.     10.  Boundaries  of  Ammon.     In  what  sense 
half  their  land  was  given  to  the  tribe  of  Gad.     Their  nomadic  character,  and 
the  fewness  of  their  towns.     11.  Rabbah.     Its  site  described.     Its  magnifi 
cent  ruins.     12.  Relation,  of  the  Ammonites  to  the  covenant  people 207 

IV.  The  Midianites,  and  other  Arabian  Tribes.     13.  Seat  of  the  nation.     14.  Rela 
tion  of  the  Midianites  to  Israel.    ].">.  Various  Arabian  tribes.    Ephah.    Sheba. 
Kedar.    Nebaioth.    The  Hagurites.    Tema.    Dumah. .  The  land  of  Uz--  269 

CHAPTER   X. 
COUNTRIES  ON  THE   NORTHEAST  AND  NORTH. 

I.  Mesopotamia.     1.  Remarks  on  the  terms  Aram  and  Hebrew.     2.  Hebrew  and 

Greek  names  of  Mesopotamia.  3.  Extent  and  divisions  of  Mesopotamia. 
4.  Harau.  Habor,  Halah,  and  Hara.  Modern  Mesopotamiun  towns.  5.  Con 
nection  of  the  Israelitish  nation  with  Mesopotamia 273 

II.  Syria  Proper.     G.  Its  boundaries  and  extent.     7.  Grand  feature  of  this  region. 
8.  The  range  of  Lebanon.     Its  direction  and  extent.      Its  highest  peaks. 
Its  western  declivity.     Its  eastern.     Origin  and  signification  of  the  name 
Lebanon.     View  of  Lebanon  from  below  and  from  above.     Products  of  Leb- 
mioii.     Its  fruits.     Its  vineyards.     Cedars  of  Lebanon.     9.  Ridge  of  Anti- 
Lebanon.     Its  two  divisions.     Its  character.     Its  southern  part  the  Hermon 
of  the  Old  Testament.      Ridges  radiating  from  Hermon.      10.  Ccele-Syria 
and  Wady  et-Teim.     Different  extensions  given  by  the  ancients  to  the  term 
Ccele-Syria.     11.  The  Leoutes.     Its  stupendous  chasm.     Ancient  castle  at 


CONTENTS.  1") 

its  bend.  12.  Entering  in  of  Hamath.  Jebel  en-Nusairiyeh.  Mount  Ca- 
sius.  Plain  of  Hums  and  mountain  range  north  of  it.  Valley  of  el-Ghab. 
13.  Course  of  the  Orontes.  14.  Chain  of  Anianus  and  the  hilly  tract  to  the 
east.  Gates  of  Syria  and  plain  of  Issus.  15.  Places  of  chief  interest  in  the 
great  Syrian  valley.  Beth-rehob.  Abel-beth-maachah.  Ijon.  Baal-gad.  Hus- 
beiya  and  Rasheiya.  Ituins  of  Baalbec.  Relics  of  heathen  temples  along  this 
valley.  Ribleh  and  its  Scriptural  associations.  Hums,  the  ancient  Emesa. 
Hamah,  the  Hamath  of  Scripture.  Antioch.  Its  situation,  and  Scriptural 
notices  of  it.  Seleucia.  10.  Plain  of  Damascus.  Its  boundaries,  form,  and 
extent.  17.  Irrigation  of  the  plain.  The  Abana  and  Pharpar.  Comparison 
of  these  streams  with  the  Jordan.  18.  Approach  to  Damascus  from  the 
west.  The  city  described.  19.  The  plain  of  Damascus.  Its  lakes  and 
marshes.  20.  Antiquity  and  history  of  Damascus.  Scriptural  notices  of  it. 
21.  Helbon  and  its  wine.  •  22.  Aram-Zobah.  23.  Abilene.  24.  Palmyra. 

Its  ruins  described" - 276 

III.  Phoenicia.  25.  Boundaries  of  Phoenicia  Proper.  26.  Phoenicia  in  the  wider 
sense.  27.  Commercial  character  of  the  Phoenicians.  Wide  extent  of  their 
commerce.  Circumnavigation  of  Africa.  28.  Their  progress  in  the  arts  and 
sciences.  The  Greeks  had  from  them  their  primitive  alphabet.  Substantial 
agreement  of  their  language  with  that  of  the  Hebrews.  29.  Their  friendly 
relation  to  the  Hebrews  in  David's  and  Solomon's  time.  Their  unfriendly 
conduct  at  a  later  date.  30.  Phoenician  cities.  Tyre.  Its  'site.  Converted 
into  a  peninsula  by  Alexander's  causeway.  Its  harbor.  Its  great  antiquity. 
Sieges  sustained  by  it.  Its  present  miserable  condition.  Ezekiel's  descrip 
tion  of  the  Tyrian  commerce  with  the  surrounding  regions — Senir,  the  isles 
of  Elishah,  Lud  and  Phut,  Tarshish,  with  the  questions  concerning  it,  Javan, 
Tubal  and  Meshech,  Togarmah,  Dedan,  Vedan.  Zidon,  or  Sidon.  Its  an 
tiquity  and  history.  Beauty  of  its  environs.  Zarephath,  the  Sarepta  of  the 
New  Testament.  Gebal.  Arvad.  The  modern  cities  of  Beirut  and  Tara- 
bulus,  or  Tripolis » 291 

CHAPTER   XI. 

ASIA  MINOR  AND   GREECE. 

1.  Application  of  the  modern  term  Asia  Minor.  Meaning  of  the  word  Asia  in 
the  New  Testament.  Character  of  Asia  Minor.  Loose  use  of  the  term  Asia 
in  the  apocrypha.  2.  Greece.  General  remark  on  the  region.  Designa 
tions  of  Greece  and  the  regions  west  of  it,  in  the  Old  Testament.  Meaning 
of  the  word  "isles."  Chittim.  Asia  Minor  and  Greece  very  prominent  in 
the  history  of  the  apostolic  labors.  3.  The  seven  churches  in  Asia.  Their 
general  position  and  relation  to  each  other.  Ephesus,  with  its  port  Miletus. 
Smyrna.  Pergamos.  Thyatira.  Sardis.  Philadelphia.  Laodicea.  Colosse 
and  Hieropolis  in  the  neighborhood  of  Laodicea.  4.  Paul's  first  missionary 
tour.  Cyprus,  with  its  towns  Salamis  and  Paphos.  Attalia.  Perga.  Anti- 


1C;  CONTENTS. 

och  in  Pisidia.  Iconium.  Lystra  and  Derbe.  5.  Paul's  second  missionary 
tour.  His  course  through  Cilicia,  Phrygia,  and  Galatia  to  Troas;  from  Troas 
by  Samothrace  and  Neapolis  to  Philippi  in  Macedonia;  from  Philippi  through 
Amphipolis  and  Apollonia  to  Thessalonica.  Description  of  this  place.  The 
apostle  at  Athens,  and  at  Corinth.  6.  Paul's  third  missionary  tour.  He 
passes  through  Asia  Minor  to  Ephesus.  His  long  stay  at  Ephesus.  He 
visits  Greece  and  returns  to  Troas.  Illyricum  and  Dalmatia.  The  apostle's 
route  from  Troas  by  Assos,  Mitylene,  Chios,  Samos,  Miletus,  Coos,  Rhodes, 
to  Patara.  His  return  to  Jerusalem.  7.  Places  noticed  in  connection  with 
Paul's  voyage  to  Rome.  Adramyttium.  Course  to  Myra.  Promontory  of 
Cuidos.  Island  of  Crete.  Promontory  of  Salmone.  The  Fair  Havens  near 
Lasea.  Phcenice.  Clauda.  Melita,  the  modern  Malta.  Position  of  the 
quicksands.  Course  from  Melita  to  Rome  by  Syracuse,  Rhegium,  Puteoli, 
and  The  Three  Taverns 299 

CHAPTEK   XII. 

THE  EASTERN  EMPIRES. 

General  remark 309 

I.  Assyria.     1.  Assyria  Proper  and  the  Assyrian  empire.     2.  Relations  of  this 

empire  to  the  kingdoms  of  Israel  and  Judah.  3.  Former  flourishing  condi 
tion  of  the  Assyrian  region,  and  its  civilization  in  ancient  times.  4.  Ruins 
of  the  Assyrian  cities.  Ancient  Nineveh.  5.  Fulfilment  of  prophecy. 
C.  Other  Assyrian  places - - T 309 

II.  Chaldd'a.     7.  Chaldsea  Proper.     Babylonia.      Chaldaea  in  the  wider  sense. 
Chaldoeans  as  a  class  of  learned  men.     The  land  of  Shinar.  '  Eden.     8.  An 
tiquity  of  the  Babylonian  kingdom.     The  Chaldiean  monarchy  of  Scripture 
history.     Date  and  duration  of  the  Babylonish  captivity.     9.  Ancient  Baby 
lon.     10.  Other  Babylonian  cities 314 

III.  The  Medes  and  Persians.     11.  Upper  Media.     Lower  Media.     12.  The  two 
cities  called  Ecbatana.     The  Achmetha  of  Ezra.     13.  Persia  in  the  strict 
sense.     The  Persian  empire.     Elarn.     Susa.     14.  Empire  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians 317 

CHAPTEK   XIII. 

OTHER  REMOTE  REGIONS. 

1.  Scriptural  notices  of  Italy  few  and  general.  Rome.  Prevalence  of  Greek 
literature  in  that  city.  2.  Armenia.  Ararat.  3.  Gog  and  Magog.  4.  India. 
5.  The  land  of  Sinim  or  China 320 


CONTENTS.  17 

PART  TI. 
BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


FIRST  DIVISION— DOMESTIC  ANTIQUITIES. 

CHAPTEE   XIV. 

AGRICULTURE. 

1.  Adaptation  of  Palestine  to  agricultural  pursuits.  2.  The  Mosaic  laws  favorable 
to  agriculture— the  sabbatical  year ;  the  year  of  jubilee.  3.  Irrigation  of  the 
soil ;  its  various  modes  and  Scriptural  references  to  it.  4.  Terraces.  5.  Im 
plements  of  agriculture — the  plough,  mattock  or  hoe,  harrow.  6.  Animals 
employed  in  agriculture.  The  ploughman's  goad 335 

PRINCIPAL  DEPARTMENTS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  I.  The  Cereal  and  Leguminous  Plants. 
7.  Wheat,  barley,  etc. — beans,  lentiles,  etc.  8.  Seedtime — modes  of  sowing. 
9.  Barley  and  wheat  harvest.  Mode  of  reaping  and  gathering.  10.  Thresh 
ing-floors.  Modes  of  threshing.  The  threshing  sledge.  Threshing  a  sym 
bol  of  destroying  judgments.  11.  Winnowing.  The  winnowing  shovel  or 
fan.  Winnowing  a  symbol  of  discriminating  judgments.  12.  Storehouses 
for  grain.  13.  Provision  made  for  the  poor  in  the  Mosaic  code.  Harvest 
scenes  in  the  book  of  Ruth 342 

IL  Culture  of  the  Vine.  14.  Palestine  celebrated  for  its  vineyards.  The  vine  of 
Sorek.  Wild  grapes.  15.  Appointments  of  a  vineyard.  The  hedge,  tower, 
etc.  16.  The  vintage.  Raisins,  and  honey  of  grapes.  17.  Wine  and  its 
manufacture.  The  winepress  and  vat.  Treading  of  the  grapes,  and  its: 
symbolical  import.  18.  Different  preparations  from  the  must.  Exposure  of 
wine  bottles  to  smoke.  19.  Strong  drinS,  how  prepared.  Drugged  wine 
and  its  symbolical  import.  20.  Various  terms  for  the  juice  of  the  grape 
or  preparations  made  from  it.  Distinction  between  new  wine  and  wine. 
Honey  of  grapes.  Sweet  wine.  Wine  on  the  lees.  Vinegar  of  wine 348 

III.  Culture  of  the  Olive.     21.  The  olive-tree  and  its  wood.     22.  Olive-berries  and 
oil.     23.  Modes  of  expressing  the  oil.    Beaten  Oil.    Various  oil-mills.     Ques 
tion  respecting  the  treading  of  olives.     24.  The  storing  of  olive-oil 356 

IV.  Fruit-Trees.     25-27.  The  date-palm.     28.  The  fig-tree.      29.  The  sycamore. 
30.  The  pomegranate.    31.  The  apple  of  the  Old  Testament    The  almond  359 

V.  Various  Other  Departments  of  Agricultural  Labor.     32.  Gardens  and  orchards. 

Hebrew  idea  of  a  paradise.  Scriptural  allusions  to  gardens.  33.  The  bal 
sam  of  the  Old  Testament.  Opobalsamum.  Myrobalanuin.  34.  Honey  of 
bees.  Abundance  of  bees  in  Palestine.  Food  of  the  Baptist  in  the  wilder- 
- 364 


18  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEK   XV. 

CAKE   OF   FLOCKS  AND  HEEDS  AND  OTHER  ANIMALS. 

1.  Nomadic  character  of  the  early  patriarchs,  and  of  the  two  and  a  half  tribes 
east  of  the  Jordan.  2.  The  civilization  of  nomads  inferior  to  that  of  agri 
cultural  people.  Their  roving  life.  Their  abode  in  tents.  Oriental  tents 
described,  and  their  furniture.  Order  of  encampment.  The  nomadic  life 
unfavorable  to  stable  institutions,  and  favorable  to  predatory  expeditions. 
Ancient  plundering  incursions  of  the  nomadic  tribes.  3.  The  camel. 
4-8.  Sheep  and  goats.  9.  Neat-cattle.  10.  Fountains  and  cisterns.  11.  Asses. 
12.  Horses.  13.  Hunting  and  fishing 367 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

HOUSES  AND  THEIE  APPOINTMENTS. 

1.  Caves  as  dwelling-places.  2.  Different  classes  of  houses.  3.  General  idea  and 
plan  of  an  oriental  house.  It  fronts  inwardly,  and  presents  a  mean  appear 
ance  externally.  The  doorway  or  gate.  The  porch.  4.  Courts  of  oriental 
houses.  These  distinguished  from  the  court  of  the  temple.  5.  The  verandah 
around  the  court,  and  chambers  behind  it.  Gallery  of  the  second  floor,  with 
its  chambers.  Different  quality  and  uses  of  the  chambers.  Outer  and  inner 
courts.  Height  of  oriental  houses.  Cellars  for  storage.  6.  The  reception- 
room.  This  the  room  of  the  high-priest's  palace  where  Jesus  was  arraigned. 
Circumstances  of  the  evangelic  narrative.  Guest  chambers.  Divans.  The 
corner  of  the  divan  the  seat  of  honor.  7.  Flights  of  stairs.  Windows  and 
lattices.  8.  Flat  roofs  of  oriental  houses.  Manner  of  their  construction,  and 
materials  employed.  Their  imperfection.  Case  of  the  paralytic  who  was  let 
down  through  the  roof.  8.  Uses  made  of  these  roofs.  Samson's  exploit  in 
the  temple  of  Dagon.  9.  Battlements  around  the  roofs.  Upper  chambers. 
Our  Lord's  admonition  to  him  who  is  upon  the  housetop.  Proclamations 
from  roofs.  10.  Fireplaces  and  absence  of  chimneys.  Summer  and  winter 
houses.  Egyptian  mode  of  ventilation.  11.  Materials  of  eastern  houses. 
12.  Their  appointments.  13.  Their  Aspect.  Walls  of  ancient  cities —  383 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

DEESS  AND   PERSONAL  OENAMENTS. 

1.  General  remarks.  2.  The  tunic.  3.  The  girdle.  Girding  up  the  loins.  4. 
The  robe.  5.  The  mantle.  Its  use  as  a  covering  at  night.  Varieties  of  it 
Modern  oriental  outer  garments.  Breeches.  6.  The  oriental  shoe  a  sandal. 
Oriental  usages  in  respect  to  sandals  and  shoes.  7.  The  hair  and  beard. 
Head-dresses.  8.  The  staff.  The  signet  and  its  use.  The  necklace.  Cloth 
ing  an  officer  with  robes  of  office.  9.  Veils.  10.  Ezekiel's  description  of  the 
dress  of  a  woman  of  rank.  Isaiah's  catalogue  of  female  adornments.  Paint- 


CONTENTS.  19 

ing  the  eyebrows.  Wearing  of  artificial  horns  not  a  Hebrew  usage.  11.  Ma 
terials  employed  for  clothing.  Prohibition  in  respect  to  garments  of  mixed 
materials,  and  to  the  interchange  of  garments  between  the  sexes.  Fringes 
on  the  borders  of  garments.  Phylacteries.  12.  Colors  of  garments,  and 
their  significance.  Changes  of  raiment -  -  396 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE  PREPARATION  OF  FOOD  AND  MEALS. 

1.  The  primitive  mortar  and  pestle.  2.  Oriental  mills.  Women  grinding  at 
them.  Manner  of  working  them.  Sound  of  the  millstone.  3.  Kneading- 
troughs.  4.  Bread  unleavened  and  leavened.  Unleavened  cakes  baked  in 
the  ashes.  Modern  Arabic  process.  Unleavened  bread  of  the  modern  Jew 
ish  passover.  Loaves  of  leavened  bread.  5.  Ovens  and  bakeries.  Public 
ovens.  Private  ovens  portable  and  fixed.  6.  Other  modes  of  cooking. 
7.  Articles  of  diet.  8.  Posture  at  meals.  Of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  of  the  Jews 
in  our  Saviour's  time.  9.  Mode  of  taking  food.  Washing  of  hands.  An 
Arab  feast  described.  Wedding  and  birthday  festivals.  The  wedding  garment 
of  our  Lord's  parable.  10.  Oriental  hospitality,  ancient  and  modern  —  408 

CHAPTEE   XIX. 

DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES. 

I.  The  Family.  1.  Origin  of  polygamy.  Position  of  the  Mosaic  law  with  respect 
to  it.  Its  discontinuance  under  the  gospel.  2.  Distinction  between  the  wife 
and  the  concubine.  General  remark.  3.  Hebrew  usage  in  regard  to  the 
choice  of  a  wife.  4.  The  espousal.  5.  Marriage  dowry  given  on  the  side  of 
the  bridegroom.  No  dowry  in  the  case  of  concubines.  6.  Consummation  of 
the  marriage.  The  marriage-feast,  and  ceremonies  connected  with  it.  7.  The 
law  of  the  Levirate.  8.  Forbidden  degrees  of  consanguinity.  Question 
concerning  the  marriage  of  a  deceased  wife's  sister.  Intermarriages  with  the 
Canaanites  forbidden.  Special  restrictions  in  the  case  of  the  high  priest,  and 
of  common  priests.  General  remark  on  second  marriages.  9.  The  Hebrew 
law  of  divorce.  Our  Saviour's  rule.  10.  Adultery  as  defined  by  the  Mosaic 
law.  Penalty  attached  to  the  crime.  Ordeal  for  a  woman  suspected  of  adul 
tery.  11.  The  Hebrew  wife's  desire  of  offspring.  Birthday  festivities.  The 
rite  of  circumcision,  and  naming  of  the  child.  Purification  of  the  mother. 
Significance  of  Hebrew  names.  The  giving  of  new  names.  12.  Power  of  the 
father  over  his  Children,  and  its  limitation  by  the  Mosaic  law.  Prerogatives 
of  the  first-born  son.  Figurative  use  of  the  term  first-born 419 

H  Masters  and  Sen^ants.  13.  Distinction"  between  hired  servants  and  bond- 
servants.  The  Hebrew  servant  not  a  personal  chattel.  His  rights  as  a  man. 
Every  religious  privilege  secured  to  him.  Question  in  respect  to  the  rite 


20  CONTENTS. 

of  circumcision.  14.  Classes  of  servants.  Man-stealing  a  capital  offence. 
•  15.  Limitations  of  the  time  of  servitude.  Two  classes  of  passages  consid 
ered,  and  the  different  ways  of  reconciling  them.  16.  Servitude  among  the 
Gentile  nations -- 430 

III.  Forms  of  Social  Intercourse.     17.  Ancient  Hebrew  forms  of  salutation  illus 
trated  from  Scriptural  examples.     Various  forms  of  greeting.    Modern  orien 
tal  forms  of  salutation.     Their  tediousness  and  heartlessness.     18.  Dancing 
as  a  religious  act.    Social  dancing.    19.  Place  of  woman  among  the  Hebrews. 
Reserve  in  the  social  intercourse  between  the  sexes.     The  degradation  of 
woman  in  Mohammedan  countries.     20.  Ceremonial  of  visits.     The  gates  of 
cities  places  of  common  resort,     21.  The  bestowal  of  gifts  and  alms 434 

IV.  The  Burial  of  the  Dead.    22.  The  loss  of  burial  considered  as  a  great  calamity. 
23.  Funeral  rites  of  the  ancient  Hebrews.     Burning  of  the  corpse  not  cus 
tomary  among  them.     24.  Oriental  expressions  of  mourning.     Professional 
mourners,  ancient  and  modern.     Self-laceration  for  the  dead  forbidden  to 
the  Hebrews 439 

Appendix.     Grecian  and  Eoman  games 443 

CHAPTER   XX. 

THE  SCIENCES  AND  ARTS. 
1.  General  Remark - 447 

I.  Hebrew  Divisions  of  Time.    2.  Hebrew  years  and  months.    3.  Intercalary  month. 

Jewish  way  of  determining  the  beginning  of  the  month.  4.  Beginning  of 
the  Jewish  year.  In  what  sense  the  Hebrews  had  a  sacred  and  a^civil  year. 
Names  of  the  Jewish  months.  5.  Division  of  time  into  weeks.  The  week  of 
weeks.  The  week  of  years.  The  week  of  Sabbatical  years.  G.  The  Hebrew 
d:iy  reckoned  from  evening  to  evening.  The  time  denoted  by  the  two  even 
ings.  7.  Hours  and  modes  of  determining  them.  Hebrew  and  Roman 
watches 447 

II.  Domestic  and  Mechanical  Arts.     8.  Hebrew  proficiency  in  these  arts.     They 

were  not  preeminent  in  them 451 

III.  The  Art  of  Wi'll'my.     0.   Understood  in  Egypt  before  Moses'  day.     He  used 
the  Shemitic  alphabet.     Notices  of  writing  in  the  Pentateuch.     10.  Materials 
of  writing.     Paper  and  parchments  the  most  important  of  these.     Manufac 
ture  of  paper  from  the  papyrus  plant.     11.  Instruments  of  writing.     Ink. 
12.  Form  of  ancient  books.     13.  Epistles 453 

IV.  Musir  <i,,<!    .1/-/.V/V///  I,,sl,-inn?nts.      14.  General  remarks.      15.  Origin  of  the 
Hebrew  instruments.      1G.  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  stringed  instruments — 
the  harp,  lyre,  guitar  or  lute.     Question  of  the  identification  of  Scriptural 
stringed  instruments.     18.  Wind  instruments— the  horft  and  trumpet,  the 
flute  and  pipe,  the  organ.     19.  ^Instruinei/te  of  percussion— the  timbrel,  the 
cymbal,  etc. 456 

V.  The  Medical  Art.     20.  General  remarks.     21.  Remarks  on  the  leprosy  of  an 

cient  times,  and  on  demoniacal  possessions 4GO 


CONTENTS.  '21 

CHAPTER   XXI 
TRADE  AND  COMMERCE. 

1.  The  Hebrews  before  the  captivity  eminently  an  agricultural  people.  Change 
of  their  habits  consequent  on  their  dispersion  among  the  Gentiles.  2.  The 
early  Hebrews  not  distinguished  for  their  commerce.  3.  Character  of  an 
cient  navigation.  Ships  of  war,  and  of  burden.  4.  Commerce  by  overland 
routes.  The  caravan.  Chief  caravan  routes.  5.  Inns,  so  called,  of  ancient 
times.  They  were  either  lodging-places  in  the  open  air,  or  caravanserais. 
6.  Weights  and  measures  indispensable  to  trade  and  commerce.  Tables  of 
Hebrew  weights  and  measures - 463 

SECOND  DIVISION— CIVIL  ANTIQUITIES. 
CHAPTER   XXII. 

THE   PATRIARCHAL  FORM  OF   GOVERNMENT. 

1.  The  covenant  made  with  Abraham,  and  its  conditions.  The  transaction  at 
Sinai,  and  Joshua's  charge  to  the  people.  2.  Mosaic  legislation  in  the  civil 
sphere.  3.  Origin  of  the  patriarchal  form  of  government,  and  its  defects. 

4.  Primary  division  of  the  Israelites  into  tribes,  with  their  subdivisions. 

5.  Divisions  made  by  Moses  at  Jethro's  suggestion.      Origin  of  the  term 
"thousands"  as  applied  to  the  families  of  the  tribes.     6.  Chiefs  of  the  tribes, 
and  divisions  of  tribes  with  their  designations.     These  constituted  the  elders 
and  representatives  of  the  people,  and  the  people  were  addressed  through 
them.     7.  Hebrew  officers.     Their  close  relation  to  the  judges.     They  prob 
ably  had  the  charge  of  the  genealogical  tables.      8.  Courts  appointed  by 
Moses  in  the  wilderness,  and  their  relation  to  each  other.     Courts  in  the 
land  of  Canaan.     Josephus'  account  of  them.     9.  Extraordinary  rulers.     The 
two  offices  of  Moses.     10.  The  offices  of  Joshua.     11.  The  judges  in  an  emi 
nent  sense.     12.  Administration  of  the  government  during  the  patriarchal 
period.     Loose  relation  of  the  tribes  to  each  other.     13.  The  religious  and 
social  bond  during  this  period.     The  three  great  national  festivals,  and  their 
influence.    The  policy  of  Jeroboam  the  sou  of  Nebat.    Closing  remark-  -  469 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 

THE   KINGLY  FORM  OF   GOVERNMENT. 

1.  General  remark.  2.  In  the  manner  of  establishing  the  kingly  form  of  govern 
ment  God  asserted  his  continued  supremacy.  3.  The  bright  side  of  this 
form — increase  of  national  strength,  internal  tranquillity,  suppression  of  idol 
atry  by  the  pious  kings.  4.  The  dark  side — abridgment  of  personal  liberty 
in  accordance  with  the  oriental  idea  of  monarchy,  arbitrary  demand  of  ser- 


22  CONTENTS. 

vice,  onoroiis  taxes,  patronage  of  idolatry  by  the  wicked  kin^s.  Checks  to 
the  abuse  of  the  royal  prerogative.  5.  Administration  of  the  kingly  govern 
ment.  The  power  of  the  kings  subordinate  to  the  Mosaic  law.  6.  Rite  of 
inauguration.  7.  Officers  of  the  kingdom — the  commander-in-chief,  the 
commander  of  the  body-guard,  the  recorder,  the  scribe,  the  officer  over  the 
levy,  the  king's  counsellor,  the  king's  friend.  Officers  of  the  royal  house 
hold.  8.  Sources  of  the  royal  revenue — presents,  the  produce  of  the  royal 
possessions,  tribute,  the  spoils  of  conquered  nations,  tribute  imposed  upon 
merchants.  9.  The  appointments  of  the  royal  household.  Its  splendor  and 
luxury  under  Solomon,  with  the  evils  that  ensued 482 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 

THE   FOEM  OF   GOVERNMENT  AFTER  THE   CAPTIVITY. 

1.  Remarks  on  the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes,  and  the  origin  of  the  Samaritans. 
The  Babylonish  captivity.  Return  of  the  Jews  to  Palestine,  and  incorpora 
tion  with  them  of  a  remnant  of  the  ten  tribes.  2.  The  distinction  of  tribes 
practically  lost  after  the  captivity.  The  Jews  reestablished  under  their  old 
constitution  and  laws,  but  in  subordination  to  the  Persian  empire.  Transfer 
of  the  power  to  the  Greeks  under  Alexander  the  Great.  3.  Their  condition 
after  the  division  of  his  empire.  Their  sufferings  under  Antiochus  Epipha- 
nes.  Their  independence,  and  subsequent  subjection  to  the  Romans.  Herod 
the  great  and  his  sons.  4.  Judea  made  a  Roman  province.  The  two  classes 
of  provinces.  The  prerogatives  of  Pontius  Pilate  as  procurator  of  Jiidea. 
5.  Origin  of-  the  great  sanhedrim.  Its  number  and  constitution.  Its  presi 
ding  officers  and  servants.  Its  prerogatives 492 

CHAPTEE   XXV. 

THE   ADMINISTRATION  OF   JUSTICE. 

I.  Introductory  remarks 492 

L  Processes  of  Justice.  2.  The  Mosaic  law  the  supreme  rule  of  judgment.  Qual 
ities  required  of  judges.  Provision  for  the  execution  of  their  decisions. 
3.  Ordinary  places  of  trial.  The  time  of  trial.  4.  Simple  and  summary 
character  of  the  process.  The  examination  of  witnesses.  Number  of  wit 
nesses  required.  Penalty  for  bearing  false  testimony.  Question  whether  an 
oath  was  administered  to  witnesses.  Question  as  to 'the  employment  of 
written  documents.  5.  The  sentence  carried  into  execution  without  delay  498 

II.  Hebrew  7V,,,////,  ,v.     0.  Preliminary  remarks.     7.  Imprisonment  not  used  as  a 
form  of  penalty.     Prisoners  of  state.     Places  used  for  prisons,  and  the  treat 
ment  of  prisoners.     8.  Fines  and  compensation  in  kind.     9.  Corporal  pun 
ishment.    10.  Punishment  by  the  loss  of  freedom.    11.  The  penalty  of  death. 
12-14.   Forms  of  capital  punishment.     15.    The  punishment  of  excision. 
16.  The  avenger  of  blood  and  the  cities  of  refuge 502 


CONTENTS.  23 


111.  /'.//^V/Y.s-  «//•;//•<•;«//«  XiifJ'nm.  17.  Imprisonment  as  a  penalty  not  common. 
Scourging.  Decapitation.  Hanging  and  strangulation.  Beating  to  death. 
Dichotomy.  Burning.  Exposure  to  wild  beasts.  Crucifixion.  The  sub 
jects  of  this  punishment.  The  process  described  ...........  —  .......  510 


CHAPTEE  XXVI. 
MILITAKY  AFFAIRS. 

L  The  Levying  of  Troops.  1.  The  Israelites  entered  Canaan  as  a  nation  of  soldiers. 
2.  Levying  in  mass  for  brief  expeditions.  Remarkable  provision  of  the 
Mosaic  law.  3.  Standing  armies  under  the  kings.  General  levyings  of  the 
men  of  war  under  the  kings 514 

II.  Constitution  of  the  Army.  4.  Cavalry  and  war  chariots  not  employed  by  the 
early  Hebrews.  Their  use  in  later  times  limited.  Division  of  the  foot  sol 
diers  into  light-armed  and  heavy-armed.  5.  Division  of  the  army  into  thou 
sands  and  hundreds,  with  their  officers 516 

in.  Arms  Offensive  and  Defensive.  6.  Offensive  weapons  of  the  heavy-armed 
troops — the  sword  and  its  sheath,  the  spear,  the  javelin,  the  mace.  7.  Offen 
sive  weapons  of  the  light-armed  troops.  These  partly  common  to  them  with 
the  heavy-armed  soldiers.  Their  distinctive  weapons  the  bow  and  arrow 
with  the  quiver,  the  sling.  8.  The  ancient  war-chariot.  Its  construction. 
Its  horses.  Its  complement  of  men.  9.  Defensive  armor 516 

IV.  The  Order  of  Battle.     10.  The  Roman  order.     The  charge  of  the  orientals 
impetuous.     Ambuscades.     11.  Personal  encounters  in  ancient  battles  -  523 

V.  The  Siege  of  Cities.     12.  Prominence  of  this  part  of  warfare.     Defences  of 

ancient  towns,  artificial  and  natural.  13.  Preparations  for  a  siege  on  the 
part  of  the  besieged.  Engines  for  throwing  stones  and  javelins.  Fiery  darts. 
Preparations  on  the  part  of  the  assailants.  Engines  of  war  on  their  side. 
Lines  of  circumvallation.  The  besiegers'  mount.  Towers,  fixed  and  mova 
ble.  The  battering-ram.  The  Roman  battering-ram  described.  Sheds  to 
protect  the  besiegers.  The  running  of  mines.  References  in  the  Old  Testa 
ment  to  the  above  appliances.  14.  Remarkable  sieges  of  antiquity — the 
siege  of  Ashdod,  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  of  Tyre  by  Nebuchadnez 
zar,  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus,  of  Tyre  by  Alexander  the  Great,  of  Jerusalem  by 
the  Romans 524 

VI.  The  Eights  Claimed  by  the  Victors.      15.  Remarks  on  the  extent  of  these. 
16.  The  rule  prescribed  by  Moses  for  the  Israelites.     Remarks  on  the  sever 
ity  of  ancient  warfare.     Merciful  spirit  of  the  Hebrew  kings.     17.  Remarks 
on  the  extirpation  of  the  Gauaanites 528 

Appendix.     On  Roman  citizenship -.- 531 

1.  The  apostle  Paul's  use  of  this  prerogative.  2.  Ways  in  which  foreigners  ob 
tained  it.  3.  Paul  had  it  as  the  son  of  a  Roman  citizen.  4.  Privileges  of 
Roman  citizens * ••  -  531 


24  CONTENTS. 

THIRD  DIVISION— SACKED  ANTIQUITIEa 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 

HISTORICAL  SURVEY.  V 

1.  General  remarks.  2.  The  history  of  the  antediluvian  world.  3.  The  law 
against  murder  after  the  deluge.  The  call  of  Abraham,  and  God's  purpose 
in  selecting  one  family  to  be  the  dep6sitary  of  revelation.  The  patriarchal 
age.  4.  The  tabernacle.  The  Mosaic  economy.  God  its  immediate  author. 
It  regulated  the  whole  life  of  the  Hebrews,  civil  and  religious,  was  supple 
mentary  to  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  preparatory  to  Christ's  advent,  tempo 
rary,  adapted  to  the  childhood  of  the  covenant  people,  and  given  immedi 
ately  by  God  in  all  its  details.  5.  It  taught  mainly  by  types.  No  provision 
for  stated  weekly  instruction  before  the  captivity.  6.  Introduction  of  psalm 
ody  and  music  by  David.  Notice  of  this  part  of  worship  in  Hezekiah's  time, 
and  after  the  captivity.  7.  The  first  and  second  temple.  8.  The  establish 
ment  of  the  Jewish  synagogue  after  the  captivity.  Its  importance  as  prepar 
ing  the  way  for  the  Christian  sanctuary -  534 

CHAPTER   XXVIII. 
THE   TABERNACLE   AND  ITS  FURNITURE. 

L  Structure  of  the  Tabernacle  and  Court.  1.  The  essential  idea  of  a  sanctuary. 
2.  General  description  of  the  tabernacle.  Remarks  on  the  boards  of  which 
its  framework  was  composed.  The  bars  and  their  rings.  3.  The  coverings 
of  the  sanctuary — the  innermost  curtain  called  the  tabernacle,  the  second 
curtain  called  the  tent,  the  two  coverings  above.  4.  Arrangement  of  the 
curtains.  Various  views  on  this  point.  Pius  of  the  tabernacle.  5.  The 
court  of  the  tabernacle.  Position  of  the  tabernacle  in  the  court 542 

IL  Furniture  of  the  Tabernacle.  6.  The  ark  of  the  covenant.  The  mercy-seat. 
The  cherubim  at  its  two  ends.  The  mercy-seat  not  a  mere  lid.  Remarks 
on  the  form  of  the  cherubim.  7.  The  altar  of  incense.  8.  The  table  of 
showbread  and  its  apparatus.  The  showbread.  Representation  of  the  table 
on  the  arch  of  Titus.  Different  names  applied  to  the  loaves  placed  upon  it 
Size  of  the  loaves.  9.  The  golden  candlestick  and  its  implements.  Its  form 
on  the  arch  of  Titus.  10.  The  brazen  altar  in  the  court  Form  and  position 
of  its  grate.  Filling  of  earth  for  the  interior  of  the  altar.  Apparatus  for  the 
altar.  11.  The  Liver  and  its  base.  Materials  of  which  these  were  made. 
12.  The  holy  anointing  oil.  13.  The  holy  sweet  incense 549 

HI.  Removal  of  the  Tabernacle  and  its  Furniture.  14.  Arrangements  for  encamp 
ing  and  joufneying.  15.  Distribution  of  service  in  the  removal  of  the  fcvber- 


CONTENTS.  25 

nacle.     16.  Preparation  of  the  most  holy  things  for  removal.     Their  conceal 
ment  from  the  eyes  of  the  people.     Remarks  on  the  order  of  service 557 

IV.  Symbolism  of  the  Tabenuide  and  its  Furniture.  17.  General  remarks.  18.  Sym 
bolism  of  the  tabernacle  as  a  whole.  19.  Of  the  inner  sanctuary,  with 
its  ark,  mercy-seat,  and  two  tables  of  the  law.  Meaning  of  the  expression 
"tabernacle  of  the  congregation."  Symbolical  meaning  of  the  cherubim. 

20.  Meaning  of  the  golden  lamps  and  showbread,  and  of  the  altar  of  incense. 

21.  Symbolism  of  the  materials  used  in  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle 
and  its  furniture.     22.  The  cloud  a  symbol  of  God's  presence.     Remarks  on 
the  word  "shekinah" 560 

CHAPTER   XXIX. 
THE   PRIESTHOOD.  SACRIFICES,  AND   OBLATIONS. 

1.  Points  in  which  the  Levitical  priests  typified  Christ.  Points  of  dissimilarity. 
Mediatorship  between  God  and  men  the  essence  of  priesthood.  No  proper 
priests  known  to  the  New  Testament.  The  essential  idea  of  sacrifices  -  -  567 

I.  The  Aaronic  Priesthood.  2.  Selection  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  for  God's  special 
service,  and  of  Aaron's  family  for  the  priesthood.  Notice  of  the  two  lines  of 
Eleazar  and  Ithamar.  3-9.  The  holy  garments  for  Aaron  and  his  sons. 
10.  Significance  of  the  priestly  garments.  Symbolism  of  the  mitre,  with  its 
golden  plate.  11.  Inauguration  of  Aaron  and  his  sons.  Anointing  the  sign 
of  consecration.  12.  Sacrifices,  and  sprinkling  of  blood  connected  with  this 
inauguration.  13.  Continuance  of  the  rites  of  inauguration.  Offerings  on 
the  eighth  day  for  the  congregation 538 

n.  The  Sacrifices  and  Oblations.  14.  Different  kinds  of  sacrifices,  and  the  natu 
ral  order  of  the  same.  15.  The  sin-offering.  Its  signification,  and  rites  con 
nected  with  it.  Question  of  the  distinction  between  sin-offerings  and  tres 
pass-offerings.  1C.  The  burnt-offering  and  its  significance.  17.  The  peace- 
offering.  Meaning  of  the  term,  and  various  divisions  of  this  class  of  offer 
ings.  Their  festive  character,  and  the  rites  connected  with  them.  General 
remarks  on  the  Hebrew  feasts.  18.  The  unbloody  oblations,  and  their  sig 
nificance.  19.  Typical  transactions  connected  with  sacrifices.  20.  God 
approached  under  the  Mosaic  economy  only  through  the  mediation  of  the 
priest.  Under  the  New  Testament  all  believers  are  a  spiritual  priesthood, 
approaching  God  through  Christ's  intercession 57G 

IV.  The  Priests  and  Levites  as  Classes.  21.  The  gradations  in  respect  to  the  rela 
tion  of  the  Israelites  to  God.  22.  Special  regulations  pertaining  to  the 
priestly  office.  Summary  of  the  duties  of  the  common  priests.  23.  Duties 
of  the  Levites  in  the  wilderness.  Reorganization  of  the  Levites  by  David. 
Their  various  offices  under  this  organization.  24.  Provision  for  the  main 
tenance  of  the  Levites  and  priests.  25.  The  so-called  second  tithe.  Remarks 
on  the  practice  of  giving  tithes.  2fi.  Regulations  respecting  the  first-born 
of  men  and  beasts.  27.  Offerings  of  first-fruits.  28.  The  Levitical  cities  584 

o 


26  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XXX. 

THE  DISTINCTIONS  OF   CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN. 

1.  General  remarks - 590 

I.  Distinctions  of  Clean  and  Unclean  in  Respect  to  Food.     2.  The  Levitical  specifi 

cations.     3.  Principle  of  these  distinctions-  -  591 

II.  Uncleanness  from  Conditions  of  the  Body.     4.  General  remark.     5.  Uncleanness 
from  leprosy.     The  so-called  leprosy  of  houses  and  garments.    Other  sources 
of  uncleanness.     G.  Death  the  culmination  of  Uncleanness 593 

ELI.  Purifications  from  Uncleanness.  7.  Rites  of  purification  in  less  important 
cases.  8.  Purification  of  women  after  childbirth  ;  9.  Of  persons  defiled  by 
the  touch  of  a  corpse.  10.  Kites  of  purification  prescribed  in  the  case  of 
those  who  had  recovered  from  the  plague  of  leprosy.  11.  Expiation  in  case 
of  a  murder  committed  by  an  unknown  person  - 594 

CHAPTER   XXXI. 

SACRED  SEASONS  OF   THE   HEBREWS 

L  ISabbaths,  Sabbatical  Years,  and  New  Moons.  1.  Tie  Sabbath  existed  from  the 
beginning.  2.  Essential  idea  of  the  Sabbath.  3.  Ordinances  engrafted  upon 
it  by  the  Mosaic  law.  These  local  and  temporary.  Change  of  the  day  under 
the  New  Testament.  4.  The  Sabbatical  year.  5.  The  year  of  jubilee.  Re 
marks  on  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  Sabbath."  6.  The  new  moon,  and  rites 
connected  with  it f)!»8 

II.  The  Original  National  Festivals.     1.  The  three  annual  festivals  appointed  by 
Moses.     8.  The  passover.     9.  Occasion  of  its  establishment,  and  manner  of 
its  celebration.     10.  Feast  of  unleavened  bread  connected  with  it*     11.  Sac 
rificial  character  of  the  passover.     It  was  both  commemorative  and  typical. 
Remarks  on  the  various  rites  of  the  passover.      12.  Sheaf  of  first-fruits. 
13.  Observance  of  the  passover  by  the  later  Jews.     14.  The  passover  preemi 
nently  a  type  of  Christ.     Its  passage  into  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  supper. 
15.  Feast  of  the  pentecost.     16.  Presentation  of  the  two  wave-loaves,  and  the 
sacrifices  connected  therewith.     17.  The  la\v  given  according  to  Jewish  tradi 
tion  on  the  day  of  peutecost.     The  Christian  dispensation  inaugurated  on 
this  day.     18.  The  feast  of  tabernacles.     1!>.   Rites  observed  on  the  occasion 
of  this  festival — the  dwelling  in  booths,  the  numerous  sacrifices  and  obla 
tions,  the  holy  convocations  on  the  first  and  eighth  days.     Later  Jewish 
usage  of  drawing  water  from   Siloam,   and  pouring  it  out  on  the   altar. 
20.  General  remarks COO 

III.  Later  «/»•/'•;>//  tfst'irnk.     21.  The  feast  of  purim.     22.  The  feast  of  dedication. 
23.   Annual  fasts  of  t lie  later  Jews - G08 


CONTENTS.  27 

CHAPTER   XXXII. 
VOWS  AND  DEVOTED  THINGS. 

1.  The  Herem,  or  devotion  to  destruction.  2.  Affirmative  vows.  3.  Remarks  on 
the  significance  of  these.  4.  Regulations  in  respect  to  vows.  5.  Negative 
vows.  Nazarite  vows  the  most  important  of  these.  The  three  rules  imposed 
on  the  Nazarite — abstinence  from  every  product  of  the  vine,  leaving  the  hair 
unshorn,  avoiding  defilement.  Kites  at  the  close  of  the  period  of  consecra 
tion.  Underlying  idea  of  the  Nazarite  vow.  Significance  of  the  various 
rules  pertaining  to  it.  7.  Remark  on  the  common  formula  of  swearing  -  G10 

CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

THE  FIRST  AND  SECOND  TEMPLE. 

1.  General  remarks 615 

I.  The  Temple  of  Solomon.     2.  Site  and  general  form.     3.  Interior  arrangements. 

4.  The  oracle  or  inner  sanctuary,  with  its  doorway  and  veil.  The  doorway 
and  veil  of  the  outer  sanctuary.  5.  Furniture  of  the  sanctuary.  6.  The 
porch  with  its  two  pillars  of  brass.  7.  The  chambers  around  the  temple. 
8.  The  inner  and  outer -court.  9.  Furniture  of  the  inner  court -  615 

II.  The  Temple  of  Zerubbabel     10.  General  account  of  its  structure.     11.  Com 
parison  of  it  with  the  first  temple.     Articles  wanting  in  it 620 

III.  The  Temple  of  Herod.     12.  Herod's  mode  of  procedure.     Why  the  temple  as 
renewed  by  him  wras  still  called  the  second  temple.     13.  Dimensions  of  the 
temple  area.     The  outermost  enclosure  called  the  court  of  the  Gentiles,  with 
its  porches.     14.  The  inner  court  with  its  walls.     Its  subdivision  into  the 
court  of  the  Israelites,  and  court  of  the  women.     The  court  of  the  priests. 

15.  Gates  in  the  outer  wall  of  the  temple  area.     Gates  in  the  inner  wall. 

16.  Porch  of  the  temple,  with  its  open  gateway.    Grates  to  the  outer  and  inner 
sanctuary,  with  their  veils.     Size  of  the  two  sanctuaries  and  of  the  temple. 

17.  The  altar  of  burnt-oflering 622 

CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

THE  JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE. 

1.  Origin  and  silent  growth  of  the  synagogue.  2.  The  synagogue  as  a  religious 
system  to  be  distinguished  from  synagogue  buildings.  3.  Description  of  the 
synagogue  buildings.  Oratories.  4.  Organization  of  the  synagogue.  5.  Ord«  r 
of  service.  6.  Influence  of  the  synagogue  on  the  Jews  themselves.  7.  On 
the  Christian  church.  8.  The  worship  of  the  Christian  church  contrasted 
with  that  of  Ihe  tabernacle  and  synagogue.  9.  The  so-called  Great  Syna 
gogue  627 


28  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE   XXXV. 

THE  JEWISH  SECTS  OF   LATER  TIMES. 

1.  General  remarks  on  the  sources  of  information  concerning  these  sects C35 

I.  The  1  'liar'isi '  x.     These  both  a  party  in  the  state  and  a  sect  in  religion.     Mean 

ing  of  •the  name.  Origin  of  the  sect.  3.  Its  essential  character.  Predomi 
nant  influence  of  the  Pharisees  in  religion  and  in  political  life.  4.  Their 
-tern  of  traditions.  5.  Their  theological  tenets.  Belief  in  angelic  beings, 
good  arid  evil  Belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  in  a  future  resur 
rection.  Josephus'  account  of  this  latter  doctrine  as  held  by  them.  Germs 
of  the  above  two  doctrines  in  the  Old  Testament.  Doctrine  in  respect  to  the 
divine  decrees  and  human  freedom.  6.  Our  Saviour's  denunciation  of  the 
Pharisees.  Remarks  on  the  terms  scribe  and  lawyer ••  -  635 

II.  The  Sadducees.     7.  Eemark  respecting  the  name.     The  Sadducees  both  a  sect 
and  a  party.      8.  Essential  feature  of  Sadduceeism.     9.  Their  theological 
tenets — denial  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  of  the  existence  of  angels  or 
spirits,  of  divine  foreordination.     Our  Saviour's  mode  of  refuting  the  Sad 
ducees 640 

III.  The  Essenes.     10.  Sources  of  knowledge  respecting  them.     They  were  an 
ascetic  community.     General  features  of  their  system.     11.  Their  theological 
belief---  C41 

IV.  The  Ilerodians.     12.  They  were  partisans  of  Herod  and  supporters  of-  the 
Roman  dominion  in  Palestine.     Question  of  the  Pharisees  and  Herodians 
respecting  the  tribute-money - C43 

APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DIVISION. 
ON   THE   IDOLATRY  OF   THE   HEBREWS. 

L  Remarks  on  the  Ancient  Systems  of  Idolatry,  1.  Sin  the  ground  of  man's  apos 
tasy  from  God.  Systems  of  idolatry  the  necessary  sequel.  2.  The  confound 
ing  of  God  with  nature.  3.  Loss  of  the  idea  of  God's  unity.  Higher  and 
lower  forms  of  nature  worship.  Worship  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead  and  of 
demons.  4.  Degradation  of  the  idea  of  deity.  5.  Image-worship  in  its  vari 
ous  forms.  Apology  of  the  philosophers  for  image-worship.  G.  Rites  of 
idolatrous  worship.  7.  Means  of  discovering  the  future — responses  of  ora 
cles,  dreams  and  visions,  divination  by  means  of  certain  outward  signs. 
Unbelief  the  main  element  of  criminality  in  the  employment  of  these  means. 
8.  Sorcery  in  its  various  forms 644 

IL  Principal  idols  worshipped  by  the  Hebrews.  9.  The  golden  calf.  10.  Baal 
and  Ashtoreth.  11.  Signification  of  the  word  "Baal."  He  was  probably  the 
sun-god.  12.  Ashtoreth  the  corresponding  female  deity.  13.  Remarks  on 
the  word  "Asherah,"  rendered  "grove  "in  the  English  version.  14.  Rites 
observed  in  the  worship  of  Baal  and  Ashtoreth.  15.  Molech,  and  the  rites 
of  his  worship.  Human  sacrifices  offered  to  him  in  the  valley  of  Hinnom. 
1(5.  Notice  of  other  false  gods— Bel,  Chemosh,  Dagon,  Gad  and  Meni,  Nebo, 
Rcmphan,  Tamniuz.  17.  Closing  remarks 049 


SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 


FIRST  DIVISION,  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

GENERAL  VIEW   OF   PALESTINE.* 

1.  The  term  Syria  was  sometimes  employed  by  the  ancients 
in  a  loose  way  as  extending  on  the  north  to  Paphlagonia,  and 
even  as  including  Assyria.  But  ancient  Syria,  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  word,  lay  along  the  Mediterranean,  from  Egypt  on 
the  south  to  the  gulf  of  Issus  (now  the  gulf  of  Iskanderun)  in 
the  northeastern  angle  of  the  Mediterranean.  It  was  separa 
ted  from  Asia  Minor  by  Mount  Amanus,  which  extends  from  the 
above-named  angle  of  the  Mediterranean  in  a  northeasterly 
direction  to  the  Euphrates.  It  had  for  its  eastern  border  the 
Euphrates  on.  the  north,  and  lower  down  the  Arabian  desert. 
On  the  south  it  was  bounded  by  Arabia  Petraea  and  Egypt. 
Hence  it  appears  that  it  included  substantially  the  same  terri 
tory  as  that  of  modern  Syria.  Tlie  Hebrew  term  Aram,  com 
monly  rendered  Syria  in  our  version,  is  not  identical  with  the 

°  "Writers  on  the  Geography  of  Palestine  and  the  adjacent  regions  find  it 
very  convenient  to  employ  a  number  of  modern  Arabic  terms;  as  Ain,  fountain; 
Beit,  house  or  place ;  Kefr,  village;  Tell,  hill;  etc.  The  reader  will  find  the  expla 
nation  of  these  terms  in  the  First  Appendix  to  this  Part ;  where  are  added  also 
some  brief  rules  for  the  pronunciation  of  Arabic  words.  In  the  study  of  the  pres 
ent  Outlines  of  Sacred  Geography  constant  reference  should  be  made  to  tho 
accompanying  maps. 

-84640 


30  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Syria  just  defined;  for,  on  the  one  hand,  it  excluded  the  land  of 
Canaan,  Philistia,  and  Phoenicia,  and,  on  the  other,  it  included 
Mesopotamia,  which  lies  between  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris. 

2.  Palestine,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  is  the  south 
western  part  of  Syria ;  that  is,  if  we  reckon  only  the  territory 
lying  west  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea.  But  if,  as  seems  most 
proper,  we  include  also  the  region  occupied  by  the  ancient 
Israelites  east  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea,  Palestine  is  the 
southern  part  of  Syria.  The  Biblical  student,  however,  should 
carefully  remember  that  everywhere  in  the  English  version  of 
the  Old  Testament  the  term  Palestine  (or,  in  the  Latin  form, 
Palestina)  means  the  land  of  the  Philistines.  It  is  so  used  by  our 
translators  in  Exod.  15 : 14;  Isa.  14  :  29,  31 ;  Joel  3  : 4.  But  in 
the  Psalms  the  same  Hebrew  word  (Pdesheth)  is  rendered  Phil- 
istm,  Psa.  GO  :  8;  87  :  4;  108  :  9;  once  Philistines,  Psa.  83  :  7.  In 
like  manner  Josephus  everywhere  calls  the  Philistines  Pah-.*/ int 
erns  and  their  land  Palestine,  though  he  occasionally  uses  the 
word  in  a  wider  sense.  Herodotus  applies  the  term  Syria 
Palestine  (Greek  Zvp«?  TLcfauorivi))  to  the  region  between  Phoe 
nicia  and  Egypt  (7.  89,  and  compare  1.  105;  2.  104;  3.  5),  but 
whether  he  means  to  include  the  mountainous  region  east  of 
the  Mediterranean  plain— this  latter  being  the  proper  home 
of  the  Philistines — has  been  doubted.  However  this  may  be, 
the  term  P destine  was  gradually  extended,  in  the  usage  of  the 
later  Greek  and  the  Roman  writers,  to  the  whole  country  of 
the  Jews  on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan,  and  this  is  the  sense  in 
which  we  here  employ  it. 

Other  designations  of  this  territory  are  the  following  : 
Canaan  or  the  Land  of  "Canaan.  Canaan  signifies  lowland, 
and  the  Canaanites  were  properly  .the  inhabitants  of  the  low 
regions  on  the  Mediterranean  and  in  the  Jordan  valley  (Gen. 
10:19;  Numb.  13:29;  Josh.  11:3);  but  sometimes  the  word 
Canaanite  is  used  in  a  wider  sense  of  all  the  tribes  west  of  the 
Jordan  (Gen.  24 : 3,  etc.).  Hence  the  terms  Canaan  and  Land 
of  Canaan  are  often  applied  to  the  whole  country  west  of  the 
Jordan. 


PALESTINE  31 

Israel  or  the  Land  of  Israel,  a  term  which  signified,  before 
the  division  of  the  nation  into  two  kingdoms,  the  whole  terri 
tory  of  the  Israelites;  but  afterwards  the  territory  of  the  ten 
tribes  as  distinguished  from  the  Land  of  Judah.  But  the  later 
writers,  who  lived  after  the  destruction  of  the  northern  king 
dom,  sometimes  apply  the  terms  Judah  and  Israel  to  the  whole 
region  occupied  by  the  covenant  people.  The  Lam/  <>f  ilie 
Hebrews  (Gen:  40  : 15)  is  used  by  Joseph  when  addressing  for 
eigners,  by  whom  the  posterity  of  Abraham  were  customarily 
known  as  Hebrews,  while  in  their  mutual  intercourse  they  called 
themselves  the  children  of  Israel. 

During  the  captivity  it  was  called  by  Daniel  the  Glorious 
Land  (chaps.  8:9;  11 : 16),  for  the  explanation  of  which  term 
see  Jer.  3  : 19 ;  Ezek.  20  : 6,  15.  After  the  captivity  Zechariah 
called  it  the  Holy  Land  (chap.  2:12),  and  this  is^its  common 
appellation  at  the  present  day. .  To  all  believers  it  is  holy 
ground,  as  the  place  where  God  revealed  himself  for  man's 
redemption,  first  to  the  patriarchs  and  prophets,  and  afterwards 
in  the  person  of  his  Son. 

In  the  New  Testament  it  is  once  called  the  Land  of  Promise 
(Heb.  11:9)  as  being  the  land  promised  to  the  patriarchs  for  an 
everlasting  possession. 

The  later  divisions  of  Palestine  will  be  considered  here 
after. 

3.  The  original  promise  to  Abraham  included  much  more 
than  the  territory  actually  occupied  by  the  Hebrews.  In  Gen. 
15  : 18  it  is  thus  expressed :  "  Unto  thy  seed  have  I  given  this 
land  from  the  river  of  Egypt  unto  the  great  river,  the  river 
Euphrates."  The  river  of  Egypt  (Hebrew  nahar,  not  nahal)  is 
the  Nile.  The  meaning  of  the  promise  is  not  that  the  Nile  with 
its  fertile  borders,  which  constitute  the  land  of  Egypt,  shall  be 
included :  for  in  the  enumeration  of  nations  which  follows  Egypt 
is  omitted.  But  the  territory  granted  extends  from  that  river 
and  country  to  the  Euphrates;  that  is,  to  that  part  of  the  Eu 
phrates  which  bends  to  the  westward  and  is  accessible  from 
Palestine,  for  lower  down  the  Euphrates  is  separated  from  Syria 


32  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

by  a  vast  desert.  The  same  promise  was  renewed  to  the  Israel 
ites  upon  their  departure  from  Egypt :  "  I  will  set  thy  bounds 
from  the  Ked  sea  even  unto  the  sea  of  the  Philistines,  and  from 
the  desert  unto  the  river."  Exod.  23  :  31.  The  sea  of  the  Phil 
istines  is  the  Mediterranean,  the  river  is  the  Euphrates,  and  the 
desert  that  south  of  Palestine.  A  line  drawn  from  the  Red  sea 
north  leaves  Egypt  to  the  west,  as  it  should  do  in  accordance 
with  the  true  intent  of  the  former  promise. 

The  passages  quoted  above  give  the  land  of  promise  in  its 
ideal — the  territory  which  the  Hebrews  might  have  permanently 
possessed,  had  they  fully  complied  with  the  conditions  of  God's 
covenant  with  them;  but  which  was  never  permanently  pos 
sessed  by  them  in  its  whole  extent  by  reason  of  their  unfaith 
fulness.  Numb.  33:55,  56;  Deut.  7:12-26;  Josh.  23:11-13; 
Judges  1 :  27-36  ;  2  : 1-5,  20-23.  In  the  reigns  of  David  and 
Solomon,  however,  most  of  this  territory  was  subject  to  Israel. 
2  Sam.  chaps.  3-15. 

We  must  not  confound  the  two  expressions,  river  of  Egypt  (nahar  miz- 
raim]  and  torrent  of  Egypt  (nahal  mizraim}.  The  Hebrews  use  the  word 
nahar  only  of  a  perennial  stream,  that  is,  a  proper  river ;  while  the  word 
nnlutl  denotes  a  torrent-bed  in  which  water  flows  only  during  the  rainy  sea 
son.  The  ordinary  name  for  the  Nile  is  Yeor ;  yet  it  is  called  a  rive?'  in 
Isa,  19 : 5.  The  torrent  of  Egypt  (Numb.  34  : 5  ;  Josh.  15  : 4,  47  ;  1  Kings 
8  :  65  ;  2  Kings  24  : 7  ;  Isa.  27  : 12)  or  simply  the  torrent  (Ezek.  47  : 19  ; 
48  : 28)  is  thought  with  good  reason  to  be  the  modern  Wady  el-Arish  on 
the  confines  of  Egypt  and  Palestine. 

4.  A  second  description  of  the  promised  land  is  that  given  by 
Moses  just  before  his  death  (Numb.  34 : 1-12) ;  but  which  does 
not  include  the  territory  east  of  the  Jordan,  this  having  been 
already  assigned  to  the  tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  the  half 
tribe  of  Manasseh.  Numb.  chap.  32.  Still  a  third  is  contained 
in  the  book  of  Joshua,  where  the  boundaries  of  the  several 
tribes  are  given,  with  the  cities  and  towns  belonging  to  each. 
Chaps.  12-19.  Except  for  the  north  border,  these  two  descrip 
tions  agree.  The  western  boundary  is  the  Mediterranean.  The 
r".v/,  /•/>,  south  of  Sermon  (the  two  and  a  half  tribes  east  of  the  Jor- 


PALESTINE.  33 

dan  being  included),  is  Edom  and  the  Dead  sea  as  far  north  as  the 
Arnon  (the  modern  Wady-el-Mojib),  and  after  that  Amuion  and 
the  desert.  The  southern  border  began  apparently  at  the  south 
eastern  part  of  the  south  bay  of  the  Dead  sea,  ran  thence  south 
along  the  Arabah  (the  long  narrow  valley  south  of  the  Dead 
sea)  to  the  ascent  of  Akrabbim,  a  line  of  chalk  cliffs  running 
across  the  Arabah  a  few  miles  south  of  the  Dead  sea.  Here  it 
turned  westward,  and  pursuing  a  general  westerly  course,  came 
out  at  the  torrent  of  Egypt  on  the  Mediterranean.  It  thus  coin 
cided  substantially,  as  Kobinson  remarks  (Physical  Geog.  p.  17), 

with  the  parallel  of  lat.  31°  N. 

» 

The  wilderness  of  Zin  was  in  the  south  of  Palestine  west  of  Edom,  per 
haps  extending  into  the  Arabah.  Mount  Seir,  the  ancient  home  of  the 
Edomites,  was  on  the  east  of  the  Arabah.  Hence  a  line  drawn  in  a  southerly 
direction  "from  the  salt  sea,  from  the  bay  that  looketh  southward''  (Josh. 
15  :  2),  beginning  at  its  southeastern  part  would  pass  "along  by  the  coast 
of  Edom. "  Numb.  34  : 3.  If,  as  is  thought  by  Robinson  and  others,  the 
site  of  Kadesh-bamea,  by  which  the  line  of  the  south  border  passed  (Numb. 
34  : 4  ;  Josh.  15  :3),  was  at  the  modern  fountain  Ain-el-Weibeh  in  the  des 
ert  some  25  miles  S.  S.  W.  of  the  southern  bay  of  the  Dead  sea,  then  the 
line  of  the  south  border  must  have  curved  considerably  to  the  south  from 
the  ascent  of  Akrabbim,  and  then  have  returned  again,  as  will  be  evident 
from  an  inspection  of  the  map  of  the  Mount  Sinai  peninsula.  Of  the  other 
places  named  in  the  description  of  Moses  and  Joshua  nothing  is  known 
with  certainty. 

The  north  border  of  the  territory  assigned  to  Israel  in  the 
description  of  Moses  (Numb.  34 :  7-9)  passes  from  the  great  sea, 
that  is,  the  Mediterranean,  to  Mount  Hor ;  thence  to  the  entrance 
of  Hamath ;  thence  to  Zedad,  Ziphron,  and  Hazar-enan.  Ha- 
matli  lies  in  the  valley  of  the  Orontes  on  both  sides  of  that  river 
above  the  35th  parallel  of  north  latitude,  consequently  far  north 
of  the  territory  permanently  occupied  by  the  Israelites.  By  the 
Greeks  and  Komans  it  was  called  Epiphania,  but  its  ancient 
name  remains  to  this  day  on  the  lips  of  the  common  people, 
who  call  it  Hainan.  Eobinson,  Bib.  Res.  3,  p.  551.  Some  have 
placed  "the  entering  in  of  Hamath"  (Numb.  34:8,  etc.)  under 
the  base  of  Hermon  at  the  southern  entrance  of  the  valley  of 

2* 


34  SACREI}  GEOGRAPHY. 

Ccelesyria  which  separates  the  ridges  of  Lebanon  and  Anti- 
Lebanon  ;  others  at  the  water-shed  in  this  valley  between  the 
Leontes,  which  flows  south,  and  the  Orontes,  which  runs  north. 
But  Robinson  and  others  place  it  with  good  reason  at  the  north 
ern  extremity  of  Lebanon  in  the  great  interval  or  opening  be 
tween  that  mountain  and  the  range  of  Bargylus  on  the  north. 
See  Eobinson,  Bib.  Res.  3,  pp.  568,  569;  Porter's  Damascus, 
2,  p.  354,  seq.  Mount  Hor  is  then  the  northern  peak  of  Leba 
non,  whence  the  boundary  line  passes  through  the  entering  in 
of  Hamath,  and  so  on  to  Zedad,  supposed  to  be  the  modern 
Sudud,  about  35  miles  southeast  of  Hums,  the  ancient  Emessa. 
The  eastern  border  passed  through  Riblah,the  modern  Ribleh, 
on  the  upper  course  of  the  Orontes,  and  so  on  past  the  base  of 
Hernion  to  the  Sea  of  Chinneroth,  that  is,  Gennesaret,  and  the 
Jordan. 

The  northern  boundary  of  the  Israelitish  territory  as  (l(fn,<"l 
in  the  book  of  Joshua  is  to  be  ascertained  from  the  allotments  of 
Asher  and  Naphtali  west  of  the  Jordan  and  the  half  tribe  of 
Manasseh  east  of  that  river,  for  these  were  the  three  northern 
tribes.  From  the  description  of  Asher's  territory  (Josh.  19 : 24- 
31)  we  learn  that  it  lay  along  the  Mediterranean  from  Mount 
Carmel  to  Zidon.  East  of  Asher  was  the  territory  of  Naphtali, 
h; iv ing  on  the  north  the  opening  of  the  great  valley  of  Coele 
syria  and  the  southern  extremity  of  Mount  Hermon.  According 
to  Josephus  (Bk.  1,  22)  it  extended  above  the  sea  of  Galilee 
eastward  to  Damascus,  but  this  must  have  been  before  the  rise 
of  the  Syrian  monarchy.  See  Grove,  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  art. 
Palestine.  Baal-gad,  in  the  valley  of  Ccelesyria,  under  Mount 
Hermon,  was  the  limit  of  Joshua's  conquest.  Josh.  11:17; 
12  :  7,  and  compare  13  :  5.  It  appears,  then,  that  the  northern 
boundary,  as  denned  by  Moses,  was  some  75  miles  or  more  north 
of  that  as  given  in  the  allotments  of  Asher  and  Naphtali  under 
Joshua.  The  intervening  region  was  the  northern  part  of  the 
land  that  yet  remained  to  be  possessed.  Josh.  13  : 1,  5. 

5.  For  the  reason  already  referred  to  (No.  3  above),  the 
r«i'/<)ii  permanently  occupied  by  the  twelve  tribes  was  still  more 


PALESTINE.  35 

circumscribed;  for  it  excluded  all  Phoenicia  on  the  northwest 
coast,  and  the  land  of  the  Philistines  in  the  southwest.  Its 
southern  and  eastern  borders  have  already  been  sufficiently 
indicated  (No.  4  above).  Its  western  border  was  Philistia  and 
£he  Mediterranean.  For  its  northern  border  Robinson  assumes 
a  line  beginning  near  the  northern  base  of  Rfis-el-Abyad,  that  is, 
White  Promontory  (the  Promontorium  AHumi  of  the  ancients), 
which  lies  south  of  Tyre  in  about  lat.  33°  10'  N.,  and  drawn  thence 
slightly  north  of  east,  and  curving  so  as  to  take  in  Kana,  the 
fortress  Tibnin  and  also  Hunin,  until  it  strikes  -near  Dan  and 
B  ,nias  at  the  southern  base  of  Hermou,  in  .lat.  33°  16'  N. 
Physical  Geog.  of  Palestine,  p.  18,  and  see  also  the  map  of  Pal 
estine.  The  following  are  the  dimensions  of  this  territory  as 
given  by  the  same  author.  From  north  to  south  136  minutes  of 
latitude,  that  is,  136  geographical,  or  158  English  miles.  The 
breadth  from  west  to  east,  reckoning  from  near  Gaza,  about  90 
minutes  of  longitude ;  and  the  same  reckoning  from  the  prom 
ontory  of  Carmel,  that  is  between  85  and  90  English  miles. 
This  measurement  of  width  includes  the  region  east  of  the  Jor 
dan  and  Dead  sea.  We  add  a  few  other  measurements.  A 
line  drawn  north  from  the  latitude  of  Beersheba  to  the  north 
ern  border  will  measure  about  139  English  miles.  "  From 
Dan,"  at  the  southern  base  of  Mount  Hermon,  "even  unto 
Beersheba,"  in  a  line  bearing  west  of  south,  is  between  144  and 
145  English  miles.  The  breadth  of  the  country  from  the  shore 
of  the  Mediterranean  near  Gaza  to  the  Dead  sea  three  miles 
south  of  Engedi  is,  according  to  the  latest  and  most  accurate 
measurements,  a  trifle  less  than  58  statute  miles.  In  the  ex 
treme  northern  part  it  is  not  much  over  23  English  miles  in 
width  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Jordan.  But,  as  Robinson 
remarks,  all  these  distances,  if  measured  by  hours  along  the 
road,  will  become  greater. 

In  the  oriental  regions  distances  are  reckoned  by  hours,  the  distance 
varying  with  the  kind  of  animal,  and  also  the  nature  of  the  ground.  The 
following  are  Robinson's  specifications  : 

1  hour  with  camels  =  2  geographical  or  2£  statute  miles. 

1  hour  with  horses  or  mules  =  2.4  geographical  of  3  statute  miles. 


36  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

There  is  a  striking  resemblance  in  form  between  the  gener.il  outlines 
of  Palestine  and  the  state  of  New  Hampshire,  the  Connecticut  river  an- 
sucring  to  the  Mediterranean.  Nor  is  the  difference  in  extent  very  great, 
the  length  of  New  Hampshire  from  north  to  south  being  176  miles,  its 
extreme  breadth  about  90  miles,  and  its  average  breadth  45  miles.  Rob.- 
inson  computes  the  whole  area  of  Palestine  on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan  at 
12,000  square  miles,  of  which  about  7,OOQ  square  miles,  constituting  by  far 
the  most  important  portion,  lie  on  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan  ;  while  the 
entire  area  of  New  Hampshire  is  9,280  square  miles.  Thus  limited  are  the 
boundaries  of  the  land  appointed  by  God  to  be  the  theatre  of  the  most 
stupendous  events  affecting  the  destiny  of  the  whole  human  family.  But 
the  eternal  principles  of  truth  and  the  moral  power  of  which  they  are  the 
source  are  not  measured  by  extent  of  territory. 

6.  The  most  striking  feature  of  Palestine,  upon  the  knowledge 
of  which  the  proper  apprehension  of  its  general  structure  de 
pends,  is  the  deep  volley  of  the  Jordan  and  the  Dead  sea,  which, 
running  in  a  line  north  and  south,  divides  it  into  two  unequal 
parts ;  the  western,  which  is  the  proper  land  of  Canaan,  and  the 
eastern,  which  includes  Gilead  and  Bashan.     This  valley,  which 
has  no  parallel  anywhere  on  our  globe  for  depth,  is,  as  we  shall 
see  hereafter,  an  immense  rift  extending  all  the  way  from  Anti- 
och  to  the  mouth  of  the  sea  of  Akabah,  through  more  than  eight 
degrees  of  latitude.     In  the  most  depressed  part  of  it,  shut  in 
on  either  side  by  precipitous  frowning  cliffs,  lies  the  Dead  sea, 
more  than  1,300  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean,  and 
having  itself  also  a  depth  of  1,300  feet  or  more.     Into  the  north 
ern  extremity  of  the  Dead  sea  rushes  the  Jordan  through  a  tor 
tuous  and  rapidly  descending  channel,  to  lose  itself  in  its  briny 
waters. 

7.  The  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea  has  on  its  west 
side  a  broad  and  mountainous  belt  extending  all  the  way  from 
Lebanon  to  the  southern  desert,  except  where  it  is  interrupted 
by  the  plain  of  Esdraelon.     North  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon 
this  hill  country  extends  to  the  border  of  the  Mediterranean, 
leaving  only  a  narrow  strip  of  level  land  on  the  seashore,  and 
has  some  beautiful  and  fertile  plains  interspersed  among  its 
ridges,  one  of  which,  Merj-el-Buttauf,  is  of  large  extent.     South 


PALESTINE.  37 

of  the  pLiin  of  Esdnielon  the  mountainous  belt  now  under  con 
sideration  sinks  down  abruptly  on  the  east  to  the  valley  of  the 
J<  >rdan  and  Dead  sea ;  but  on  the  west  it  descends  by  an  offset 
into  a  range  of  lower  hills  which  lie  between  it  and  the  great 
plain  of  the  Mediterranean.  It  is  highest  in  the  vicinity  of 
Hebron ;  and  its  breadth,  inclusive  of  the  line  of  hills  on  the 
west,  is  stated  by  Kobinson  to  be  not  less  than  from  twenty  to 
twenty-five  geographical  miles.  Bib.  Researches,  vol.  1,  p.  258. 
The  breadth  of  the  upper  mountainous  region  is,  according  to 
the  same  authority,  some  fifteen  or  twenty  miles.  Physical 
Geog.,  p.  34. 

8.  The  general  direction  of  the  mountainous  belt  is  from 
north  to  south,  while  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  trends  to 
the  S.  S.  W.     Thus  there  is  left  between  the  Mediterranean  and 
the  hill  country  a  triangular  plain  interrupted  in  its  northern 
part  by  the  range  of  Carmel.     The  southern  part  of  this  plain, 
as  far  north  as  Lydda  and  Joppa,  was  called  by  the  Hebrews 
the  ShepJtelah,  that  is,  low  country.     North  of  Lydda  and  Joppa 
is  the  Sharon  of  the  Old  Testament,  so  celebrated  for  its  fertility, 
extending  to  the  vicinity  of  the  ancient  Ciesarea.     North  of  the 
promontory  of  Carmel  is  the  plain  of  Akka.     In  the  vicinity  of 
Gaza  the  breadth  of  this  plain  is  about  twenty  miles.     Oppo 
site  to  Joppa  it  is  not  more  than  half  that  distance.     The  length 
of  Sharon  and  the  Shephelah  taken  together  is  not  less  than 
seventy  miles. 

The  Hebrew  terms,  shephelah,  low  country;  misJior,  level  tract  or  table 
land;  Icikkdr,  circuit:;  ardbah,  desert  tract,  are  confounded  in  the  English 
version.  The  first  of  these,  shephelah,  is  rendered  in  a  variety  of  ways : 
vale  (Dent.  1:7;  Josh.  10  : 40  ;  1  Kings  10  : 27  ;  2  Chron.  1 : 15  ;  Jer.  33  : 13) ; 
valley  (Josh.  11 :  2,  16  ;  15  : 33  ;  Judg.  1:9;  Jer.  32  : 44)  ;  valleys  (Josh. 
9:1;  12  :  8)  ;  low  country  (2  Chron.  26  : 10  ;  28  : 18) ;  low  plains  (1  Chron. 
27  : 28  ;  2  Chron.  9  : 27) ;  plain-  (Jer.  17  :  26  ;  Obad.  19  ;  Zech.  7  :  7).  But 
it  always  refers  to  the  plain  of  the  Mediterranean  below  Joppa. 

9.  Beyond  the  vaUey  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea  on  the 
east  is  a  high  table  land  broken  by  deep  ravines.     Viewed  from 
the  west,  this  high  plateau,  sloping  down  precipitously  to  the 


38  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Jordan  and  Dead  sea,  presents  the  aspect  of  an  immense  wall  of 
nearly  uniform  elevation.  It  rises  from  2,000  to  3,000  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  Mediterranean,  to  which  is  to  be  added,  in  the 
lower  part,  1,300  feet  for  the  depression  of  the  Dead  sea  below 
the  same  level.  This,  as  already  remarked,  is  the  region  of 
Gilead  and-Bashan.  Stretching  off  to  the  east,  it  gradually 
merges  itself  in  the  desert  which  forms  the  eastern  boundary  of 
Palestine. 

10.  We  have  thus,  for  the  general  outlines  of  Palestine,  two 
mountainous  belts  and  two  depressed  regions,  all  running  north 
<(//</  Mirth.     Intimately  connected  with  this  general  configura 
tion,  as  also  with  the  geological  character  of  the  region  in  which 
limestone  prevails,  is  another  striking  feature  of  Palestine,  its 
intersection  everywhere  by  numerous  ravines  having  a  general  direc 
tion  of  cast  and  west.     Some  of  these  have  the  character  of  broad 
and  fertile  depressions,  but  most  of  them  are  narrow  gorges, 
sometimes  of  immense  depth  with  precipitous  sides.     A  few 
only  of  these  gorges  are  watered  by  perennial  streams,  the  rest 
being  torrent-beds  through  which  the  water  rushes  with  violence 
in  the  rainy  season,  while  they  are  dry  the  rest  of  the  year.     By 
these  torrent-beds  the  high  land  of  Palestine  is  wonderfully  cut 
up  into  ridges  and  rounded  hills,  varying  in  color  from  white 
to  yellowish  or  reddish  brown.     Where  basalt  abounds,  as  in 
the  cliffs  back  of  Tiberias  and  over  the  northern  part  of  the 
country  east  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea,  they  impart  a  dark 
hue  to  the  soil.     The  limestone  region  abounds  everywhere  in 
caverns. 

11.  The   peculiar   configuration   of  Palestine   just   noticed 
makes  1  ravel  from  north  to  south  impracticable  except  in  certain 
lines.     From  the  south  of  Palestine  to  the  north  the  traveller 
can  pass  along  the  lowland  of  the  Mediterranean,  or  over  the 
high  country  along  the  water-shed  that  divides  the  ravines  run 
ning  east  into  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea  from  those  running  west 
into  the  Mediterranean.      But  this  latter  route  is  made  labori 
ous  in  some  parts  by  the  interlapping  of  the  ravines,  the  heads 
of  some  that  run  off  to  the  east  lying  a  mile  or  two  westward 


PALESTINE.  39 

of  the  commencement  of  others  that  run  in  a  contrary  direc 
tion.  Robinson,  Phys.  Geog.  p.  34.  The  road  along  the  valley 
of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea  on  the  western  side  is  broken  off 
by  the  two  promontories  Rfis-el-Feshkhah  and  Ras-el-Mersed, 
that  rim  out  into  the  waters  of  the  Dead  sea.  But  south  and 
north  of  these  headlands  the  way  is  uninterrupted.  The  access 
to  the  highlands  laterally  from  the  lowlands  of  the  Mediterra 
nean  and  from  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea  is,  as  a 
general  rule,  through  these  ravines  or  wadys,  as  the  Arabs 
call  them.  In  some  places,  as  at  the  upper  and 'lower  Beth- 
horon,  .the  pass  up  and  down  is  by  a  zigzag  path  over  the  ridge 
between  two  wadys;  but  there  is  no  passing  north  and  south 
except  by  the  routes  above  indicated.  Thus  the  bands  of  the 
Moabites  and  Ammonites  that  came  against  King  Jehoshaphat 
passed  around  the  south  end  of  the  Dead  sea  and  along  its 
western  border  to  En-gedi  (the  modern  Ain  July,  that  is,  in  both 
Hebrew  and  Arabic,  Fountain  of  Hie  kid),  then  up  the  pass  at 
En-gedi  to  the  "wilderness  of  Tekoa  southeast  of  Beth-lehem. 
2  Chron.  20 : 1,  2,  20.  Thus  also  Joshua,  when  he  marched 
from  his  camp  at  Gilgal  near  Jericho  to  the  relief  of  the  Gibe- 
onites  (Josh.  10 : 7),  must  have  ascended  by  the  gorge  of  the 
great  Wady  Kelt  directly  back  of  Jericho,  through  which  the 
road  to  the  higher  region  lies  at  the  present  day ;  and  when  he 
had  discomfited  the  confederate  kings  at  Gibeon,  he  drove  them 
westward  down  the  pass  at  the  Beth-horons  (now  the  upper  and 
lower  Beit-Ur).  In  like  manner  the  Philistines  invaded  the 
mountainous  region  from  their  native  plain  through  these 
passes ;  or  going  northward  they  entered  the  plain  of  Esdrae- 
lon,  arid  thus  the  valley  of  Jezreel,  north  of  the  ridge  of  Gilboa, 
and  the  mountainous  region  south. 

The  peculiar  features  of  Palestine  that  have  now  been  con 
sidered  furnish  a  full  explanation  of  the  fact  that  the  road  over 
which  the  armies  of  Egypt,  on  the  one  side,  and  Assyria  and 
Chaldea,  on  the  other,  passed  in  their  mutual  conflicts,  lay 
along  the  plain  of  the  Mediterranean  to  that  of  Esdraelon,  and 
so  on  across  the  Jordan  to  the  northeast;  that  the  strong  fort- 


40  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

ress  of  Gaza  (Heb.  Azzah,  strong)  on  the  southern  confines  of 
Philistia,  was  the  key  of  Egypt ;  and  that  the  plain  of  Esdrae- 
lon  has  been  for  ages  a  celebrated  battle  ground. 

Roads  for  wheeled  vehicles  are  unknown  at  the  present  day  in  Palestine, 
nor  do  they  appear  ever  to  have  been  in  general  use  except  on  the  plains. 
We  find,  however,  chariots  in  use  in  ancient  days  not  only  in  the  lowlands, 
but  also  in  the  more  elevated  regions ;  as  at  Ramath-gilead  east  of  the  Jor 
dan  (1  Kings  22:31-34;  2  Kings  9:16),  and  around  Samaria  (1  Kings 
20  :  21,  25  ;  22  :  37,  38  ;  2  "Kings  5  :  9,  21  ;  10  : 15,  16).  When  Josiah  was 
slain  at  Megiddo  his  servants  carried  him  in  a  chariot  to  Jerusalem. 
2  Kings  23  :  30  ;  2  Chron.  35  :  24.  The  eunuch  who  had  been  up  to  Jeru- 
sali-ni  to  worship  was  returning  sitting  in  his  chariot  when  Philip  met  him 
(Acts  8  :  28),  perhaps  on  the  Roman  road.  Stanley,  Sinai  and  Palestine, 
p.  134.  For  the  purpose  of  regal  display,  Absalom  prepared  him  horses 
and  chariots  apparently  at  Jerusalem.  2  Sam.  15  : 1.  Carts  were  also 
used  to  some  extent  in  agriculture.  Amos  2  : 13.  But  wheel  carriages 
were  never  in  common  use  in  Palestine  for  travel,  where  at  the  present 
day  only  miserable  bridle  paths  lead  from  one  hill  to  another.  Thomson, 
The  Land  and  the  Book,  1,  p.  103. 

12.  Palestine,  as  we  have  previously  noticed,  was  at  once 
situated  in  the  centre  of  ancient  civilization,  and  yet  remark 
ably  separated  from  it  by  natural  barriers.  It  was  thus  a 
strong  country  in  a  military  point  of  view.  The  main  passages 
to  it  for  armies  were  from  Egypt  on  the  southwest  and  the  east 
ern  empires  on  the  northeast,  and  these  gave  access  only  to  the 
low  lands.  The  mountainous  regions  could  be  approached 
only  through  the  difficult  passes  above  noticed.  This  secluded 
character  of  the  land  of  Israel  was  also  eminently  favorable  to 
the  education  of  the  Israelites  as  a  peculiar  people  under  pecu 
liar  institutions,  in  accordance  with  the  prophetic  announce 
ment  :  "  Lo,  the  people  shall  dwell  alone,  and  shall  not  be  reck 
oned  among  the  nations."  Numb.  23  :  9.  If  their  perverseness 
in  imitating  the  idolatrous  practices  of  their  heathen  neighbors 
counteracted  the  benevolent  design  of  God,  and  made  it  neces 
sary  that  he  should  administer  to  them  through  these  same 
nations  severe  discipline,  it  was  not  because  their  situation, 
geographically  considered,  was  not  eminently  favorable  to  the 
training  which  God  had  in  view. 


PALESTINE.  41 

CHAPTEK   II. 

HIGHLANDS   WEST  OF  THE    JORDAN   VALLEY. 

I.     NORTHEKN  SECTION— GALILEE   IN  PART. 

1.  THE  mighty  ranges  of  Lebanon  on  the  west,  and  on  the 
east  Anti-Lebanon  ("Lebanon  toward  the  sun-rising,"  Josh. 
13  :  5,  with  which  description  its  modern  Arabic  name  Jebel-esh- 
>S7"//7»y/,  that  is,  East  mountain,  well  agrees)  are  separated  by  the 
valley  of  Coelesyria.     Through  the  southern  part  of  this  vale 
flows  the   Litany  (the  ancient  Leontes)  in  a   general   south- 
southwest  direction,  till,   curving  round  the  southern   end  of 
Lebanon,  it  passes  westward  through  a  deep  and  narrow  gorge 
into  the  more  open  region  towards  the  coast,  and  so  to  the 
Mediterranean,  into  which  it  empties  itself  a  few  miles  above 
Tyre  under  the  name  of  el-Kasiniiyeh. 

2.  From  the  southern  end  of  Lebanon  there  stretches  tow 
ards  the  south,  as  far  as  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon,  a  broad 
elevated  tract,  broken  by  mountainous  ridges  and  peaks.      On 
the  east  this  region  is  bounded  by  the  valley  of  the  Jordan.    On 
the  west  it  is  skirted  as  far  south  as  the  promontory  Ras-en- 
Nakurah  by  the  southern  end  of  the  Phenician  plain,  a  narrow 
strip  of  land,  which  Robinson  describes  as  not  more  than  three 
or  four  miles  in  breadth,  with  low  ridges  running  down  into  it 
from  the  hill  country.     Phys.  Geog.,  p.  125.     South  of  en-Na- 
kurah  is  the  plain  of  Akka,  extending  some  twenty  miles  to  the 
base  of  Carmel  with  an  average  breadth  of  from  four  to  six  miles. 
Robinson,  ibid.    The  highest  part  of  this  elevated  tract  lies  west 
of  the  Jordan  between  the  lakes  Huleh  (the  waters  of  Merom, 
Josh.  11 : 5,  7)  and  Gennesareth.    This  is  Mount  Naphtali  of  the 
book  of  Joshua.     Chap.  20  :  7.     Here  is  the  town  of  Safed  on  a 
lofty  hill  2,775  feet  above  the  sea,  while  a  little  to  the  west  is 
the  cliff  called  Jebel  Jerir.uk  about  4,000  feet  in  height.     Sy- 


42  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

nmnds  as  quoted  in  Van  de  Velde's  Memoir,  p.  177.  The  hills 
skirting  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  on  its  northern  border  are  high 
and  precipitous.  On  the  west  of  Nazareth  is  one  rising  to  the 
height  of  about  1,600  feet.  Robinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  23. 

3.  But  the  most  interesting  and  remarkable  eminence  in 
this  region  is  Mount  Tabor  (Josephus,  Itabyrion;  Polybius, 
^Itiilit/riaH ;  Septuagint,  Itabyrion;  Jer.  46:18;  Hosea  5:1; 
elsewhere  Thalor;  modern  Arabic  name,  Jelel-et-Tur)  lying 
about  two  and  a  quarter  hours  southeast  by  east  from  Naza 
reth,  in  the  northeastern  arm  of  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon. 
It  is  wholly,  of  limestone,  beautifully  symmetrical  in  form,  and 
standing  out  prominently  to  view  in  the -plain.  Seen  from  the 
west-northwest,  it  presents,  according  to  Robinson,  the  appear 
ance  of  a  truncated  cone ;  but  viewed  from  the  southwest,  that 
of  the  segment  of  a  sphere.  Its  sides  are  studded  with  bushes 
and  oak  orchards  with  a  sprinkling  of  pistacio-trees,  presenting 
a  beautiful  appearance  and  fine  shade.  The  top  of  the  moun 
tain  consists  of  an  oblong  plain  or  basin,  embracing  a  circuit  of 
about  half  an  hour's  walk,  and  extending  from  northwest  to 
southeast,  with  ledges  of  rock  on  both  sides.  Tabor  was  once 
the  site  of  a  city,  remains  of  which,  as  also  of  fortifications  be 
longing  to  different  periods,  are  still  visible.  Eobinson,  Phys. 
Geog.,  p.  24.  Its  height  is  given  by  Yan  de  Velde  at  1,865 
feet.  Memoir,  p.  177. 

Travellers  are  agreed  in  regarding  the  view  from  the  summit 
of  Tabor  as  one  of  the  finest  in  the  Holy  Land.  Not  only  is  it 
in  itself  very  beautiful  and  extensive,  but  it  embraces  also  a 
remarkable  assemblage  of  objects  endeared  to  the  Christian  by 
the  holiest  reminiscences. 

On  the  east  are  seen  the  whole  outlines  of  the  basin  in  which  reposes 
the  sea  of  ( lalilee,  though  only  a  small  part  of  -the  lake  itself  is  visible.  Be 
yond  the  lake,  in  the  distant  east,  the  eye  rests  on  an  endless  succession  of 
hills  and  valleys,  embracing  the  high  table  land  of  Jaulan  and  Hauran  ;  and, 
farther  south,  the  mountains  of  ancient  Bashan  and  Gilead.  On  the  south 
the  summit  of  Gilboa  rises  behind  the  nearer  ridge  of  ed-Duhy,  while  still 
fart  Tier  south  appear  confusedly  the  mountains  of  Central  Palestine.  The 
western  part  of  the  great  plain  is  visible  as  far  as  Megi  Ido,  with  a  part  of 


MOUNT  TABOD. 


MODERN  NAZARETH,   SEEN  FUOM  THE  EAST. 


PALESTINE.  43 

the  ridge  of  Carinel,  though  not  that  which  lies  directly  on  the  sea.  Look 
ing  towards  the  southwest  across  an  nrm  of  the  great  plain,  one  sees  on  the 
northern  slope  of  the  ridge  ed-Duhy  the  little  hamlet  of  Nniu,  where  the 
Saviour  raised  to  life  the  widow's  son  ;  and  on  the  northern  slope  of  a 
lower  and  nearer  parallel  ridge,  Endor,  so  famous  in  the  history  of  Saul. 
On  the  north,  a  little  east,  beyond  the  mountains  about  Safed,  rises  the 
snow-capped  summit  of  Hermon. 

The  Christians,  as  early  as  the  days  of  Jerome  (Ep.  86),  regarded  Tabor 
as  the  mount  on  which  the  Saviour  was  transfigured.  The  decisive  objec 
tion  to  this  tradition  is  the  fact  "that  long  before  and  after  the  event  of 
the  transfiguration,  the  summit  of  Tabor  was  occupied  by  a  fortified  city. 
the  rains  of  which  are  yet  visible  "  (Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  vol.  2,  pp.  357-9), 
while  the  scene  of  the  transfiguration  was  a  solitary  mountain,  where  there 
could  be  no  human  witnesses  but  the  three  disciples  (Matt.  17:1;  Mark 
9:2). 

4.  A  very  interesting  feature  of  the  region  now  under  con 
sideration  is  the  plains  interspersed  among  the  ridges.     Robinson 
describes  a  series  of  them  south  of  the  mountains  of  Naphtali 
stretching  from   east   to  west,   and  separated   by  intervening 
ridges.     Phys.  Geog.,  pp.  129-131.     The  northernmost  of  these 
is  the  plain  of  Ramah,  about  ten  miles  in  length  by  two  in 
breadth,  over  which  passes  the  great  road  from  Akka  to  Damas 
cus.     It  is  very  fertile  and  full  of  old  olive-trees.     Passing  by 
two  or  three  smaller  plains  south  of  the  plain  of  Ramah,  we 
come  to  the  noble  plain  now  known  as  el-Buttauf  (called  by 
Josephus  the  great  plain  of  'Asochis,  Life  41),  extending  about 
ten  miles  from  east  to  west  with  a  breadth  of  ten  miles.     "  This 
whole  plain,"  says  Robinson,  "is  of  the  richest  fertility;  and 
was  a  glorious  portion  of  the  inheritance  of  Zebulun." 

5.  We  come  now  to  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon,  that  is,  of 
Jezreel,  Esdraelon  being  a  Greek  form  for  the  Hebrew  Jezreel. 
It  is  twice  spoken  of  in  the  Old  Testament  as  the- plain  (Eng. 
version,  valley)  of  Necjiddo.      2  Chron.   35:22;   Zech.  12:11. 
Its  modern  Arabic  name  is  Merj  Ibn  Amir,  Meadow  of  the  son  of 
J////V.     This  majestic  plain  is  of  a  triangular  form.     In  descri 
bing  it  we  follow  for  the  most  part  Robinson  in  his  Physical 
Geography  of  Palestine,  131  seq.     Beginning  at  its  southern 
most  angle  near  Jenin,  a  line  drawn  northward  grazes  the  west- 


44  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

era  extremities  of  the  ridges  Gilboa  and  Duhy,  or  Little  Her- 
mon  as  it  is  called;  and  strikes  the  northern  hills  some  two 
miles  southeast  of  Nazareth.  The  length  of  this  eastern  side  is 
not  far  from  fifteen  miles.  The  southwestern  side,  which  is 
skirted  by  the  hill  country  of  Samaria,  is  eighteen  or  twenty 
miles  in  length.  The  length  of  the  northern  side,  which  extends 
in  the  general  direction  from  east-northeast  to  west-southwest, 
is  about  twelve  miles.  This  large  triangle  is  nearly  level — 
Thomson  describes  it  as  rolling  up  in  long  swells  like  gigantic 
waves  (The  Land  and  the  Book,  2,  p.  215) — and  of  unsurpassed 
fertility ;  but  owing  to  the  wretched  government  of  the  region, 
and  the  consequent  insecurity  of  life  and  property,  it  is  mostly 
neglected  and  overgrown  with  rank  weeds. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  the  body  of  the  plain.  But  it 
sends  out  on  its  eastern  side  towards  the  brow  of  the  Jordan 
valley  three  great  arms,  each  nearly  an  hour  in  breadth,  and 
separated  from  each  other  by  the  ridges  of  Gilboa  and  ed-Duhy 
or  Little  Hermon.  Of  these  arms  the  northern  in  its  western 
part  and  the  southern  throughout  its  whole  extent  have  a  slope 
towards  the  west,  and  send  off  their  waters  through  the  Kishon 
to  the  Mediterranean.  But  the  middle  arm  declines  rapidly 
toivardx  tin'  cast,  so  that  its  waters  flow  off  into  the  Jordan. 
This  latter  is  the  valley  of  Jezreel,  so  celebrated  in  Israelitish 
history;  having  at  its  western  extremity  Jezreel  (the  modern 
Z<  nn),  and  at  its  eastern  Beth-slian  (now  called  Bdsan),  both 
places  being  in  sight  of  each  other.  Kobinson  describes  this 
valley  as  a  beautiful  meadow- like  plain,  from  two  to  three  miles 
in  breadth  by  about  fifteen  in  length.  Zerin,  the  ancient  Jez 
reel,  stands  at  its  head  on  the  south  side,  on  the  brow  of  a  very 
steep  rocky  descent  of  a  hundred  feet  or  more  sloping  towards 
the  northeast.  Here  the  watchman  of  Joram,  standing  on  the 
tower  of  Jezreel,  could  look  down  the  whole  valley,  and  see  the 
company  of  Jehu  coming  up  through  it  from  Eamoth-gilead 
beyond  the  Jordan.  2  Kings  9 : 17.  The  valley  has  several 
fountains,  one  of  which,  now  called  Ain  Jalud,  is  of  great  size, 
flowing  out  of  a  cavernous  recess  at  the  base  of  Gilboa,  about  a 


PALESTINE.  45 

mile  and  a  half  below  Zerin.  The  water  spreads  at  once  into  a 
limpid  pool,  whence  a  stream  flows  down  the  valley  of  sufficient 
size  to  turn  a  mill.  This  is  believed  with  good  reason  to  be  the 
"fountain  which  is  in  Jezreel,"  where  Saul  and  Jonathan  pitched 
before  their  last  fatal  battle.  1  Sam.  29  : 1.  Perhaps  it  is  iden 
tical  with  "the  well  of'Harod"  (H.eb.f<>tnifnin  of  Harod,  Judg. 
7:1),  where  Gideon  encamped  with  his  host,  while  the  Midian- 
ites  pitched  on  the  north  side  of  the  same  valley. 

6.  AVith  the  exception  of  the  valley  of  Jezreel,  and  the  east 
ern  part  of  the  northern  arm,  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  and  its 
brunches  is  drained  by  the  Kislion  and  its  tributary  streams. 
The  Kishon  flows  off  to  the  northwest  along  the  northeastern 
base  of  Carmel,  and  enters  the  Mediterranean  in  the  bay  of 
Acre  under  the  name  of  el-Mukutta.  A  spur  of  the  northern 
mountains  running  down  towards  Carmel  separates  the  two 
plains  of  Esdraelon  on  the  east  and  Acre  on  the  west.  Between 
this  spur  and  Carmel  the  river  passes  through  a  narrow  valley. 
It  is  a  permanent  stream  only  in  the  last  few  miles  of  its  course, 
below  the  strong  fountains  at  the  eastern  base  of  Carmel.  But 
in  the  wet  season  ah1  its  tributary  streams  are  swollen  with  rain, 
and  it  becomes  deep  and  dangerous  to  those  wrho  would  ford  it. 
In  the  vicinity  of  Lejjun,  the  ancient  Megiddo,  it  is  described 
as  flowing  in  a  deep  bed  through  marshy  ground.  It  was  at 
this  very  place  that  the  forces  of  Sisera  were  swept  away :  "  The 
kings  came  and  fought;  then  fought  the  kings  of  Canaan  in 
Taanach"  (the  modern  Taanniik  near  Lejjun,  that  is  Megiddo) 
"  by  the  waters  of  Megiddo ;  they  took  no  gain  of  money.  They 
fought  from  heaven;  the  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against 
Sisera"  (apparently  by  the  instrumentality  of  a  violent  tempest). 
"The  river  Kishon  swept  them  away,  that  ancient  river,  the 
river  Kishon"  (Judg.  5:19-21),  as  its  northern  branch  higher 
up  the  plain  did  the  Turks  in  the  battle  of  Mount  Tabor  in  1799. 
See  in  Robinson's  Bib.  Res.,  vol.  2,  p.  328,  note.  It  was  un 
doubtedly  the  liability  of  detention  by  the  swollen  waters  of  the 
Kishon,  which  Ahab  must  pass  in  going  from  Carmel  to  Jezreel, 
that  Elijah  had  in  view  when  he  sent  to  that  monarch  the  mes- 


46  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

sage :  "  Prepare  thy  chariot,  and  get  thee  down,  that  the  rain 
stop  thee  not."     1  Kings  18 : 44. 

The  statement  of  Joseplius  (Antiq.  5.  5.  4)  that,  when  the  battle 
between  the  Canaanites  and  the  Israelites  under  Barak  had  begun,  there 
arose  a  great  storm  with  much  rain  and  hail,  and  that  the  wind  drove  the 
rain  in  the  faces  of  the  Canaanites,  while  the  1st aelites  had  the  storm  upon 
their  backs,  is  based  apparently  upon  the  short  scriptural  notice  that  "the 
.stars  in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera." 

7.  The  region  that  has  been  described  constitutes  the  moun 
tainous  part  of  Galilee  with  its  interspersed  plains,  according  to 
the  Koman  division  of  provinces;  for  Galilee  extended  south 
as  far  as  Mount  Carmel,  whence  its  southern  boundary  ran 
across  the  country  by  Gimea  (the  modern  Jenin)  to  Scythopolis, 
that  is,  Beth-shean,  in  the  Jordan  valley;  thus  including  the 
great  plain  of  Esdraelon.     Joseplius,  Jewish  War,  3.  3.  4.     It 
abounds  in  beautiful   and  picturesque  scenery.     "Forests  of 
evergreen  oaks  sweep  round  the  flanks  of  the  hills  in  graceful 
belts,  and  line  the  sides  of  the  valleys,  leaving  open  glades  and 
undulating  expanses  of  green  grass,  such  as  are  seen  in  English 
parks.    Here  too  are  upland  plains,  like  vast  terraces,  with  rich 
soil  and  rank  vegetation."     "  Galilee  was,  and  is,  also  remarka 
ble  for  the  beauty  and  variety  of  its  wild  flowers.     In  early 
spring  the  whole  country  is  spangled  with  them,  and  the  air  is 
filled  with  their  odors.      Birds,  too,  are  exceedingly  numerous. 
The  rocky  banks  are  all  alive  with  partridges;  the  meadows 
swarm  with  quails  and  larks,  'the  voice  of  the  turtle'  resounds 
through  every  grove,  and  pigeons  are  heard  cooing  up  in  the 
cliffs  and  glen-sides,  and  are  seen  in  flocks  hovering  over  the 
corn-fields."     Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto,  Art.  Galilee. 

8.  To  the  Christian  this  part  of  Galilee  is  also  hallowed  by 
many  scriptural  reminiscences.     It  was  in  an  emphatic  sense  the 
home  of  our  Lord  and  the  scene  of  very  much  of  his  ministry. 
Here,  lying  in  a  secluded  vale  among  the  mountains  which  skirt 
the  plain  of  Esdraelon  on  the  north,  is  Nazareth,  where  the 
Saviour  passed  the  days  of  his  childhood  and  all  the  years  of 
his  youth  till  called  by  God  to  the  work  of  his  public  ministry; 


PALESTINE.  47 

while  north  of  Nazareth,  at  the  distance  of  about  nine  miles,  are 
the  ruins  of  Cana  of  Galilee,  the  scene  of  our  Lord's  first  mira 
cle  and  the  home  of  Nathanael.  A  few  miles  to  the  east  is 
Mount  Tabor,  whither  Barak  collected  his  forces  from  Zebulun 
and  Naphtali,  and  whence  he  descended  to  the  plain  for  his 
encounter  with  Sisera.  Judg.,  chap.  4.  Here  also  Zebah  and 
Zalmunua  slew  the  brethren  of  Gideon.  Judg.  8 : 18.  South  of 
Nazareth  lies  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon,  the  battle-field  of 
nations.  The  central  arm  of  this  plain  on  the  east  is  the  valley 
of  Jezreel,  so  celebrated  in  Israelitish  history.  By  this  valley 
the  Midiaiiites  and  the  Amalekites  and  all  the  children  of  the 
east  invaded  the  land  of  Israel,  following  the  present  route  of 
marauding  parties,  and  here  they  were  overthrown  by  Gideon 
with  his  three  hundred  men,  and  chased  down  the  valley  to  the 
Jordan,  and  across  it  to  Karkor.  Judg.,  chaps.  7  and  8.  In 
the  same  valley  Saul  and  Jonathan  "pitched  by  a  fountain  that 
is  hi  Jezreel"  before  their  last  fatal  battle  with  the  Philistines; 
and  when  the  armies  of  Israel  were  routed  they  "fled  from 
before  the  Philistines,  and  fell  down  slain  on  Mount  Gilboa," 
which  overhangs  the  valley  on  the  south.  1  Sam.  29  : 1 ;  31 : 1-6. 
At  the  lower  end  of  this  valley  is  Beth-shean,  to  the  wall  of 
which  place  the  Philistines  fastened  the  bodies  of  Saul  and  his 
sons.  1  Sam.  31 : 10,  12.  At  the  head  of  the  same  valley, 
standing  on  the  brow  of  a  steep  rocky  descent,  and  overlooking 
both  the  valley  and  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  is  Zerin,  the  ancient 
Jezreel,  where  Naboth  "had  a  vineyard  hard  by  the  palace  of 
Ahab  king  of  Samaria,"  for  the  sake  of  which,  at  the  instigation 
of  Jezebel  his  wife,  he  caused  Naboth  to  be  murdered.  It  was 
in  this  vineyard  that  Elijah  met  Ahab,  and  denounced  upon  him 
the  wrath  of  heaven  for  this  bloody  deed ;  and  up  the  same  val 
ley,  commissioned  by  God  as  the  minister  of  his  vengeance,  rode 
Jehu  when  he  slew  Joram  and  trampled  the  body  of  Jezebel 
under  his  horses'  feet.  On  the  southwestern  border  of  the  plain 
of  Esdraelon  are  Taanach  and  Megiddo,  where  the  host  of  Sis- 
era  was  discomfited  by  Deborah  and  Barak,  when  "the  river 
Kishon  swept  them  away,  that  ancient  river,  the  river  Kishon." 


48  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Jutlg.  5  : 19-21.  It  was  at  Megiddo  also  that  the  good  King 
Josiah  met  Pharaoh-necho  on  his  way  to  the  Euphrates,  and 
was  slain  by  him.  2  Kings  23 : 29  ;  2  Chron.  35  ,  23,  24.  Skirt 
ing  the  great  plain  on  the  southwest  is  the  range  of  Carmel, 
whither  Elijah  gathered  all  Israel  to  decide  the  great  question 
whether  Jehovah  or  Baal  should  be  worshipped  as  the  true 
God ;  and  at  the  brook  Kishon  which  flows  at  its  base  he  slew 
the  prophets  of  Baal.  Thence  ascending  to  the  top  of  the 
mountain,  and  casting  himself  down  upon  the  earth  in  fervent 
prayer,  he  sent  up  his  servant  seven  times  to  the  summit  to 
watch  for  the  tokens  of  rain;  and  when  these  appeared,  he 
girded  up  his  loins  and  ran  before  Ahab,  as  he  rode  in  his  char 
iot  across  the  plain  to  Jezreel.  It  was  at  Mount  Carmel  also 
that  the  Shunammite  woman  afterwards  found  Elisha  when  she 
sought  him  that  he  might  restore  her  son  to  life.  At  the  east 
ern  border  of  the  great  plain  lying  on  the  northern  slope  of  the 
ridge  ed-Duhy  are  Endor  and  Nain,  and  on  the  southwestern 
declivity  of  the  same  ridge  is  Shunem,  all  three  places  famous 
in  scriptural  history.  Finally,  in  a  beautiful  plain  running  up 
among  the  southern  hills  from  the  southwestern  side  of  Esdrae- 
lon,  and  separated  from  it  by  a  narrow  tract  of  rolling  land, 
stands  Tell  Dothan,  that  is  the  hiU  of  Dothan,  with  a  fountain. 
This  is  the  site  of  the  ancient  Dothan,  where  Joseph's  brethren 
sold  him  to  the  Midianites.  "  The  route  of  the  Midianitcs  was 
obviously  the  same  that  is  now  followed.  Crossing  the  Jordan 
at  Beth-shean  and  Jezreel,  their  way  then  lay  through  this  fine 
pl.-iin;  and  down  the  valley  at  its  southwestern  quarter  to  the 
western  plain,  and  so  to  Kamleh  and  Egypt."  Kobinson,  Phys. 
Geog.,  p.  135. 

9.  We  add  a  more  particular  notice  of  the  towns  belonging 
to  this  section. 

Nazareth  retains  its  ancient  name,  being  called  by  the  Arabs  en-Ndsi- 
rah.  It  lies  in  a  narrow  oblong  basin  running  nearly  east  and  west,  about 
a  mile  long,  and  having  an  average  breadth  of  something  less  than  a  quar 
ter  of  a  mile.  "A  girdle  of  rounded  hills  encircles  it,  shutting  out  all 
view  of  the  world  beyond,  and  giving  that  air  of  quiet,  peaceful  seclusion 


PALESTINE.  49 

which  constitutes  its  chief  charm,  and  its  peculiar  adaptation  to  the  early 
history  of  our  Lord."  "The  narrow  rugged  glens  that  branch  off  in  all 
directions  among  tl\e  hills  seem  as  if  made  for  meditation.  The  hill  on 
the  northwest  of  the  vale  overtops  all  the  others,  rising  to  a  height  of  some 
four  hundred  feet  above  the  village,  and  is  crowned  by  a  white-domed 
tomb.  Its  side  is  steep,  furrowed  by  ravines,  and  broken  by  ledges  of 
bare  rocjt.  On  its  lower  declivities,  partly  in  the  ravines,  partly  on  the 
shriving  base,  and  partly  on  the  sides  and  tops  of  the  rugged  ledges,  stand 
the  houses  of  Nazareth — plain,  neat,  substantial  stone  buildings.  This  is 
the  hill  on  which  the  evangelist  tells  us  '  the  city  was  built '  (Luke  4  :  29)  ; 
and  there  is  more  than  one  cliff  along  its  side  that  might  have  served  the 
purposes  of  the  fanatical  populace  when  they  led  Him  unto  a  brow  of  the 
hill,  that  they  might  cast  him  down  headlong."  Porter  in  Alexander's 
Kitto.  See  also  his  Handbook  for  Syria  and  Palestine,  p.  343,  seq. ;  Rob 
inson's  Bib.  Res. ,  vol.  2,  p.  333,  seq.  They  led  the  Saviour,  namely,  up 
from  the  lower  declivity  on  which  their  city  was  built  towards  an  over 
hanging  brow.  That  the  brow  was  in  the  near  vicinity  of  the  village  is 
plain  from  the  evangelist's  words.  Hence  appears  the  absurdity  of  the 
monkish  legend  which  places  it  on  the  so-called  "mount  of  Precipitation," 
a  hill  about  two  miles  southeast  of  the  town,  for  no  better  reason,  appa 
rently,  than  that  it  is  a  striking  object  as  seen  from  the  plain  of  Esdraelon. 
Under  the  grand  altar  of  the  Latin  convent  is  the  grotto  where,  according 
to  the  legend,  the  Virgin  Mary  once  lived  and  received  the  salutation  of 
the  angel  Gabriel.  This  is  the  Latin  church  of  the  Annunciation.  But 
the  Greeks  have  their  church  of  the  Annunciation  by  the  side  of  the  one 
fountain  of  Nazareth,  a  short  distance  east  of  the  village.  Legends  like 
these  are  of  no  authority.  From  the  crest  of  the  western  hill  above  Naza 
reth,  where  stands  the  Wely — saint's  tomb — of  Neby  Ismail,  is  one  of  the 
noblest  prospects  in  all  Palestine,  very  similar  to  that  from  the  top  of 
Tabor  already  described  (No.  3  above). 

In  the  vicinity  of  Nazareth  are  the  following  places  : 

Kdna-el-Jelll,  that  is,  literally  rendered  into  English,  Cana  of  Galilee, 
on  the  northern  side  of  the  plain  el-Buttauf,  about  three  hours  north  of 
Nazareth.  Its  claims  to  be  the  scriptural  Cana  of  Galilee  are  forcibly  sta 
ted  by  Robinson.  Bib.  Res.,  vol.  2,  pp.  346-9 ;  vol.  3,  p.  108,  note.  The 
claims  of  Kef)'  Kenna,  a  small  village  an  hour  and  a  half  northeast  of 
Nazareth,  do  not  rest  on  equally  solid  grounds. 

Deburieli  is  a  small  and  unimportant  village  lying  on  the  side  of  a  ledge 
of  rocks  at  the  western  base  of  Tabor.  It  is  believed  with  good  reason 
to  be  the  Dabareli  (more  correctly  Daberath]  of  Josh.  21  : 28. 

Yd/a,  a  little  village  half  an  hour  southwest  of  Nazareth,  the  Japhia  of 
Josh.  19:12. 

Sfffurich,  the  SeppJioris  so  often  mentioned  by  Joseplms  as  the  largest 


50  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

and  strongest  city  of  Galilee.  See  the  references  in  Robinson,  Bib.  Res., 
vol.  2,  p.  345.  At  present  it  is  a  small  village  lying  on  an  isolated  hill  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  plain  el-Buttauf,  about  an  hour  and  a  half  north 
by  west  of  Nazareth. 

//'/(tin,  on  the  high  uneven  part  of  the  plain  el-Buttauf  towards  its  east 
ern  border,  is  celebrated  for  the  disastrous  battle  which  took  place  July  5, 
1187,  between  the  forces  of  the  Crusaders  on  the  one  hand  and  the  Sara 
cens  under  Saladin  on  the  other,  and  which  resulted  in  the  total  overthrow 
of  the  Christian  host,  and  the  loss  of  Jerusalem  and  nearly  ah1  Palestine. 

Leaving  Nazareth  and  its  environs,  and  passing  on  to  the  north,  the 
traveller  sees  Sctfed  lying  on  a  high  isolated  peak  upon  the  northern  end 
of  a  steep  ridge,  a  trifle  south  of  the  thirty-third  parallel  of  north  latitude, 
having  the  sea  of  Galilee  to  the  southeast  and  the  lake  Huleh  to  the  north 
east.  It  is  emphatically  "a  city  set  upon  a  hill."  Before  the  great  earth 
quake  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1837,  it  was  a  thriving  town,  with  a 
population  variously  estimated  at  from  7,000  to  10,000,  a  large  proportion 
of  whom  were  Jews ;  for  Safed,  like  Tiberias,  is  one  of  the  holy  places  of 
the  Jews,  and  was  formerly  a  seat  of  rabbinical  learning.  In  the  terrible 
earthquake  above  referred  to,  the  castle  which  crowned  the  summit  of  the 
hill  was  utterly  thrown  down,  most  of  the  houses  were  prostrated,  and 
thousands  of  the  inhabitants  buried  in  the  ruins,  the  Jewish  quarter  suf 
fering  most  severely. 

Still  farther  north  in  the  high  country  northwest  of  the  lake  Huleh  is 
Kedes,  the  ancient  Kedesh  of  Naplttali,  out  of  which  Deborah  "sent  and 
called  Barak  the  son  of  Abinoam-"  for  the  encounter  with  Sisera  the  cap 
tain  of  Jabin's  army.  Judg.  4:6,  7.  It  was  a  Levitical  city,  and  one  of 
the  three  cities  of  refuge  west  of  the  Jordan.  Josh.  20  : 7  ;  21  : 32.  It  is 
now  a  miserable  village,  but  its  position  is  strong  and  its  site  beautiful. 
"High  up  among  the  mountains  of  Naphtali  is  a  little  green  plain,  embos 
omed  in  wooded  hill-tops.  On  its  western  side  is  a  rounded  tell  (that  is 
hill],  on  which  the  modern  viUage  stands.  From  the  tell  a  low  narrow 
ridge  projects  into  the  plain,  with  flat  top  and  steep  sides,  covered  with 
rank  vegetation.  Both  ridge  and  tell  are  strewn  with  ruins."  Porter  in 
Alexander's  Kitto. 

The  sites  of  Razor  where  Jabin  king  of  Canaan  reigned,  and  HarosUeth 
of  the  Gentiles  where  Sisera  the  captain  of  his  host  dwelt  (Judg.  4:2),  are 
not  determined  with  certainty.  Josephus  says  that  the  former  place  over 
looked  the  lake  Semechonitis,  that  is,  the  "waters  of  Merom"  (Josh.  11  :5), 
and  the  modern  el-Huleh.  The  most  probable  site  is  that  suggested  by 
Robinson,  namely,  Tell  Khuraibeh,  a  prominent  hill  of  great  strength  over 
looking  the  lake  and  plain  of  Huleh,  and  about  an  hour  south  of  Kedes. 
Bib.  Res.,  vol.  3,  pp.  364^6. 

On  the  southwestern  border  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  are  Taannuk  and 


PALESTINE.  51 

Lejjun,  that  is,  Legio,  as  the  Romans  called  the  latter  place.  Taannuk  is 
undoubtedly  the  ancient  Taanach,  and  there  is  strong  evidence  in  favor  of 
identifying  Lejjun  with  Megiddo.  Eusebius  and  Jerome  (Onomasticon  as 
quoted  by  Robinson)  give  the  distance  of  Taanach  from  Legio  at  three  or 
four  Roman  miles.  This  agrees  with  the  circumstance  that  Taanach  and 
Megiddo  are  five  times  mentioned  in  near  connection  with  each  other. 
Josh.  12  :  21 ;  17  : 11 ;  Judg.  1  :  27  ;  5  : 19  ;  1  Kings  4  :  12.  Lejjun  lies 
moreover  on  the  great  military  road  between  Egypt  and  the  Mediterranean 
plain,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Damascus  and  the  eastern  empires  on  the 
other,  on  the  banks  of  one  of  the  principal  tributaries  to  the  Kishon.  The 
miry  nature  of  the  soil  makes  this  stream  difficult  to  ford  when  the  water  is 
high,  and  when  swollen  by  a  violent  storm  it  would  be  utterly  impassable. 
Here,  then,  we  may  find  "the  waters  of  Megiddo."  Judg.  5  : 19.  "About 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  north  of  the  ruins  [of  Lejjun]  is  a  large  truncated 
tell,  called  Tell  el-Mntsellim,  '  The  Governors'  Hill. '  It  is  a  most  commanding 
site,  affording  a  view  of  the  whole  plain  and  of  the  ancient  cities  of  Shu- 
nem,  Jezreel,  and  Taanach. "  Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto.  We  may  assume 
with  much  confidence  that  Megiddo  occupied  either  the  site  of  tlje  mod 
ern  Lejjun  or  this  adjacent  tell. 

About  one  hour  and  a  half  south  of  Tell  el-Mutsellini  is  Rummaneh, 
which  Tan  de  Velde  (Memoir,  p.  333)  identifies  with  "  Hadad-rirurnon  in 
the  valley  of  Megiddon."  Zech.  12  : 11. 

Jenin  stands  at  the  mouth  of  a  picturesque  glen  in  the  southeastern 
extremity  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelou.  Robinson  and  others  identify  it  with 
En-gannim,  one  of  the  Levitical  cities  (Josh.  19:21;  21:29),  and  with 
Ginaea  of  Josephus. 

North  of  Jenin,  on  the  western  declivity  of  Gilboa,  and  overlooking 
the  valley  of  Jezreel  and  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  is  Zerin,  the  ancient  Jez 
reel.  It  is  a  noble  site,  and  Ahab  might  well  have  a  palace  there,  though 
Samaria  was  the  proper  residence  of  the  kings  of  Israel.  The  ridge  of 
Gilboa  is  a  range  of  gray  limestone  rocks,  bleak  and  bare,  jutting  out  from 
southeast  to  northwest  into  the  plain.  Its  jugged  cliffs  and  bare  crowns 
give  it  a  look  of  desolation  in  wonderful  harmony  with  David's  imprecation : 
"Ye  mountains  of  Gilboa,  let  there  be  no  dew,  neither  let  there  be  rain 
upon  you,  nor  fields  of  offerings  :  for  there  the  shield  of  the  mighty  is 
vilely  cast  away,  the  shield  of  Saul,  as  though  he  had  not  been  anointed 
with  oil."  2  Sam.  1:21. 

Parallel  to  Gilboa,  on  the  northern  side  of  the  valley  of  Jezreel,  is  the 
ridge  ed-Duliy,  called  Hernion  in  the  days  of  Jerome,  and  commonly  called 
Little  Herman,  in  distinction  from  the  true  Hermon  of  the  Old  Testament. 
On  and  around  the  ridge  are  some  places  of  note  in  scriptural  history. 
Solam,  on  the  declivity  at  the  southwestern  end  of  Duhy,  is  thought  with 
good  reason  to  be  the  Shunem  of  the  Old  Testament  belonging  to  the  tribe- 


52  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

of  Issacliar  (Josh.  19  : 18),  where  the  Philistines  encamped  before  Saul's 
last  battle  ;  whence  Abishag  the  Shunammite  was  brought  to  David 
(1  Kings  1:3);  and  where  also  the  Shunammite  woman  lived  who  enter 
tained  the  prophet  Elisha  (2  Kings  chap.  4).  See  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.  2, 
p.  325,  and  note.  On  the  northern  slope  of  Duhy  are  Nein,  the  Nain  of 
'  New  Testament,  and  Endor,  the  former  celebrated  for  the  stupendous 
miracle  wrought  there  by  our  Lord  (Luke  7  : 11-16) ;  the  latter  as  the  place 
whoro  Saul,  in  his  extremity,  sought  counsel  from  the  woman  that  hud  n 
famiiiar  spirit  (1  Sam.  chap.  28).  Thomson  describes  Endor  as  a  most 
wretched-looking  place  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Duhy.  "  You  observe 
that  the  declivity  of  the  mountain  is  everywhere  perforated  with  caves,  and 
most  of  the  habitations  are  merely  walls  built  around  the  entrance  to  these 
C.IM  rns.  Observe,  too,  that  the  cattle  are  stalled  with  them  along  with 
their  owners  ;  and  so  it  was  in  the  time  of  Saul."  Land  and  Book,  2,  p. 
161.  "The  woman  had  a  fat  calf  in  the  house,"  and  Thomson  speaks  of 
half  a  dozen  little  calves  kept  up  at  the  mouth  of  one  of  these  caves,  while 
their  mothers  were  at  pasture  under  the  care  of  a  shepherd. 

II.  MIDDLE   SECTION  — SAMARIA  IN  PART. 

10.  We  have  seen  how  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon  with 
the  adjacent  plain  of  Acre  on  the  northwest  (which  is  connected 
with  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  by  the  narrow  valley  through  which 
the  Kishon  flows)  entirely  separates  the  mountains  of  Galilee 
from  those  of  Samaria  and  Judea.  In  passing  to  the  mountain 
ous  region  south  of  Esdraelon,  we  naturally  begin  with  Gunnel. 
The  majestic  range  of  Carmel  branches  off  from  the  northern 
end  of  the  mountains  of  Samaria,  and  runs  in  nearly  a  straight  line 
from  south-southeast  to  north-northwest  some  fifteen  or  sixteen 
miles,  terminating  in  a  bold  promontory  which  forms  the  southern 
headland  of  the  bay  of  Acre — a  headland  which  is  rendered  the 
more  conspicuous  by  the  fact  that  it  is  the  only  one  along  this  part 
of  the  Mediterranean  coast.  The  mountain  is  of  compact  lime 
stone,  deeply  furrowed  with  rocky  ravines  filled  with  dense  jun 
gle,  and  tenanted  by  jackals,  hyenas,  wolves,  and  wild  swine. 
In  the  sides  of  the  mountain,  especially  around  its  western  end, 
are  numerous  caves  and  grottos,  formed  partly  by  nature  and 
partly  by  art ;  for  Carmel  formerly  swarmed  with  monks  and  her 
mits  who  made  these  caves  their  home.  Through  the  prophet 
Amos  Jehovah  says  of  transgressors :  "  Though  they  hide  them- 


SHFCHEM,   EBAL  AND  GERIZFM. 


PALESTINE.  53 

in  the  top  of  Carmel,  I  will  search  and  take  them  out 
thence."  Amos  9  :  3.  Whether  the  reference  be  to  these  laby 
rinths  of  caverns  and  grottos,  which,  as  travellers  tell  us,  are 
very  tortuous  and  open  one  into  another,  or,  as  Thomson  seems 
to  intimate  (Land  and  Book,  2,  p.  230),  to  the  deep  and  winding 
ravines  filled  with  tangled  brushwood,  it  is  equally  beautiful  and 
1  HTtinent.  The  northeastern  side  of  the  ridge  is  more  steep  and 
precipitous  than  the  southwestern;  which  latter  "sinks  down 
gradually  into  wooded  hills  with  well-watered  valleys,  present 
ing  to  the  eye  a  district  of  great  beauty,  rich  in  tillage  and  pas 
turage,  declining  gently  into  the  southern  plain  and  the  adja 
cent  lower  hills."  Robinson,  Pliys.  Geog.  p.  29.  The  ridge  of 
Carmel  is  tolerably  continuous,  rising  from  the  northwestern 
end,  where  its  elevation  is  about  600  feet  above  the  sea,  to  the 
village  of  Esfieh,  where  it  attains  to  the  elevation  of  1,729  feet. 
Thence  it  falls  off  again  to  1,635  feet  at  its  southeastern  end. 
See  in  Van  de  Velde's  Memoir,  p.  177,  the  different  measure 
ments. 

The  Hebrew  word  Carmel  signifies  park,  garden-like,  tract ;  a 
name  which  the  mountain  may  well  claim  from  its  beauty  and 
fruitfulness,  especially  as  contrasted  with  the  bare  southern 
hills.  It  is  sprinkled  with  fine  oaks  and  other  forest-trees  in  its 
upper  parts,  and  olive  and  fruit  trees  further  down.  "Long 
deep  ravines  of  singular  wildness  wind  down  the  mountain-sides, 
filled  with  tangled  copse,  fragrant  with  hawthorn,  myrtle,  and 
jessamine,  and  alive  with  the  murmur  of  tiny  brooks  and  the 
song  of  birds.  At  intervals  along  the  slopes  are  open  glades, 
carpeted  with  green  grass,  and  spangled  with  myriads  of  wild- 
flowers  of  every  hue."  Porter,  in  Alexander's  Kitto.  The  north 
western  extremity  is  more  bleak  and  barren ;  and  here,  over 
looking  the  blue  waters  of  the  Mediterranean,  stands  the  con 
vent  of  the  Carmelites,  a  modern  building  erected  on  the  site 
of  a  more  ancient  structure. 

The  scene  of  Elijah's  sacrifice  seems  to  have  been  at  the  east 
ern  extremity  of  the  ridge.  Modern  travellers  have  thought 
that  they  could  identify  the  very  spot ;  namely,  a  terrace  of  nat- 


54  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

ural  rocks  at  the  southeastern  extremity  of  Carinel,  which  bears 
tin-  name  d-Mnhr«k<ilt,  the  Micri/ice;  but  Eobinson  thinks  that 
the  transaction  took  place  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  See 
Stanley,  Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  345-8 ;  Grove  in .  Smith's 
Bible  Diet. ;  Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto ;  Thomson,  Land  and 
Book,  2,  pp.  220-6;  Eobinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  pp.  30,  31. 

11.  In  its  scenery  and  general  character,  Carmel  belongs  to 
the  mountains  of  Galilee,  though  separated  from  them,  as  we 
have  seen,  by  the  plains  of  Esdraelon  and  Acre.  But  the  moun 
tainous  tract  of  Samaria  and  Judea,  with  which  the  ridge  of 
Carmel  connects  itself  by  an  offset  at  its  southeastern  extrem 
ity,  presents  in  its  general  features  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
northern  mountainous  region.  The  interspersed  plains  become 
smaller  and  less  frequent.  "  The  summits  are  more  rocky  and 
more  rounded  than  those  in  Galilee ;  and  the  sides,  though  in 
many  places  bare,  are  generally  clothed  with  scraggy  woods  of 
dwarf-oak,  terebinth,  and  maple,  or  with  shrubberies  of  thorn- 
bushes."  "The  hill-sides  around"  the  plains  "get  steeper  and 
wider  towards  the  south.  The  valleys  running  into  Sharon  are 
long,  winding,  mostly  tillable,  though  dry  and  bare  ;  while  those 
on  the  east,  running  into  the  chasm  of  the  Jordan,  are  deep  and 
abrupt ;  but  being  abundantly  watered  by  numerous  fountains, 
and  being  planted  with  olive  groves  and  orchards,  they  have  a 
rich  and  picturesque  appearance.  In  fact,  the  eastern  declivi 
ties  of  the  mountains  of  Ephraim,  wild  and  rugged  though  they 
are,  contain  some  of  the  most  beautiful  scenery  and  some  of  the 
most  luxuriant  orchards  in  Central  Palestine."  "  The  features 
of  the  mountains  are  different  from  those  of  Galilee.  Here 
there  is  more  wildness  and  ruggedness,  the  tracts  of  level 
ground  are  smaller,  the  valleys  are  narrower,  and  the  banks 
steeper.  While  the  rich  upland  plains  produce  abundant  crops 
of  grain,  yet  this  is  a  region  on  the  whole  specially  adapted  for 
the  cultivation  of  olives,  orchards,  and  vineyards.  The  more 
carefully  its  features,  soil,  and  products  are  examined,  the  more 
evident  does  it  become  that  Ephraim  was  indeed  blessed  with 
1  the  chief  things  of  the  ancient  mountains ' — vines,  figs,  olives. 


PALESTIN  I  55 

and  corn,  all  ,ur<>\\  in_u  luxuriantly  amid  'the  lasting  hills.'"  Por 
ter  in  Alexander's  Kitto,  art.  Palestine. 

The  mountainous  region  now  under  consideration  was  inclu 
ded  in  the  Samaria  of  our  Lord's  time,  lying  north  of  a  line 
drawn  east  from  Joppa  to  the  Jordan.  In  the  division  of  the 
land  under  Joshua,  it  fell  to  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  and  is  the 
"  Mount  Ephraim"  of  the  Old  Testament.  Josh.  17  : 15  ;  20  :  7  ; 
Judg.  2:9;  7  :  24,  etc.  Another  designation  employed  by  the 
later  writers  is,  "the  mountains  of  Samaria"  (Jer.  31 :  5;  Amos 
3:9;  4:1),  so  called  from  Samaria,  the  royal  city  of  the  Israel- 
itish  kings  from  the  time  of  Omri. 

12.  Of  the  few  plain*  that  are  found  in  the  mountainous 
region  of  Samaria  the  following  are  worthy  of  notice : 

The  plain  anmnif  l)ntl,«n,  of  which  some  account  has  already 
been  given.  See  above,  No.  8. 

Not  far  southeast  of  the  plain  of  Dothan  Robinson  describes 
"  another  beautiful  plain,  oval  or  round  in  form,  three  or  four 
miles  in  diameter,  and  surrounded  by  picturesque  hills  not  very 
elevated.  It  is  perfectly  level,  with  a  soil  of  rich  dark  loani, 
exceedingly  fertile.  The  plain  has  no  outlet  for  its  waters; 
which  therefore  in  winter  collect  upon  it  and  form  a  tempo 
rary  lake."  Hence  the  name  Merj-d-Ghuruk,  that  is,  Droivned 
w*-<nlou\  Bib.  Res.  2,  pp.  313,  314. 

The  great  plain  of  J/"/,7///"  extends  along  the  eastern  base  of 
the  mountains  in  which  Nabulus,  the  ancient  Shechem,  is  situa 
ted,  for  eight  or  nine  miles  in  a  direction  from  south-southwest  to 
north-northeast,  with  an  average  breadth  of  one  and  a  half  to  two 
miles.  At  about  two-thirds  of  its  length  from  south  to  north, 
the  valley  of  Nabulus  comes  in  from  the  west  between  Gerizim 
and  Ebal ;  and  opposite  to  the  mouth  of  this  latter  valley  is  an 
arm  of  the  Mukhna  running  up  east  among  the  hills  for  nearly 
three  miles  with  a  breadth  of  about  half  a  mile.  This  plain  is 
described  as  under  good  cultivation  and  presenting  a  beautiful 
appearance.  Eobinson,  Bib.  Res.  2,  pp.  273,  274;  Phys.  Geog., 
pp.  135,  136. 

The  two  most  celebrated  places  in  this  mountainous  region 


56  SACRED   GKOGKAPHY. 

are,  S/icr/n-m  (rendered  SicJtcm  in  Gen.  12  :  6)  and  Sattutt'ttt.  The 
former  lias  the  preeminence  in  antiquity,  the  latter  in  dignity, 
having  been  from  the  days  of  Omri  and  onward  the  royal  city 
of  the  Israelitish  monarchs.  Both  are  distinguished  for  the 
beauty  of  their  situation  and  the  many  scriptural  associations 
that  cluster  around  them.  Shechem  lies  on  the  main  road  from 
Jerusalem  to  Nazareth,  and  is  almost  equidistant  between  the 
twro  places.  According  to  Robinson's  Itinerary,  it  is  fourteen 
and  a  half  hours  from  Jerusalem  to  Shechem,  including  a  short 
detour  to  visit  Shiloh;  and  fifteen  and  a  quarter  hours  from 
Shechem  to  Nazareth  by  way  of  Samaria.  From  Shechem  to 
Samaria  is  two  hours  and  ten  minutes,  or  about  six  miles,  in  a 
northwesterly  direction.  We  add  a  more  particular  account  of 
each  place. 

14.  The  modern  name  of  Shechem  is  Nabulus,  or,  in  the 
abbreviated  mode  of  utterance,  Nablus,  which  is  a  corruption 
of  the  name  Ncapolis  (on  the  coins,  Flavia  Neapolis),  imposed 
on  it  by  the  Romans  not  long  after  the  times  of  the  New  Tes 
tament. 

The  most  common  form  in  the  Septuagint  for  the  Hebrew  Shechem  is 
Sychem  (2v,fep),  as  in  Acts  7  : 16.  In  John  4  :  5  the  place  is  called  Sycliar. 
It  has  been  conjectured  that  this  latter  form  was  originally  a  corruption  of 
the  true  form  for  the  purpose  of  assimilating  it  to  the  Hebrew  word  Shik- 
kor,  drunkard  (in  allusion  to  Isa.  28  :1,  7),  or  to  the  word  sheker,  false 
hood,  that  is,  false  worship  (Hab.  2  : 18).  But  all  this  is  uncertain. 

The  situation  of  Nabulus  is  beautiful  and  romantic.  It  lies 
in  a  long  narrow  valley,  extending  from  southeast  to  northwest, 
between  Mount  Gerizim  on  the  south  and  Mount  Ebal  on  the 
north ;  and  is  half  an  hour  distant  from  the  great  eastern  plain 
of  the  Mukhna  already  described.  The  two  mountains  rise  on 
either  side  in  steep  rocky  precipices  apparently  some  eight 
hundred  feet  high,  leaving  between  them  a  deep  glen  not  more 
than  five  hundred  yards  wide  where  the  town  is  situated. 
Directly  on  the  water-shed  of  this  valley,  and  stretching  along 
the  northeastern  base  of  Mount  Geriziin,  lies  the  modern  Nabu 
lus,  the  streams  on  the  eastern  part  flowing  off  into  the  plain, 


PALESTINE.  57 

and  so  towards  the  Jordan,  while  the  fountains  on  the  western 
side  send  off  a  brook  down  the  valley  northwest  towards  the  Med 
iterranean.  The  streets  are  narrow;  the  houses  high,  and  in 
general  well  built  of  stone,  with  domes  on  the  roofs;  the  ba 
zaars  good  and  well  supplied.  Eobinson,  Bib.  Res.  2,  p.  275. 
Robinson  describes  the  sides  of  both  mountains  as  equally  naked 
and  sterile,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  ravine  on  Gerizim 
coming  down  opposite  the  west  end  of  the  town,  which  is  full  of 
fountains  and  trees.  Ibid.,  p.  276.  The  fertility  and  beauty  of 
the  valley  itself  in  which  the  town  stands  have  been  the  admi 
ration  of  all  travellers. 

"Keeping  the  road,"  says  Eobinson,  "along  its  northern  side  we 
passed  some  high  mounds,  apparently  of  ashes ;  where,  all  at  once,  the 
ground  sinks  down  to  a  valley  running  towards  the  west,  with  a  soil  of 
rich  black  vegetable  mould.  Here  a  scene  of  luxuriant  and  almost  unpar 
alleled  verdure  burst  upon  our  view.  The  whole  valley  was  filled  with 
gardens  of  vegetables  and  orchards  of  all  kinds  of  fruits,  watered  by  sev 
eral  fountains,  which  burst  forth  in  various  parts,  and  flow  westward  in 
refreshing  streams.  It  came  upon  us  suddenly,  like  a  scene  of  fairy  en 
chantment.  We  saw  nothing  to  compare  with  it  in  all  Palestine.  Here, 
beneath  the  shade  of  an  immense  mulberry-tree,  by  the  side  of  a  purling 
rill,  we  pitched  our  tent  for  the  remainder  of  the  day  and  night."  Bib. 
Ees.  2,  p.  275.  Dr.  Kosen,  as  quoted  by  Prof.  Hackett,  says  that  the 
inhabitants  boast  of  no  less  than  eighty  springs  within  and  around  the 
city,  and  lie  gives  the  names  of  twenty-seven  of  the  principal  ones.  "The 
oh' ve,  aa  in  the  days  when  Jotham  delivered  his  famous  parable,  is  still  the 
principal  tree.  Figs,  almonds,  walnuts,  mulberries,  grapes,  oranges,  apri 
cots,  pomegranates,  are  abundant.  The  valley  of  the  Nile  itself  hardly 
surpasses  Ndbulus  in  the  production  of  vegetables  of  every  sort."  Prof. 
Hackett  in  Smith's  Bib.  Diet. 

The  substantial  identity  of  the  site  of  the  present  Nabulus  with  that  of 
the  ancient  Shechem  is  admitted  by  almost  all  biblical  scholars ;  though 
it  is  thought  with  reason  that  the  ancient  city  lay,  in  part  at  least,  farther 
east  than  the  modern  one,  and  thus  nearer  to  Jacob's  well.  Robinson, 
Bib.  Res.  2,  p.  285;  Hackett  in  Smith's  Bib.  Diet.,  art.  Shechem.  The 
present  population  of  Shechem  is  variously  estimated  at  from  5,000  to 
8,000. 

15.  Shechem  is  a  place  of  great  antiquity.     It  is  mentioned 
in  the  history  of  Abraham's  migration  to  the  land  of  Canaan 

3* 


58  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

(Gen.  12:6)  as  "the  place  of  Shechem"  (Eng.  vers.  SicJ«-m). 
In  the  days  of  Jacob  it  is  called  a  city  (Gen.  34 :  20,  27),  unless, 
indeed,  we  assume  that  Shalcm,  the  modern  Salim,  three  miles 
east  of  Shechem,  is  the  city  where  the  bloody  transaction  which 
is  recorded  in  Gen.  chap.  34  took  place.  Compare  Gen.  33  : 18. 
It  was  under  the  oak  (or  terebinth)  by  Shechem  that  Jacob  hid 
the  strange  gods  of  his  household  as  he  was  departing  for  Beth 
el.  Gen.  35  : 4.  It  was  at  Shechem  also  that  the  man  found 
Joseph  wandering  in  the  field  in  search  of  his  brethren.  Gen. 
37  : 14,  15.  Joshua  made  it  a  Levitical  city,  and  also  a  city  of 
refuge  (Josh.  20:7;  21:21);  thither,  shortly  before  his  death, 
he  gathered  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  for  the  solemn  renewal  of 
their  covenant  with  God  (Josh.  chap.  24) ;  and  there  the  Israel 
ites  buried  the  bones  of  Joseph  (Josh.  24 : 32).  Shechem  was 
the  seat  of  Abinielech's  short  and  turbulent  reign  and  the  bloody 
scenes  connected  with  it.  Judg.  chap.  9.  To  the  same  place 
the  Israelites  repaired  in  a  later  age  for  the  purpose  of  install 
ing  Kehoboam  as  king  over  all  Israel ;  and  there  he  frustrated 
their  purpose  by  his  folly,  so  that  the  kingdom  of  his  father  was 
rent  in  twain.  1  Kings,  chap.  12. 

16.  Of  the  two  mountains  which  rise  in  steep  rocky  precipi 
ces  above  the  city,  Gerizim,  on  the  south,  has  an  elevation  above 
the  sea  of  2,650  feet.  Robinson  says  that  the  top  of  Ebal,  as 
seen  from  the  e"ast,  appears  to  be  a  hundred  feet  or  more  higher — 
apparently  the  highest  land  in  all  Mount  Ephraim.  Phys.  Geog. 
p.  37.  These  two  mountains  were  designated  by  Moses  for  the 
solemn  pronunciation  of  the  blessings  and  the  curses ;  the  bless 
ings  to  be  pronounced  on  Gerizim,  the  curses  on  Ebal.  Joshua 
was  also  directed  to  set  up  great  stones  on  Mount  Ebal,  and 
plaster  them  with  plaster,  upon  which  was  to  be  written  a  copy 
of  the  law  of  Moses;  all  which  was  faithfully  performed  by 
him.  Deut.  11:29,  30;  chap.  27;  Josh.  8:30-35.  The  sum 
mit  of  Gerizim  is  also  distinguished  as  the  place  where  Jotham 
pronounced  in  the  hearing  of  the  Shechemites  below  him  his 
celebrated  parable.  "  Several  lofty  precipices  literally  over 
hang  the  city,  any  one  of  which  would  answer  his"  purpose. 


I'  \  LEST]  N  r.  59 

Nor  would  it  be  difficult  to  be  heard,  as  everybody  knows  who 
Las  listened  to  the  public  crier  of  villages  on  Lebanon.  In  the 
stillness  of  the  evening,  after  the  people  have  returned  home 
from  their  distant  fields,  he  ascends  the  mountain  side  above  the 
place,  or  to  the  roof  of  some  prominent  house,  and  there  'lifts 
up  his  voice  and  cries,'  as  Jotham  did ;  and  he  gives  forth  his 
proclamation  with  such  distinctness  that  all  can  hear  and  under 
stand  it."  Thomson,  Land  and  Book.  2,  pp.  209,  210.  ^'e 
may  add  that  he  was  in  entire  safety,  since  the  ascent  to  the 
summit  is  by  a  circuitous  route  through  the  ravine  already  men 
tioned,  which  comes  down  opposite  the  west  end  of  the  city. 

17.  From  the  time  of  the  Babylonish  exile  and  onwards, 
Shechem  was  the  chief  seat  of  the  Samaritans,  and  the  feeble 
remnants  of  this  people  are  found  there  at  the  present  day. 

The  scriptural  account  of  the  origin  of  the  people  afterwards  called 
Samaritans  is  as  follows.  About  721  B.  c.,  in  the  ninth  year  of  Hoshea 
king  of  Israel.  "  the  king  of  Assyria  took  Samaria,  and  carried  Israel  away 
into  Assyria,  and  placed  them  in  Halah  and  in  Eabor  by  the  river  of  Go- 
zan,  and  in  the  cities  of  the  Medes."  2  Kings  17  : 6.  Then  follows  an 
extended  explanation  of  the  reason  why  God  allowed  this  calamity  to 
befall  the  kingdom  of  Israel  (verses  7-23),  after  which  the  sacred  writer 
adds  (ver.  24):  "  And  the  king  of  Assyria  brought  men  from  Babylon,  and 
from  Cuthah,  and  from  Ava,  and  from  Hamath,  and  from  Sepharvaim,  and 
placed  them  in  the  cities  of  Samaria  instead  of  the  children  of  Israel :  and 
they  possessed  Samaria,  and  dwelt  in  the  cities  thereof."  By  "Samaria 
and  the  cities  thereof"  we  are  to  understand  Samaria  and  the  adjacent  cit 
ies  and  villages,  which  alone  remained  to  the  kings  of  Israel ;  for  their  ter 
ritory  had  been  curtailed  by  previous  invasions,  and  did  not  then  include 
either  Galilee  or  the  region  east  of  the  Jordan  valley.  2  Kings  10  :  32,  33  ; 
15  : 29.  The  Assyrian  inscriptions  ascribe  to  Sargon,  the  successor  of  Shal- 
maneser,  the  deportation  of  the  Israelites,  27,280  families.  Nor  is  this 
inconsistent  with  the  succinct  scriptural  narrative,  which  names  Shalma- 
neser  indeed  as  the  Assyrian  monarch  who  reduced  Hoshea  to  a  state  of 
vassalage  (2  Kings  17  : 3),  but  in  recording  the  subsequent  transactions, 
speaks  simply  of  "the  king  of  Assyria"  (vers.  4,  5,  6,  24).  The  colonists 
themselves  represent  Esar-haddon,  the  son  and  successor  of  Sennacherib, 
and  grandson  of  Sargon,  as  the  man  who  brought  them  up  to  the  Samari 
tan  region.  Ezra  4:2.  "  The  great  and  noble  Asnapper,"  to  whom  they 
ascribe  the  same  work  (Ezra  4  : 10),  was  either  identical  with  Esar-haddon, 
or  was  the  satrap  to  whom  he  intrusted  the  enterprise.  The  latter  is  the 


(50  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

more  probable  opinion.  As  a  punishment  for  the  impiety  of  these  colonists, 
the  Lord  sent  lions  among  them  (2  Kings  17  :  25) ;  whereupon  the  king  of 
Assyria  sent  them  an  Israelitish  priest,  who  should  ' '  teach  them  the  man 
ner  of  the  God  of  the  land."  The  result  was  a  mongrel  religion,  which 
the  sacred  writer  describes  by  saying  that  "they  feared  the  Lord,  and 
served  their  own  gods."  "So  these  nations  feared  the  Lord,  and  served 
their  graven  images,  both  their  children,  and  their  children's  children  : 
as  did  their  fathers,  so  do  they  unto  this  day"  (vers.  29-41). 

In  all  this  narrative  it  is  implied  that  the  colonists  were  of  purely  hea 
then  origin.  The  account  which  Josephus  gives  is  substantially  the  same. 
His  only  error  is  in  ascribing  the  deportation  of  the  Israelites  and  the 
mission  of  the  colonists  to  the  same  monarch,  Shalnianeser  (Antiq.  9.  14. 
1 ;  10.  9.  7),  which  was  with  him  an  inference  from  the  form  of  the  scrip 
tural  narrative.  How  far  these  colonists  became  mingled  before  the  days 
of  Ezra  by  intermarriage  with  the  remnants  of  the  Israelites  that  certainly 
existed  after  the  deportation  in  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  as  well  as  farther 
north  (2  Chron.  34  :  G,  7,  and  especially  ver.  9),  is  a  Difficult  question,  on 
which  eminent  biblical  scholars  are  divided.  Josephus  accuses  them  of 
double-dealing  in  regard  to  their  origin.  "When  the  Jews  are  involved 
in  misfortunes,"  says  he,  "  they  deny  that  they  are  their  kinsmen,  confess 
ing  then  the  truth.  But  when  they  see  any  good  fortune  happening  to 
them,  immediately  they  leap  into  fellowship  with  them,  affirming  that  they 
belong  to  them,  and  deriving  their  origin  from  Joseph  through  Ephraim 
and  Manasseh."  Antiq.  11.  8.  6.  See  also  9.  14.  3.  On  the  succession 
of  the  Assyrian  monarchs,  see  especially  Rawlinson's  Herodotus,  Appendix 
to  Book  1,  Essay  7. 

These  are  the  people  who,  upon  the  return  of  the  Jews  from  the  Baby 
lonish  captivity,  applied  for  a  share  of  the  work  in  rebuilding  the  temple, 
saying  :  "Let  us  build  with  you  :  for  we  seek  your  God,  as  ye  do  ;  and  we 
do  sacrifice  unto  him  since  the  days  of  Esar-haddon  king  of  Assyria,  who 
brought  us  up  hither"  (Ezra  4  :  2),  words  which  certainly  imply  that  they 
were  as  a  whole  of  foreign  descent.  Being  sternly  repulsed  by  the  Jewish 
rulers  under  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua  they  took,  and  ever  afterwards  main 
tained,  the  attitude  of  bitter  enemies  to  the  Jewish  people,  and  their  hatred 
was  heartily  reciprocated.  The  quarrel  between  the  Jews  and  Samaritans 
finally  culminated  in  the  erection  by  the  latter  of  a  temple  of  their  own  on 
Mount  Gerizim.  The  immediate  occasion  of  this  is  generally  thought  to 
have  been  the  expulsion  from  Jerusalem  by  Nehemiah  of  one  of  the  sons 
of  Joiada,  the  son  of  Eliashib  the  high  priest,  because  he  had  married  the 
daughter  of  Sanballat  the  Horonite.  Neh.  13  : 28.  Josephus,  indeed, 
places  this  transaction  some  eighty  years  later  than  the  time  of  Nehemiah, 
and  represents  that  the  temple  on  Gerizim  was  built  by  permission  of 
Alexander  the  Great  (Antiq.  11.  7.  2 ;  8.  4) ;  but  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.  2. 


PALESTINE.  61 

p.  289  note)  cons'ders  this  to  be  a  chronological  error  on  the  part  of  Jose- 
phus.  The  Samaritan  temple  was  destroyed  by  John  Hyrcanus  about  129 
B.  c.  (Joseplms,  Antiq.  13.  9.  1)  but  the  Samaritans  still  adhered  to  their 
worship  on  Mount  Gerizim  (John  4  : 20),  as  does  also  the  small  remnant 
of  them  at  the  present  day.  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.  2,  pp.  277,  278. 

18.  In  the  near  vicinity  of  Sliechem  are  Jacob's  icell  and  the 
so-called  tomb  of  Joseph.  Jacob's  well  lies  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  east  of  the  city,  aniid  the  ruins  of  a  church  formerly  built 
around  it.  When  Maundrell  visited  it  in  1697,  it  was  covered 
by  an  old  stone  vault  now  fallen  into  decay.  Through  this  he 
descended  by  a  square  hole  in  the  roof,  and  found  the  proper 
inouth  of  the  well  covered  with  a  broad  flat  stone.  The  well  is 
excavated  in  the  solid  rock,  and  is  about  nine  feet  in  diameter, 
round,  smooth,  and  regular.  It  appears  to  be  slowly  filling  up 
with  rubbish;  for  Maundrell  found  its  depth  one  hundred  and 
five  feet,  of  which  fifteen  were  water;  while  the  Rev.  S.  Calhoun, 
in  1839,  and  Dr.  Wilson  in  1843,  found  the  depth  below  the 
vault  only  seventy-five  feet,  and  in  1855  Rev.  John  Mills  could 
make  it  no  more  than  seventy  feet  deep.  The  latter  traveller 
found  it  entirely  dry,  and  this  seems  to  be  its  general  state  at 
present. 

There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  this  is  the  identical 
well  on  which  the  Saviour  sat  and  conversed  with  the  Samari 
tan  woman,  while  his  disciples  were  gone  into  the  city — proba 
bly  somewhat  nearer  to  the  well  than  the  present  Nabulus — 
to  buy  meat.  Looking  round  upon  the  green  cornfields  four 
months  before  the  time  of  harvest  (so  we  prefer  to  interpret  the 
Saviour's  words),  and  seeing  a  nobler  harvest  of  immortal  souls 
streaming  forth  from  the  city,  and  already  ripe  for  the  spiritual 
reaper's  sickle,  he  exclaimed :  "  Say  not  ye,  There  are  yet  four 
months,  and  then  cometh  harvest?  behold,  I  say  unto  you,  Lift 
up  your  eyes,  and  look  on  the  fields;  for  they  are  white  already 
to  harvest."  John  4  :  35. 

The  question  has  been  raised:  Why  dig  a  well  in  a  region  so  abun 
dantly  watered  by  fountains  ?  The  answer  is,  that  Jacob  wished  to  be 
independent  of  the  inhabitants  for  a  supply  of  water  to  the  "parcel  of  a 


62  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

field"  which  he  had  bought.  Gen.  33:18,  19.  The  position  of  the  well 
"before  the  city,"  as  well  as  the  uniform  tradition  since  the  days  of  Euse- 
bius,  in  which  Jews,  Samaritans,  Christians,  and  Mohammedans  agree,  all 
conspire  to  prove  the  identity  of  the  present  well  with  that  honored  by  the 
presence  of  our  Lord. 

The  tomb  of  Joseph  lies  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  north  of  the 
well,  in  the  middle  of  the  mouth  of  the  valley  between  Gerizini 
and  Ebal.  It  is  a  tomb  of  the  ordinary  kind,  surrounded  by  a 
square  enclosure  of  high  whitewashed  walls. 

The  tradition  respecting  Joseph's  tomb  at  Shechem  (Josh.  24:32)  is  as 
old  and  as  uniform  as  that  concerning  Jacob's  well.  The  difficulty  and 
uncertainty  have  respect  to  the  exact  spot — whether  this  tomb  or  the  wely 
at  the  northeast  foot  of  Gerizim.  See  on  this  point  Prof.  Haekett  in 
Smith's  Bib.  Diet. ,  art.  Shechem. 

19.  Proceeding  down  the  valley  which  leads  off  from  Shech 
em  in  a  northwesterly  direction  we  come,  at  the  distance  of 
about  six  miles,  to  a  fine  round  swelling  hill,  or  almost  mountain, 
standing  alone  in  the  midst  of  a  great  basin  of  some  two  hours 
in  diameter,  and  surrounded  by  higher  mountains  on  every  side. 
Kobinson,  Bib.  Ees.  2,  p.  304,  This  is  the  ancient  "  hill  of  Sa 
maria,"  which  Oinri,  the  father  of  Aliab,  bought  "of  Shemer  for 
two  talents  of  silver,  and  built  on  the  hill,  and  called  the  name 
of  the  city  which  he  built  after  the  name  of  Shemer,  owner  of 
the  hill,  Samaria,"  or,  in  the  Hebrew  form,  Shomeron.  I  Kings 
16 : 24.  It  was  therefore  a  chosen  spot  of  great  strength,  as 
well  as  fertility  and  beauty.  All  travellers  speak  of  it  with 
admiration.  "  It  would  be  difficult,"  says  Robinson,  "  to  find  in 
all  Palestine  a  situation  of  equal  strength,  fertility,  and  beauty. 
In  all  these  particulars  it  has  very  greatly  the  advantage  over 
Jerusalem."  Bib.  Ees.  2,  p.  309. 

The  modern  name  of  the  hill  of  Samaria  is  Sebustieh,  an 
Arabic  conniption  of  the  name  Sebaste,  which  Herod  the  Great 
gave  to  the  city  in  honor  of  his  master,  Augustus,  who  bestowed 
it  upon  him  after  the  death  of  Antony  and  Cleopatra  (Josephus, 
Antiq.,  15.  7.  3;  8.  5;  Jewish  War,  1.  2.  7),  Sebaste  being  the 


1'ALl.STINE.  63 

Greek  form  answering  to  the  Latin  Augusta.  Samaria  and 
Shechem  were  the  chief  seats  of  the  foreigners  introduced  by 
Esar-haddon.  Joseplms  says  that  John  Hyrcamis  (about  106 
B.  c.)  destroyed  the  city  to  its  foundations,  so  that  no  vestige  of 
it  remained.  Antiq.,  13.  10.  3.  But  it  was  afterwards  rebuilt; 
and  when  Herod  received  it  from  Augustus,  he  enlarged  it,  sur 
rounded  it  by  a  strong  wall,  and  adorned  it  in  every  part.  Ant., 
15.  8.  5.  But  all  this  glory  has  long  since  passed  away.  The 
whole  hill  is  cultivated  to  the  top.  "The  ground  has  been 
ploughed  for  centuries ;  and  hence  it  is  now  in  vain  to  look  here 
for  the  foundations  and  stones  of  the  ancient  city."  Robin 
son,  Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  307,  where  see  a  more  particular  account  of 
the  history  of  Samaria  and  its  present  ruins. 
.  20.  The  scriptural  reminiscences  connected  with  Samaria 
are  many  and  interesting.  Here  Ahab,  at  the  instigation  of 
Jezebel  his  wife,  built  a  temple  and  altar  to  Baal  (1  Kings 
16 : 32) ;  here  the  false  prophets  prophesied  before  him  and 
Jehoshaphat "  in  a  void  place  in  the  entrance  of  the  gate  of  Sama 
ria,"  and  the  true  prophet  Micaiah  denounced  upon  him  the 
speedy  judgment  of  heaven ;  to  this  place  was  his  body  brought 
and  buried,  "  and  one  washed  the  chariot  in  the  pool  of  Sama 
ria,  and  the  dogs  licked  up  his  blood"  (1  Kings,  chap.  22);  here 
Jehu  "  slew  all  that  remained  unto  Ahab  in  Samaria,"  and  then 
destroyed  by  stratagem  all  the  worshippers  of  Baal.  2  Kings, 
chap.  10.  The  city  was  honored  by  the  presence  and  miracu 
lous  deeds  of  Elisha.  Here  this  prophet  healed  Naaman  the 
Syrian  of  his  leprosy  (2  Kings,  chap.  5),  and  sending  a  messenger 
hither,  apparently  from  Dothan,  disclosed  to  the  king  of  Israel 
the  plans  of  the  Syrian  invaders.  Chap.  6:8-12.  Here  also 
he  predicted  incredible  plenty  at  a  time  of  distressing  famine. 
Chap.  7.  After  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pen 
tecost,  Samaria  with  its  villages  was  the  first  place  without  the 
limits  of  Judrea  that  received  the  gospel  (Acts  8 : 5-25),  and 
it  early  became  the  seat  of  a  Christian  bishop. 

21.  Other  places  of  interest  in  Mount  Ephraim  are  the  fol 
lowing  : 


f4  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Dothan,  which  yet  retaius  its  ancient  name,  on  the  little  plain  already 
noticed  (No.  8  above)  south  of  Esdraelon.  On  the  southern  side  of  this 
plain  is  a  large  mound  or  tell  covered  with  ruins,  with  a  fountain  at  its 
base,  and  near  it  some  deep  wells  or  cisterns,  into  one  of  which  undoubt 
edly  Joseph  was  let  down,  and  drawn  out  again  that  he  might  be  sold  to 
the  Ishniaelites  who  were  on  their  way  to  Egypt.  It  was  to  Dothan  also 
that  the  Syrian  king  sent  by  night  "horses,  and  chariots,  and  a  great 
host,"  with  the  intention  of  capturing  Elisha.  But  they  were  smitten  with 
blindness,  and  led  by  the  prophet  to  Samaria.  The  minute  accuracy  of 
the  narrative  is  noticeable.  When  God,  upon  the  prophet's  petition, 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man  who  attended  him,  "  lie  saw,  and  behold 
the  mountain  (or  hill,  for  the  Hebrew  word  for  mountain  and  hill  is  the  same) 
was  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  round  about  Elisha."  2  Kings  6  : 17. 

Dr.  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.  3,  pp.  302,  303)  finds  the  probable  site  of 
the  ancient  Tirzah,  celebrated  in  the  Song  of  Solomon  for  its  beauty  (chap. 
6:4),  and  for  some  time  the  seat  of  the  Israelitish  kings  (1  Kings  14:17; 
15:21,  33;  16:8, 15, 17,  23)  in  the  modern  Tuttuzah,  a  town  a  few  miles  north 
of  Nabulus.  The  place  lies  in  a  sightly  and  commanding  position,  and  is 
surrounded  by  immense  groves  of  oli ve-trees  planted  on  ah1  the  hills  around. 

The  large  village  of  Tubas,  northeast  of  Nabulus,  on  the  road  to  Beth- 
shean,  is  in  all  probability  the  ancient  Tliebez,  from  the  strong  tower  of 
which  city  a  certain  woman  cast  an  upper  millstone  upon  Abimelech's 
head  and  broke  his  skull.  Judg.  9 : 53.  It  lies  on  the  western  slope  of  a 
basin  with  a  beautiful  plain  in  front,  and  large  groves  of  olive-trees.  Rob 
inson,  Bib.  Res.  3,  p.  305. 

A  short  distance  east  of  the  plain  of  the  Mukhna  which  lies  before 
Shechem  is  the  village  of  Salim,  which  Robinson  thinks  is  probably  the 
"Shalem,  a  city  of  Shechem,"  to  which  Jacob  came  on  his  return  from 
Padan-aram.  Gen.  33 : 18.  Since,  however,  Shalom  signifies  'in  the  He 
brew  whole,  sound,  some  prefer  to  render:  "And  Jacob  came  unharmed  to 
the  city  of  Shechem." 

The  ancient  Stiiloli  has  been  identified  in  respect  to  site  with  the  ruins 
called  by  the  Arabs  Seilun.  The  position  of  this  place  is  very  exactly 
defined  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  was  "  on  the  north  side  of  Beth-el,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  way  that  goeth  from  Beth-el  to  Shechem,  and  on  the 
south  of  Lebonah. "  Judg.  21 : 19.  The  ruins  in  question  correspond  well 
to  this  description.  "The  traveller  at  the  present  day,"  writes  Professor 
Hackett  (in  Smith's  Bib.  Diet.)  from  his  own  note-book,  "going  north 
from  Jerusalem,  lodges  the  first  night  at  Beitin,  the  ancient  Beth-el ;  the 
next  day,  at  the  distance  of  a  few  hours,  turns  aside  to  the  right,  in  order 
to  visit  Seilun,  the  Arabic  for  Shiloh;  and  then  passing  through  the  nar- 


PALESTINE.  65 

row  wiuly,  which  brings  him  to  the  main  road,  leaves  el-Lebb&n,  the  Lebo- 
nah  of  Scripture,  on  the  left,  as  he  pursues  the  highway  to  Nablus,  the 
ancient  Shechem."  Seilun  corresponds  to  the  Hebrew  Shilon,  which 
appears  to  have  been  the  original  full  form.  Hence  the  term  Sli'doitih', 
that  is,  inhabitant  of  Shiloh  (1  Kings  11 : 29;  12 : 15,  compared  with  14: 2,  4) ; 
and  hence  also  the  form  Siloun,  which  Josephus  employs  along  with  Silo 
(the  former  in  Antiq.,  5.  1.  19  and  20;  2.  9. and  12;  the  latter  in  Autiq., 
8.  7.  7 ;  11.  1).  The  main  site  of  the  ruins  of  Seilun  is  a  small  tell  sur 
rounded  by  hills.  On  the  east  a  narrow  valley,  shut  in  at  first  by  per 
pendicular  walls  of  rock,  leads  to  an  open  tract  with  a  fine  fountain,  in  the 
vicinity  of  which  Robinson  suggests  that  the  sekure  of  the  daughters  of 
Shiloh  by  the  Benjamites  ( Judg.  21 : 19-23)  probably  took  place. 

Shiloh  was  selected  by  Joshua  as  the  site  of  the  tabernacle  (Josh.  18:1), 
and  here  he  completed  the  division  of  the  land  by  lot.  Josh.  18:8-10. 
It  remained  the  religious  centre  of  the  Israelites  through  a  period  of  three 
centuries,  till  the  ark  was  taken  captive  by  the  Philistines.  Here  Hannah 
prayed  before  the  Lord,  and  was  graciously  answered  ;  and  here  she  dedica 
ted  her  son  Samuel  to  the  Lord.  1  Sam. ,  chap.  2.  Here  the  terrible  tidings 
of  the  capture  of  the  ark  were  brought  to  Eli  with  the  death  of  his  two 
sons,  Hophni  and  Phinehas ;  whereupon  the  aged  high  priest  "fell  from 
off  the  seat  backward  by  the  side  of  the  gate,  and  his  neck  brake,  and  he 
died."  1  Sam.  4:12-18.  Hither  also  the  wife  of  Jeroboam  repaired  to 
consult"  the  prophet  Ahijah  in  behalf  of  her  son  Abijah,  and  was  fore 
warned  of  his  speedy  death,  and  the  extirpation  of  Jeroboam's  family. 
1  Kings  14:1-17.  The  language  of  Jeremiah  implies  that  Shiloh  was  des 
olate  in  his  day.  Jer.  7:12,  14 ;  26:6,  9. 

The  Gilgal  of  2  Kings,  chap.  2,  is  certainly  not  the  Gilgal  in  the  Jordan 
valley  where  Joshua  encamped  immediately  after  passing  over  Jordan. 
In  this  chapter  Elijah  goes  down  with  Elisha  from  Gilgal  to  Beth-el ;  then 
from  Beth-el  to  Jericho,  and  from  Jericho  across  the  Jordan.  The  Gilgal 
of  Joshua's  first  encampment  is  more  than  3,000  feet  below  Beth-el  (accord 
ing  to  Van  de  Velde,  Memoir,  pp.  179,  182,  about  3,300  feet)  not  to  speak 
of  the  improbability  of  Elijah's  going  up  from  this  Gilgal  to  Beth-el,  to 
return  immediately  to  Jericho  in  its  near  vicinity.  But  there  is  a  large 
village  bearing  the  name  of  Jiljllia  which  Robinson  describes  (Bib.  Res. 
2,  pp.  265,  266),  and  which  fulfils  well  all  the  conditions  of  Elijah's  last 
journey.  It  is  on  higher  ground  than  iBeth-el,  and  the  latter  place  lies 
about  six  miles  south  of  it  on  the  direct  road  from  Jiljilia  to  Jericho. 
"The  place  stands  very  high,  near  the  western  brow  of  the  high  moun 
tain  tract.  It  affords  a  very  extensive  view  out  over  the  great  lower  plain 
and  sea  ;  while  at  the  same  time  the  mountains  of  Gilead  are  seen  in  the 
east.  Far  in  the  north-northeast,  too,  we  could  see  for  the  first  time  a 
lofty  dark  blue  mountain,  which  we  afterwards  found  to  be  no  other  than 


66  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Jebel-esh-Sheikh,  the  Hcrnion  of  Scripture,  beyond  Banids,  still  not  less 
distant  from  us  than  eighty  minutes  of  latitude  " — more  than  ninety  Eng 
lish  miles.  It  is  surprising  that  Robinson  should  not  have  even  suspected 
the  identity  of  this  place  with  the  Gilgal  of  2  Kings,  chap.  2,  but  should 
have  written :  "  The  form  Jiljilia  obviously  corresponds  to  the  ancient  name 
Gilgal ;  but  I  find  no  mention  of  any  ancient  place  of  that  name  in  this 
vicinity."  There  is  another  Gilgal,  Jiljuleli,  a  little  south  of  Antipatris,  but 
this  cannot  come  into  account  in  the  present  connection.  It  is  probably 
the  Gilgal  of  Josh.  12  :  23. 

The  site  and  ruins  of  Timnath-serali  in  Mount  Ephraim,  which  was 
assigned  to  Joshua  as  his  inheritance,  and  in  the  border  of  which  he  was 
buried,  "on  the  north  side  of  the  hill  Gaash "  (Josh.  19  :  50  ;  24  :  30  ;  Judg. 
2:9,  where,  by  a  transposition  of  consonants,  we  have  Timnath-heres),  have 
been  probably  identified  by  Rev.  Eli  Smith  in  the  modern  Tibnek,  about 
six  miles  northwest  of  Gophna.  Here  is  a  gentle  hill  with  the  ruins  of  a 
considerable  town  on  the  north  side  of  a  valley  which  runs  westward  to  the 
great  wady  Belat.  Over  against  these  ruins  on  the  south  side  of  the  val 
ley  is  a  high  hill,  in  the  north  side  of  which  are  several  excavated  sepul 
chres,  which  in  size  and  in  the  richness  and  character  of  their  architecture, 
resemble  the  so-called  "Tombs  of  the  Kings"  at  Jerusalem.  This  is 
probably  "  the  hill  Gaash." 

Beth-el,  on  the  border  between  Ephraim  and  Benjamin,  fell  to  tne  king 
dom  of  Israel  upon  the  separation  of  the  ten  tribes,  but  will  be  most  con 
veniently  described  from  Jerusalem  as  a  centre. 

III.  SOUTHEEN  SECTION— JUDEA  IN  PART. 

22.  As  we  pass  southward  from  the  mountains  of  Ephraim 
to  those  of  Judea,  the  physical  features  and  scenery  undergo 
a  gradual  but  marked  change.  The  little  upland  plains  "  almost 
disappear,"  says  Porter  (in  Alexander's  Kitto),  "in  Benjamin, 
and  in  Judah  they  are  unknown.  Those  which  do  exist  in  Ben 
jamin,  as  the  plains  of  Gibeon  and  Rephaim,  are  small  and 
rocky.  The  soil,  alike  on  plain,  hill,  and  glen,  is  poor  and 
scanty ;  and  the  gray  limestone  rock  everywhere  crops  up  over 
it,  giving  the  landscape  a  barren  and  forbidding  aspect.  Natu 
ral  wood  disappears;  and  a  few  small  bushes,  brambles,  or  aro 
matic  shrubs,  alone  appear  upon  the  hillsides."  Fountains 
become  rare,  and  wells,  hewn  in  the  soft  limestone  rock,  take 
their  place.  Covered  cisterns  also,  in  which  the  rain-water  is 


PALESTINE.  67 

treasured  up,  and  open  tanks  are  very  abundant.  Now,  as  in 
ancient  days,  the  wells  of  Palestine  are  the  resort  of-  caravans 
and  wayfaring  men.  Thither  the  shepherds  lead  their  flocks, 
and  the  women  resort  with  their  pitchers.  "Bounded  hills," 
says  Stanley  (Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  136, 137),  "chiefly  of  gray 
color — gray  partly  from  the  limestone  of  which  they  are  all 
formed,  partly  from  the  tufts  of  gray  shrub  with  which  their 
sides  are  thinly  clothed,  and  from  the  prevalence  of  the  olive — 
their  sides  formed  into  concentric  rings  of  rock,  which  must 
have  served  in  ancient  times  as  supports  to  the  terraces,  of 
which  there  are  still  traces  to  their  very  summits ;  valleys,  or 
rather  meetings  of  these  gray  slopes  with  the  beds  of  dry  water 
courses  at  their  feet — long  sheets  of  bare  rock  laid  like  flag 
stones,  side  by  side,  along  the  soil — these  are  the  chief  features 
of  the  greater  part  of  the  scenery  of  the  historical  parts  of 
Palestine."  All  travellers  notice  the  profusion  of  aromatic 
shrubs  which  in  the  spring  clothe  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Syria 
and  Arabia.  Characteristic  of  Palestine  in  the  spring  of  the 
year  is  the  profusion  of  wild  flowers,  especially  those  of  a  scar 
let  hue — anemones,  wild  tulips,  poppies,  etc. 

23.  "The  glens,"  continues  Porter,  "  which  descend  west 
ward  are  long  and  winding,  with  dry,  rocky  beds,  and  banks 
breaking  down  to  them  in  terraced  declivities.  The  lower  slopes 
near  the  plain  of  Philistia  are  neither  so  bare  nor  so  rugged  as 
those  near  the  crest  of  the  ridge.  The  valleys,  too,  become 
wider,  sometimes  expanding,  as  Surar,  es-Sumpt  (Elah),  and 
Beit  Jibrin,  with  rich  and  beautiful  cornfields.  The  eastern 
declivities  of  the  ridge,  so  fertile  and  picturesque  in  Samaria, 
are  here  a  wilderness — bare,  white,  and  absolutely  desolate; 
without  trees,  or  grass,  or  stream,  or  fountain.  Naked  slopes 
of  white  gravel  and  white  rock  descend  rapidly  and  irregularly 
from  the  brow  of  the  ridge,  till  at  length  they  dip  in  the  frown 
ing  precipices  of  Quarantania,  Feshkah,  Engedi,  and  Masada, 
into  the  Jordan  valley  or  Dead  sea.  Naked  ravines,  too,  like 
huge  fissures,  with  perpendicular  walls  of  rock,  often  several 
hundred  feet  in  height,  furrow  these  slopes  from  top  to  bottom. 


68  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

The  wild  and  savage  grandeur  of  wadys  Far  ah,  el-Kelt,  en-Nar, 
and  Klmreitun  is  almost  appalling."  Robinson  notices,  in  like 
manner,  the  difference  between  the  eastern  and  western  sides  of 
this  mountainous  tract.  The  wall  of  the  Dead  sea  and  Jordan 
valley,  he  tells  us  (Phys.  Geog.,  p.  33),  "rises  from  one  thousand 
to  fifteen  hundred  feet  above  the  depressed  valley,  is  every 
where  steep  and  sometimes  precipitous,  and  is  often  cleft  to 
its  base  by  the  deep  valleys  and  gorges  that  issue  from  the 
mountains.  All  is  irregular  and  wild,  presenting,  especially 
along  the  Dead  sea,  scenes  of  savage  grandeur."  Along  the 
western  base  of  the  mountainous  region  lies,  as  already  re 
marked,  a  tract  of  lower  hills,  constituting  the  middle  region 
between  the  mountains  and  the  plain.  "  This  tract,"  says  Rob 
inson,  "  is,  for  the  most  part,  a  beautiful  open  country,  consist 
ing  of  low  hills,  usually  rocky,  separated  by  broad  arable  val 
leys,  mostly  well  adapted  for  grain,  as  are  also  many  of  the 
swelling  hills.  The  whole  tract  is  full  of  villages  and  deserted 
sites  and  ruins,  and  there  are  many  olive  groves. 

"One  feature  of  this  high  mountain  plateau  has  been  disclosed  only 
since  the  discovery  of  the  deep  depression  of  the  Dead  sea  and  Jordan  val 
ley.  That  sea  lies  (in  round  numbers)  thirteen  hundred  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  Mediterranean.  The  eastern  brow  of  the  mountain  overhanging 
the  Dead  sea,  is  thirteen  hundred  feet  above  it,  or  almost  precisely  on  the 
level  of  the  western  sea.  Jerusalem  is  two  thousand  six  hundred  feet, 
•while  the  western  brow  is  but  two  thousand  feet  above  the  Mediterranean. 
Hence,  in  the  slope  from  Jerusalem  to  the  western  brow,  there  is  a  descent 
of  six  hundred  feet ;  while  in  that  from  Jerusalem  to  the  eastern  brow,  a 
distance  not  much  greater,  the  descent  is  two  thousand  six  hundred  feet ; 
a  difference  of  two  thousand  feet !  This  remarkable  feature  is  chiefly  con 
spicuous  south  of  Kuril  Surtabeh  [a  promontory  overhanging  the  Jordan 
valley.  See  the  map].  The  enormous  descent  of  the  eastern  slope  is  very 
marked,  as  seen  from  the  hill  of  Taiyibeh  [a  high  conical  hill  northeast  of 
Bethel]  and  the  mount  of  Olives  ;  and  is  fully  felt  by  the  traveller  in  pass 
ing  from  Hebron  or  Carmel  of  the  south  to  the  Dead  sea."  Robinson, 
Phys.  Geog.,  pp.  34,  35. 

24.  In  the  above  description  it  has  been  implied  that  the 
eastern  part  of  the  mountainous  region  of  Judea  is  destitute  of 
water  and  uncultivated.  In  truth,  this  eastern  part,  a  tract 


PALESTINE.  69 

extending  some  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  from  the  parallel  of 
Beth-el  on  the  north  to  the  southern  border  of  Palestine,  and 
having  a  breadth  of  about  nine  miles,  has  always  been,  and 
must  continue  to  be,  an  uninhabited  wilderness.  This  is  the 
irihh'niess  of  Judali  or  Jtidea.  Psa.  63,  title;  Matt.  3:1.  It  is 
described  by  Van  de  Velde  as  "a  bare,  arid  wilderness;  aa. 
endless  succession  of  shapeless  yellow  and  ash -colored  hills, 
without  grass  or  shrubs,  without  water,  and  almost  without 
life."  Syria  and  Palestine,  2,  p.  99.  Like  every  other  part  of 
Palestine,  it  abounds  in  limestone  caverns.  It  was  in  a  cave 
near  En-gedi  in  this  wilderness  that  David  took  refuge  from 
the  fury  of  Saul,  when  that  monarch  went  to  seek  him  "upon 
the  rocks  of  the  wild  goats."  1  Sam.,  chap.  24.  Any  one  of  the 
innumerable  calves  which  abound  in  the  region  may  have  been 
the  scene  of  David's  adventure  with  Saul  on  that  occasion. 

The  whole  mountainous  region  south  of  the  mountains  of 
Ephraim  is  called  collectively  the  mountains  of  Judali  (Josh. 
11:21;  2  Chron.  21 : 11 ;  27 : 4)  and  the  lull  country  of  Judea 
(Luke  1 : 39,  65).  The  mountainous  tract  south  of  Esdraelon 
gradually  rises,  as  already  remarked,  until  around  Hebron  it 
attains  an  elevation  of  two  thousand  eight  hundred  feet  above 
the  Mediterranean.  South  of  Hebron  it  declines  again,  and 
some  six  miles  south  of  Hebron,  in  about  the  latitude  of  Tell 
Main  (probably  the  ancient  Maon,  1  Sam.  23 : 24,  25 ;  25  : 2)  it 
undergoes  a  marked  physical  change,  the  rocky  hills  with  nar 
row  valleys  giving  place  to  gently  rolling  downs,  "  mostly  bare 
and  desolate,  burned  up  in  summer  by  the  unclouded  sun,  but 
covered  in  winter  and  spring  with  grass  and  green  herbs,  afford 
ing  excellent  pasturage  for  sheep,  goats,  and  camels."  Porter 
in  Alexander's  Kitto,  Art.  Negeb.  See  also  Tristram's  Land 
of  Israel,  pp.  382,  383.  This  is*  that  part  of  Judea  so  often 
referred  to  as  the  south  (Heb.  Ncgcb)  and  the  south  country  (Gen. 
12:9;  13:1;  24:62;  Deut.  1:7;  1  Sam.  30:1;  etc.),  terms 
which  are  to  be  understood  as  denoting  a  geographical  division 
of  the  land.  See  especially  Deut,  1:7;  Jer.  32:44;  33:13; 
Zech.  7 :  7.  The  deep  and  rocky  wadys  by  which  it  is  inter- 


70  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

sected  are  dry  except  after  heavy  rains,  when  they  flow  with 
water.  Hence  the  beautiful  allusion  of  the  Psalmist:  "Turn 
again  our  captivity,  O  Lord,  as  the  streams  in  the  south."  Psa. 
126 : 4. 

25.  Jerusalem  (el-Kuds,  the  Holy,  as  the  Arabs  call  it)  must 
ever  be  an  object  of  solemn  interest  to  the  Christian.  Already 
in  the  days  of  Joshua  it  was  a  place  of  great  strength.  Though 
the  Israelites  took  and  burned  the  city  itself  (Judg.  1:8),  they 
could  not  drive  out  the  Jebusites  from  their  stronghold  on  Zion 
(Josh.  15  :  63  ;  Judg.  1 :  21),  but  they  kept  possession  of  it,  and 
thus  of  the  city,  till  David's  time,  who  "took  the  stronghold  of 
Zion:  the  same  is  the  city  of  David."  2  Sam.  5:7.  David 
made  it  the  seat  of  his  kingdom ;  and  by  the  transference  of  the 
ark  from  "Baalah,  which  is  Kirjath-jearim"  (Jo$h.  15  :  9)  to  the 
same  place  (2  Sam.,  chap.  6),  it  became  the  seat  and  centre  of 
the  theocracy  also ;  and  so  it  continued  for  eleven  centuries,  till 
the  theocracy  itself  passed  away  through  the  ministry  of  the 
Boman  legions  "  with  tumult,  with  shouting,  and  with  the  sound 
of  the  trumpet."  Here  Solomon  built  on  Moriah  the  first  tem 
ple,  and  Zerubbabel  with  his  companions  the  second,  which  was 
afterwards  renewed  by  Herod  with  a  magnificence  surpassing 
that  of  the  first.  Here  David  reigned  in  warlike  might,  and 
Solomon  in  unrivalled  splendor;  and  after  them  a  long  line  of 
kings  and  princes.  The  city  was  set  forth  as  a  prize  to  the  suc 
cessive  great  monarchies  of  the  world.  Against  it  came  Shishak 
king  of  Egypt,  and  "took  away  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  treasures  of  the  king's  house."  1  Kings  14  :  25, 
26.  Before  it  Sennacherib's  host  encamped,  and  were  destroyed 
by  an  angel  —  a  hundred  fourscore  and  five  thousand  in  one 
night.  2  Kings  19  :  35.  Nebuchadnezzar  took  it  and  burned 
it  with  its  "holy  and  beautiful  temple."  2  Kings  25 :  9.  Under 
Cyrus  it  was  restored.  The  mighty  Alexander  visited  it  and 
offered  sacrifices  upon  its  altar.  Josephus,  Antiq.,  11.  8.  5. 
The  kings  of  Egypt  and  Syria  contended  over  it,  and  each  of 
them  in  turn  possessed  and  desolated  it.  The  heroic  Maccabees 
established  its  independence,  till  the  Boman  Pompey  took  it 


PALESTINE.  71 

with  great  slaughter,  and  by  the  right  of  conquest  visited  the 
inner  sanctuary,  where  to  his  amazement  he  found  "  a  vacant 
shrine  and  empty  mysteries,  with  no  image  of  the  gods  within." 
Tacitus,  Hist.,  5.  9.  From  Pompey's  day  the  city  passed  into 
the  power  of  the  Romans.  It  was  destroyed  by  Titus  with  its 
people  A.  D.  70,  and  the  Jews  slaughtered  by  hundreds  of  thou 
sands.  Under  the  leadership  of  the  celebrated  Bar-cocheba 
the  Jews  revolted  and  took  possession  of  Jerusalem,  but  were 
defeated  with  terrible  slaughter  A.  D.  135.  Then  the  emperor 
Hadrian  demolished  all  remains  of  the  old  Jerusalem;  built  a 
new  city  with  a  new  name,  that  of  ^Elia  Capitolina ;  erected  a 
temple  to  Jupiter  on  the  site  of  the  Jewish  sanctuary,  and  a 
temple  to  Astarte  on  the  place  now  known  as  the  holy  sepul 
chre;  and  sculptured  the  military  ensigns  of  Rome  over  the 
gates  of  the  city.  Afterwards  the  Persians  stormed  and  took 
Jerusalem,  A.  D.  614.  Next  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Sara 
cens  under  Omar,  A.  D.  637,  who  has  left  the  existing  mosque  of 
Omar  as  a  monument  of  his  conquest.  From  the  Saracens 
Jerusalem  passed  to  the  Turks,  and  from  them  it  was  taken  by 
the  Crusaders,  A.  D.  1099.  Finally,  it  was  captured  from  the 
Christians  by  the  famous  Saladin,  October  2, 1187,  and  has  ever 
since  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Ottoman  power.  Thus 
are  fulfilled  the  words  of  our  Lord :  "  Jerusalem  shall  be  trod 
den  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  ful 
filled."  Luke  21  : 24 

But,  wonderful  and  unparalleled  as  is  the  earthly  history  of 
Jerusalem,  it  has  for  us  an  interest  of  an  infinitely  higher  char 
acter;  for  it  was  here  that  our  Lord  wrought  redemption  for 
the  human  family  by  his  propitiatory  death  on  the  cross.  With 
in  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  he  was  condemned  to  death,  scourged, 
and  spit  upon.  Without  her  walls  on  Calvary  he  "redeemed  us 
from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us."  Here 
he  was  buried,  and  rose  again  the  third  day ;  and  from  this  city 
he  led  his  disciples  forth  to  Bethany,  where  he  was  parted  from 
them  and  carried  up  into  heaven.  It  was  in  Jerusalem  also,  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  the 


72  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

infant  ckurcli  as  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and  the  Christian  dis 
pensation  was  inaugurated ;  and  from  Jerusalem  as  a  centre  was 
the  gospel  propagated  among  all  nations.  Thus  began  the  ful 
filment  of  the  prophet's  words:  "Out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the 
law,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem."  And  what 
mighty  events  await  the  holy  city  in  the  coming  future,  when 
"the  times  of  the  Gentiles  shall  be  fulfilled,"  who  can  tell ! 

26.  Jerusalem  lies  not  far  from  the  centre,  reckoning  east 
and  west,  of  the  broad,  mountainous  tract  that  has  been  de 
scribed,  in  lat.  31°  46  r  N.,  and  long.  35°  181'  E.  from  Green 
wich.  The  following  description  should  be  studied  with  con 
stant  reference  to  the  maps  of  Jerusalem  and  its  vicinity  which 
accompany  this  volume.  The  valley  of  Kidron  (in  the  New  Tes 
tament,  the  torrent  Cedron,  John  18 : 1)  has  its  head  some  half 
an  hour  northwest  of  the  city  on  the  road  to  Neby  Samwil. 
The  valley  runs  a  short  distance  directly  towards  the  city,  then 
turning  nearly  east,  it  passes  to  the  northward  of  the  tombs  of 
the  Kings,  at  the  distance  of  about  two  hundred  rods  from  the 
city.  Then  curving  around  to  the  south,  it  passes  down  be 
tween  the  city  on  the  west  and  the  mount  of  Olives  on  the  east. 
In  the  upper  part  it  is  shallow  and  rocky,  and  just  after  it 
curves  to  the  south,  it  spreads  out  into  a  basin  of  some  breadth, 
planted  with  olive  and  other  fruit  trees.  As  it  descends  to  the 
south,  the  west  side  towards  the  city  becomes  steeper  and  more 
elevated,  until  at  the  gate  of  St.  Stephen  (the  eastern  gate)  the 
height  of  the  brow  is  about  one  hundred  feet.  Here  a  bridge  on 
a  causeway  leads  across  towards  the  mount  of  Olives.  Below  the 
bridge  the  valley  contracts  and  sinks  rapidly,  till  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  area  of  the  mosque  of  Omar  it  becomes  merely  a 
deep  ravine,  or  narrow  torrent-bed,  overhung  by  the  wall  of  the 
area.  The  elevation  of  the  wall  above  the  bottom  of  the  valley- 
is  estimated  by  Eobinson  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Pass 
ing  on  south  of  the  city  it  receives  from  the  west  the  valley  of 
Hinnom.  Here  at  the  junction  is  the  place  of  Tophet,  and  a 
little  farther  down  is  the  well  En-rogel.  Still  farther  south  the 
valley  bends  towards  the  east,  and  so  passes  off  to  the  Dead 


— ~ — r-— -i.  -•  «--      ,  ^<,    -- 


JERUSALEM.  FROM  THE  SOUTHEAST. 


GARDEN  OF  GETHSEMANE,   AND   MOUNT  OF  OUVES. 


PALESTINE.  73 

sea  in  an  east-southeast  direction.  The  valley  abounds  on  both 
sides  with  excavated  tombs  from  its  origin  all  the  way  down  to 
the  city,  and  even  opposite  to  its  northern  part.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  add  that  "the  brook  Kidron"  of  Scripture  is  not 
a  perennial  stream,  but  only  the  bed  of  a  torrent,  where  no 
water  flows  except  during  the  heavy  rains  of  winter.  This 
indeed  is  indicated  in  both  Hebrew  and  Greek  by  the  word  ren 
dered  brook  in  our  version. 

The  modern  name  of  this  valley  Wady  JehosJiafat,  valley  of  Jehoshupl/nt. 
is  founded  on  a  belief  prevalent  since  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,  that 
this  is  "the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat"  of  which  the  prophet  -Joel  speaks 
(chap.  3  :2,  12),  and  where  the  last  judgment  is  to  be  held.  But  "the 
valley  of  Jehoshaphat "  in  Joel  is,  in  all  probability,  a  simple  allusion  to 
the  meaning  of  the  word  Jehoshaphat,  that  is,  Jehovah  judgeth,  or,  Jehovah 
is  judge.  It  is  the  valley  of  Jehovah's  judgment,  not  the  geographical  name 
by  which  a  valley  in  Joel's  day  was  designated.  Josephtis  knows  nothing 
of  such  a  name  as  applied  to  the  valley  of  Kidron. 

27.  The  valley  of  Hinnom  (Josh.  15:8;  2  Kings  23:10; 
2  Chron.  28  :  3 ;  32  :  6),  or  more  fully,  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Hin 
nom  ( Jer.  19  :  2,  6 ;  32  : 35)  has  its  commencement  in  a  broad 
sloping  basin  west  of  the  city.  It  runs  in  a  southeasterly  direc- 
tion»towards  the  Yafa  gate  (the  western  gate)  for  about  2,100 
feet.  When  within  about  400  feet  of  this  gate  it  bends  to  the 
south,  skirting  the  west  side  of  Zion.  After  pursuing  this 
course  about  the  distance  of  2,100  feet,  it  curves  round  the 
southwestern  brow  of  Zion,  thus  assuming  an  easterly  direction, 
and  so  it  opens  into  the  valley  of  Kidron  at  the  distance  of  2,880 
feet  below  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  area  of  the  mosque  of 
Omar,  according  to  Robinson's  measurements.  The  banks  of 
this  valley  have  at  first  a  gentle  slope,  but  they  soon  contract, 
and  become  steep  and  rocky.  South  of  Zion  the  right  bank  rises 
in  broken  cliffs  of  limestone  rock,  which  are  full  of  excavated 
tombs.  The  total  length  of  the  valley  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half. 

From  the  Hebrew  form  Ge  Hinnom,  valley  of  Hinnom,  comes  the  mod 
ern  Arabic  name  of  this  valley,  Yehennam;  also  the  Greek  Geenna,  used 
metaphorically  to  denote  liell  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  that  is.  the 
placn  where  the  wicked  are  punished.  See  below,  No.  42.  The  term  Ge- 

4 


74  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

enna,  or  as  it  is  called  in  English,  Gehenna,  should  be  carefully  distinguish 
ed  from  the  Hebrew  Sheol,  to  which  the  Greek  Hades  answers,  these  latter 
terms  denoting  the  place  of  departed  spirits. 

28.  On  the  broad  and  elevated  promontory  between  the  two 
valleys  that  have  been  described  lies  the  holy  city,  with  a  gen 
eral  slope  towards  the  east.      "All  around,"   says  Robinson, 
"are  higher  hills;  on  the  east  the  mount  of  Olives;  on  the 
south,  the  hill  of  Evil  Counsel,  so  called,  rising  directly  from  the 
vale  of  Hinnom ;  on  the  west,  the  ground  rises  gently,"  forming 
the  high  swell  of  ground  on  the  east  side  of  the  great  Wady 
Beit  Hanina,  which  passes  along  in  a  southwest  direction  an 
hour  or  more  west  of  Jerusalem;  "while  on  the  north,  a  bend 
of  the  ridge  connected  with  the  mount  of  Olives  bounds  the 
prospect  at  the  distance  of  more  than  a  mile."     It  is  only  on 
the  southwest,  where  the  plain  of  Rephaim  lies,  that  the  pros 
pect  is  somewhat  more  open.    Hence  the  beauty  and  pertinence 
of  the  psalmist's  words:  "As  the  mountains  are  round  about 
Jerusalem,  so  the  Lord  is  round  about  his  people  from  hence 
forth  even  for  ever."     Psa.  125  :  2. 

29.  "We  have  seen  the  general  situation  of  the  site  of  Jeru 
salem.      We  may  now  conveniently  attend  to  its  internal  divis 
ions.     To  describe  these  as  they  now  exist  is  an  easy  work. 
The  difficulty  lies  in  identifying  the  ancient  with  the  modern 
divisions.     We   begin  with  the   concise   but  very  important 
description  of  Tacitus : 

' '  The  city,  difficult  of  approach  by  nature,  had  been  fortified  by  works 
and  structures  which  would  have  been  a  sufficient  defence  had  it  stood  on 
a  plain.  For  two  hills  of  immense  height  were  surrounded  by  walls  with 
salient  and  reentering  angles,  so  as  to  expose  to  assault  the  flanks  of  the 
besiegers.  The  extremities  of  the  rock  were  abrupt ;  and  towers  were 
raised,  where  the  hill  aided,  to  the  height  of  sixty  feet ;  in  the  lower 
slopes,  to  the  height  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet.  These  were  won 
derful  to  behold,  and  their  summits  were  level  to  the  eye  of  those  who 
viewed  them  at  a  distance.  There  were  other  walls  within,  surrounding 
the  royal  palace  (regia),  and  the  tower  Antonia,  so  named  by  Herod  in 
honor  of  Mark  Antony,  rose  to  a  conspicuous  height.  The  temple  was 
fortified  after  the  manner  of  a  citadel,  and  had  walls  of  its  own  built  with 
special  labor  and  care.  The  porticos  themselves  which  surrounded  the 


PALESTINE.  75 

temple  were  an  excellent  defence.     There  was  a  perennial  fountain  of 

water,  the  hills  were  excavated  beneath,"  etc.     Hist.  5.  11,  12. 

* 

The  above  description  Tacitus  gives  from  the  Eoman  be 
siegers.  To  their  view  (and  they  had  full  opportunity  of  sur 
veying  the  place)  the  city  had  but  two  hills,  which  are  described 
with  reference  to  military  defence  as  being  of  immense  height. 
If  there  was  a  third  division,  it  was  too  inconspicuous  to  attract 
their  notice.  These  two  hills,  moreover,  were  surrounded  by 
walls  with  salient  and  reentering  angles,  and  lofty  towers — a 
description  which  obviously  applies  to  the  outer  wall.  The 
description  of  Josephus  is  more  elaborate,  but  agrees  essentially 
with  that  of  Tacitus : 

"The  city  was  surrounded  with  a  triple  wall,  except  where  it  was 
encompassed  by  impassable  ravines  ;  for  here  there  was  but  one  enclosure. 
It  was  built  upon  two  hills  lying  face  to  face,  and  separated  by  a  ravine, 
at  which  the  houses,  being  crowded  one  upon  another,  terminated.  But  of 
the  hills,  that  which  contained  the  upper  city  was  much  the  higher  and 
straighter  in  length.  On  account  of  its  strength  it  was  called  by  King 
David,  the  father  of  Solomon,  who  first  built  the  temple,  the  Citadel ;  but 
by  us  the  Upper  Market.  The  other  hill,  on  which  the  lower  city  stood, 
•was  called  Akra,  being  curved  on  both  sides.  Opposite  to  this  there  was 
a  third  hill  lower  by  nature  than  Akra,  and  formerly  separated  from  it  by 
a  broad  ravine.  But  afterwards,  during  the  time  when  the  Asmonteans 
reigned,  they  filled  up  the  valley  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  the  city  to  the 
temple,  and  having  cut  down  the  summit  of  Akra,  they  made  it  lower,  so 
that  the  temple  might  appear  over  it.  But  the  ravine  of  the  Tyropoeon 
(CJieesemongers),  so-called,  by  which  we  said  that  the  hill  of  the  upper  city 
was  separated  from  the  lower  hill,  extends  as  far  as  Siloam  ;  for  so  we 
called  the  fountain,  which  has  an  abundance  of  sweet  water.  Without,  the 
two  hills  of  the  city  were  encompassed  by  deep  ravines,  and  on  account  of 
the  precipices  on  both  sides,  neither  of  them  afforded  access  to  it."  Jew 
ish  War,  5.  4.  1. 

From  the  above  description  it  is  plain : 

(1.)  That  at  the  time  of  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Eomans,  the  city  stood  on  two  hills,  an  upper  and  a  lower, 
facing  each  pther,  and  separated  by  a  valley  called  that  of  the 
Cheesemongers. 

(2.)  That  the  lower  hill,  which  also  contained  the  temple 


76  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

area,  consisted  originally  of  Akra  and  another  hill,  separated  by 
a  broad  ravine ;  but  which  two  hills  were  made  one  in  the  tj^uo 
of  the  Asmonaeans  by  the  filling  up  of  the  intervening  vallrv. 

(3.)  That  the  hill  of  Akra  was  originally  higher  than  that  on 
which  the  temple' was  built,  but  was  at  the  time  of  the  junction 
cut  down,  in  order  that  the  temple  might  appear  over  it. 

(4.)  That  the  valley  of  the  Cheesemongers  extended  as  far 
as  Siloam — a  trait  of  the  description  which  enables  us  to  iden 
tify  that  celebrated  fountain. 

(5.)  That  the  two  hills  on  which  the  city  was  built  were 
encompassed  by  deep  ravines,  with  precipices  on  each  side, 
which  cut  off  access.  These  two  deep  ravines  are  manifestly 
that  of  Kidron  on  the  east,  and  that  of  Hinnom  on  the  soiith 
and  southwest. 

If  now  we  compare  with  the  above  descriptions  of  Josephus 
and  Tacitus  the  present  site  of  Jerusalem,  we  find  a  rather 
broad  valley,  having  its  commencement  in  the  plain  just  around 
and  outside  of  the  northern  gate  (the  Damascus  gate),  and  run 
ning  down  through  the  city  somewhat  east  of  south.  Into  this 
opens  near  the  southwestern  angle  of  the  Haram,  that  is  the 
area  of  the  mosque  of  Omar,  a  very  shallow  depression,  at  pres 
ent  scarcely  perceptible  to  the  eye,  which  comes  down  from  the 
Yafa  (Joppa)  gate  on  the  west.  Below  the  junction  the  valley 
continues  on  in  a  southerly  direction  to  Siloam,  but  with  more 
precipitous  sides  and  a  deeper  bed.  It  is  agreed  on  all  hands 
that  the  lower  part  of  this  valley  south  of  -the  junction  consti 
tutes  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Tyropceon  (Cheesemongers), 
which,  according  to  Josephus,  separated  the  two  hills  on  which 
Jerusalem  was  built.  What,  now,'  was  its  course  above  the 
junction?  The  most  natural  supposition  certainly  is  that  we 
are  to  seek  for  the  northern  continuation  of  the  valley  of  Cheese 
mongers  in  the  marked  depression  which  runs  on  in  nearly  the 
same  line  to  the  Damascus  gate,  rather  than  in  a.  very  incon 
spicuous  depression  which  conies  into  it  from  the  west.  This 
agrees  well,  moreover,  with  the  description  of  Josephus;  for  we 


PALESTINE.  77 

have  on  the  west  the  higher  hill  of  Zion,  with  its  continuation 
to  the  north  (the  part  which  Kobinson  and  others  call  Akra), 
and  on  the  east  the  lower  ridge,  on  which  the  temple  and  lower 
city  were  built — a  ridge  once  constituting  two  hills,  but  made 
one  in  the  time  of  the  Asmonseans.  Both  hills,  moreover,  are 
encompassed  by  deep  ravines  with  precipices ;  the  western  by 
that  of  Hinnom  on  the  southwest  and  south,  the  eastern  by 
that  of  Kidron,  now  called  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  on  the 
east.  According  to  this  view,  which  is  that  preferred  by  Hit 
ter  (Geog.  of  Palestine,  4,  p.  80,  seq.)  and  others,  Akra  lay  north 
of  the  temple,  while  the  southern  continuation  of  the  ridge  on 
which  the  temple  stood  is  the  ancient  OpheL  According  to  the 
same  view,  all  that  part  of  the  city  lying  west  of  the  valley  run 
ning  from  the  Damascus  gate  to  Siloam  was  reckoned  to  Zion. 
This  might  well  be  called  "much  higher  and  straighter  in 
length,"  for  it  extended  directly  north  and  south  from  the 
southern  brow  of  Zion  to  near  the  present  Damascus  gate.  Its 
height  at  the  northwestern  part  of  the  present  city  is,  accord 
ing  to  Lynch,  2,610  feet;  at  the  summit  of  Zion  in  the  south, 
according  to  Schubert,  2,537  feet;  at  the  threshold  of  the  Yafa 
gate,  according  to  Kusseger  2,642,  according  to  Schubert  2,636 
feet,  which  two  measurements  give  a  mean  of  2,639  feet.  The 
height  of  Moriah,  on  the  other  hand,  is  given  by  Schubert  at 
only  2,537  feet,  a  difference  of  full  one  hundred  feet. 

Dr.  Robinson,  however,  maintains,  in  conformity  with  the 
more  common  view,  that  the  valley  of  the  Tyropoeon  began  at  the 
western  or  Yafa  gate  in  the  shallow  depression  already  noticed ; 
that  it  then  ran  towards  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  Haram, 
and  there,  receiving  the  valley  coming  from  the  Damascus  gate, 
bent  towards  the  south,  and  so  extended  to  the  pool  of  Siloam. 
He  acknowledges  that  the  depression  is  at  present  very  incon 
siderable,  but  thinks  that  it  may  have  been  once  greater,  as  the 
rubbish  of  ages  has  accumulated  in  it.  According  to  this  view, 
the  lower  city  called  Akra  lay  north  of  Zion  and  west  of  Moriah. 
The  objection  that,  upon  this  plan,  the  lower  city  Akra  was 
not  bordered  by  either  of  the  deep  valleys  mentioned  by  Jose- 


78  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

plius  as  enclosing  the  two  kills  on  which  the  city  was  built,  he 
meets  by  the  suggestion  that  these  two  hills  are  "  a  mere  form 
of  expression  intended  to  embrace  the  whole  site  of  the  city." 
But  according  to  Josephus,  of  the  twro  hills  on  which  Jerusalem 
was  built,  the  one  contained  the  upper,  and  the  other  the  lower 
city,  with  an  intervening  valley,  both  hills  being  bordered  by 
deep  ravines.  We  cannot,  consistently  with  this  description, 
separate  one  of  these  hills  from  both  the  upper  and  the  lower 
city,  as  is  necessary  according  to  Dr.  Kobinson's  view.  As  to 
the  shape  of  the  lower  city,  Josephus  describes  it  as  "curved 
on  both  sides  (u^kvprofj,  which  is  generally  understood  to  mean 
gibbous ;  but,  as  Kobinson  remarks,  it  "may  also  mean  nothing 
more  than  that  Akra  was  sloping  on  both  sides,"  perhaps  more 
exactly,  had  rounded  slopes  on  both  sides. 

The  arguments  for  placing  Akra  north  of  Zion  and  icest  of  Moriah  are 
ably  presented  by  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.  1,  sect  7 ;  3,  sect.  5),  to  which  the 
reader  is  referred.  Ritter  (Geog.  of  Palestine,  vol.  4  of  Gage's  transla 
tion,  pp.  100-108)  gives  a  forcible  statement  of  his  opposing  view.  Both 
plans  are  clearly  stated  and  reviewed  by  Dr.  Thompson  in  Alexander's 
Kitto,  art.  Jerusalem.  The  question  cannot  be  regarded  as  settled  at  pres 
ent.  The  question  of  the  location  of  several  other  places  of  interest,  as 
the  tower  of  Hippicus  and  the  gate  Gennath,  is  obviously  connected 
with  that  of  the  position  of  Akra. 

30.  Josephus'  account  of  the  ivalls  of  Jerusalem  is  as  follows : 

The  first  or  old  wall  "began  on  the  north  side  of  the  tower  called  Hip 
picus,  and,  extending  to  the  Xystus  so  called,  was  joined  to  the  council- 
house,  and  ended  at  the  west  portico  of  the  temple.  On  the  other  part 
[going  the  other  way  from  Hippicus]  it  began  on  the  western  side  with 
the  same  tower,  and  extended  through  the  place  called  Bethso  to  the  gate 
of  the  Essenes :  then  it  bent  around  on  the  southern  quarter  above  the 
fountain  Siloam  :  thence,  turning  again  on  the  eastern  side  at  the  pool  of 
Siloam,  it  extended  to  a  certain  place  which  they  call  Ophlas  [Ophel] ,  and 
was  joined  to  the  eastern  porch  of  the  temple.  The  second  waU  had  its 
commencement  at  the  gate  of  Gennath,  which  belonged  to  the  first  wall,  and 
circling  round  the  northern  quarter  only,  went  up  to  Antonia.  The  third 
wall  began  at  the  tower  of  Hippicus,  whence  it  reached  as  far  as  the  north 
quarter  at  the  tower  of  Psephinos :  thence,  extending  over  against  the 
monuments  of  Helena  (she  was  queen  of  Adiabene  and  mother  of  King 
Izatus),  it  was  carried  along  by  the  caves  [sepulchral  excavations  in  the 


PALESTINE.  7(J 

rocks]  of  the  kings:  then  turning  at  a  corner- tower  by  the  Fuller's  mon 
ument  so  called,  and  joining  the  old  wall,  it  terminated  at  the  valley  of 
Cedron."  Jewish  War,  5.  4.  2. 

This  third  wall,  as  he  tells  us,  was  begun  by  Agrippa,  for 
the  purpose  of  including  the  northern  suburb  called  Bwf/m, 
and  afterwards  completed  by  the  Jews  at  great  expense.  Con 
sequently  it  did  not  exist  in  our  Lord's  day.  Josephus  describes 
at  length  its  magnificent  towers,  built  up  of  solid  masonry 
twenty  cubits  square  and  of  the  same  height,  with  chambers 
and  cisterns  above.  Of  these  there  were  ninety  distributed 
along  its  course  at  intervals  of  two  hundred  cubits.  The  mid 
dle  wall  had  fourteen  like  towers,  and  the  old  wall  sixty,  the 
entire  circuit  of  the  city  being  thirty-three  stadia — a  little  less 
than  four  English  miles.  (Eobinson  gives  the  present  circum 
ference  at  two  and  a  half  English  miles  less  seventy-four  yards.) 
Then  at  the  northwest  comer  rose  conspicuously  the  tower  of 
Psephinos,  octagonal  in  form,  and  seventy  cubits  high,  com 
manding  at  sunrise  a  view  of  Arabia  and  the  whole  territory  of 
the  Jews  as  far  as  the  sea.  Over  against  this  stood  Hippicus, 
and  near  this  two  other  towers,  named  respectively  Phasaelus 
and  Mariamne,  all  three  built  by  Herod  in  the  old  wall,  and 
which  "  for  size,  beautyj  and  strength  surpassed  every  thing  in 
t Inhabitable  world."  Of  these  it  will  be  sufficient  to  describe 
Hippicus,  so  named  from  Herod's  friend.  It  was  built  up  of 
solid  masonry  twenty-five  cubits  square  and  thirty  cubits  high. 
Above  the  solid  work  was  a  cistern  twenty  cubits  high ;  and 
over  this  a  house  with  two  stories  of  the  height  of  twenty- 
five  cubits,  with  various  compartments ;  and  above  all  a  breast 
work  and  battlements  adding  five  cubits  more ;  so  that  the  en 
tire  height  was  eighty  cubits. 

If,  now,  we  knew  the  exact  place  of  Hippicus,  it  would  give 
us  a  point  of  departure  for  the  several  walls.  Kobinson  finds 
a  remnant  of  this  in  the  northeastern  tower  of  the  so-called  cit 
adel  of  David,  a  little  south  of  tlie  Yafa  gate.  But  he  acknowl 
edges  that  the  measurements  do  not  agree  with  those  of  Jose 
phus;  and  as  to  the  solidity  of  the  structure,  no  argument  cac 


80  SACKED   GEOGRAPHY. 

be  drawn  from  that,  for  it  was  common  to  all  tlie  towers  in  their 
lower  part.  It  is  probable  that  the  site  of  the  tower  of  Hippi- 
cus  should  be  sought  farther  to  the  northwest,  somewhere  near 
the  northwestern  angle  of  the  present  wall.  Thus  it  would  be 
"over  against  Psephinos,"  which  stood  in  the  northwestern 
angle  of  the  third  wall.  The  gate  Gennath,  where  the  second 
wall  took  its  departure,  must  have  been  somewhere  to  the  east 
of  Hippicus  in  the  northern  line  of  the  old  wall.  Thence  this 
second  wall  went  circling  round  the  northern  quarter  to  the 
fortress  of  Antonia.  This  is  all  that  Josephus  tells  us  of  a  wall 
with  the  origin  and  exact  course  of  which  is  connected  the  vexed 
question  of  the  holy  sepulchre. 

According  to  Hitter's  view,  the  traditional  site  of  the  holy  sepulchre 
(see  the  map  of  Jerusalem)  must  be  rejected,  for  it  lay  fur  within  the  sec 
ond  wall.  According  to  Kobinson's  plan,  it  must  probably  be  rejected 
also,  since  the  second  wall  ran  not  straight,  but  circling  round  the  north 
quarter,  to  Antonia.  It  may  be  that  our  Lord  was  led  out  of  the  city  by 
the  eastern  gate,  and  that  the  crucifixion  took  place  north  of  that  gate  by 
the  road  to  Anathoth  and  near  the  brow  of  Kidron,  where  there  are  at  the 
present  day  many  tombs.  But  we  can  be  partakers,  through  faith,  of  all 
the  benefits  of  his  death,  though  the  place  should  remain  unknown  till  the 
trump  of  the  archangel. 

The  course  of  the  modern  walls  can  be  best  learned  by  an  inspectiA  of 
the  map.  They  have,  says  Robinson,  quite  a  stately  and  imposing  appear- 
.  ance  ;  all  of  hewn  stone,  with  towers  and  battlements  ;  the  latter  crowning 
a  breastwork  with  loopholes. "  Their  height  varies  with  the  irregularities 
of  the  ground  from  twenty  to  fifty  feet. 

In  his  account  of  the  rebuilding  of  the  walls,  Neherniah 
mentions  ten  gates  (chap.  3),  and  afterward  (chap.  12 : 30)  two 
others.  Mention  is  also  made  elsewhere  of  the  Corner  gate 
(2  Chron.  25  :  23),  and  the  gate  of  Benjamin.  Jer.  37  : 13.  Jose 
phus  names  the  gate  of  the  Essenes  and  the  gate  Gennath  in 
the  old  wall,  not  far  from  the  tower  of  Hippicus.  Josephus, 
Jewish  War,  5.  4.  2.  But  it  is  uncertain  whether  these  gates 
were  ah1  situated  in  the  external  walls,  and  also  whether  some 
of  those  last  enumerated  were  not  identical  with  gates  men- 


PALESTINE.  81 

tioned  under  other  names  in  Neh.  chap.  3.     It  is  impossible  to 
ascertain  with  certainty  the  position  of  these  gates. 

In  liis  account  of  the  rebuilding  of  the  city,  Nehemiah  begins,  as  Rob 
inson  well  suggests,  with  the  Sheep  gate,  on  the  east  of  the  citv,  and 
proceeds  first  northward,  and  so  towards  the  left  around  the  city,  till 
he  again  comes  to  the  Sheep  gate.  This  gives  the  probable  order  in 
which  the  ten  gates  stood.  The  Valley  gate  would  more  naturally  be  on 
the  north,  in  the  depression  at  the  present  Damascus  gate,  than  on  the 
west,  as  Robinson  suggests  ;  and  it  may  have,  been  the  same  as  the  Gate 
of  Ephraim  :  the  Dung  gate  seems  to  have  been  in  the  western  or  south 
western  quarter,  where  was  the  place  called  Betfiso,  that  is,  probably,  Dung- 
place  :  the  Fountain  gate  was  manifestly  near  Siloam  in  the  south,  as  the 
name  and  the  context  show  (Xeh.  3  : 15) ;  and  the  Water  gate,  which  comes 
next  in  order,  was  in  its  vicinity:  the  East  gate  doubtless  corresponded  in 
position  to  its  name. 

At  present  there  are  but  four  gates  in  use,  one  on  each  side  of  the  city, 
for  the  names  and  position  of  which  see  the  map  of  Jerusalem.  But  in 
the  middle  ages  there  are  said  to  have  been  two  gates  on  each  side.  One 
of  these  is  the  famous  Golden  gate,  in  the  eastern  wall  of  the  Haram,  of 
Roman  architecture  ;  a  second  is  the  so-called  Dung  gate,  south  of  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  Haram ;  a  third  is  Herod's  gate,  in  the  northern 
wall.  All  these  are  now  closed.  Of  the  fourth  gate,  on  the  western  side, 
no  traces  are  visible. 

31.  Zion,  the  most  prominent  and  extensive  of  the  hills  in 
ancient  Jerusalem,  rises  abruptly  in  the  southwest  quarter  from 
the  valley  of  Hinnoin,  which,  as  already  described,  sweeps 
around  its  southwest  corner  almost  at  a  right  angle.  "  Its  sum 
mit,"  says  Kobinson,  "presents  a  level  tract  of  considerable 
extent  along  its  western  brow.  The  eastern  side  of  the  hill 
slopes  down  steeply,  but  not  in  general  abruptly,  to  the  Tyro- 
poeon,  which  separates  it  from  the  narrow  ridge  [Ophel]  south 
of  the  Haram ;  while  at  the  extreme  southeast  part,  below  Siloam, 
it  extends  quite  down  to  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat."  On  the 
summit  of  Zion,  within  the  present  watts,  is  the  Armenian  con 
vent,  an  enormous  structure ;  farther  south,  without  the  walls, 
is  the  traditional  tomb  of  David,  underneath  a  room  which  is 
represented  as  the  place  of  the  last  supper.  The  building  is 

said  to  have  been  once  a  Christian  church.     Hard  by  are  the 

4* 


82  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Christian  cemeteries.  The  walls  of  the  modern  Jerusalem  en 
close  only  the  northern  part  of  the  hill  of  Zion.  The  rest  of 
the  surface  is  under  tillage.  Thus  Zion,  the  place  where  David 
and  Solomon  reigned  in  glory,  and  with  the  name  of  which  is 
associated  all  that  is  precious  in  the  visible  church  of  God — 
the  material  Zion  is  now  "ploughed  as  a  field;"  whereby  God 
teaches  us  that  it  is  not  to  the  letter — the  material  outward 
structure — but  to  the  spirit  that  the  glorious  promises  made  to 
Zion  are  addressed.  Yet  the  material  Zion  may  again  arise  in 
glory  when  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  are  fulfilled. 

North  of  the  hill  of  Zion,  in  that  part  of  the  city  which  Rob 
inson  calls  Akra,  are  various  Christian  convents — Latin,  Greek, 
Coptic;  and  directly  on  the  brow  of  the  hill  is  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  where  beneath  one  roof  are  shown  the 
alleged  place  of  our  Lord's  crucifixion,  the  holes  in  which  the 
three  crosses  stood,  the  stone  on  which  the  Saviour's  body  was 
anointed  for  burial,  and  the  so-called  sepulchre  in  which  he  was 
laid,  with  various  other  particulars  relating  to  his  decease.  Re 
specting  the  identity  of  this  spot  there  has  been  much  contro 
versy,  and  its  claims  have  certainly  gained  nothing  by  the  dis 
cussion. 

Mr.  James  Ferguson  (in  Smith's  Bib.  Diet. ,  art.  Jerusalem)  maintains 
that  the  place  of  the  holy  sepulchre  is  beneath  the  present  mosque  of 
Omar.  Dr.  Barclay  (City  of  the  Great  King,  p.  79)  suggests  that  the 
place  of  the  crucifixion  may  have  been  a  spur  of  the  ridge  projecting 
southeastwardly  into  the  Kidron  valley  north  of  the  eastern  gate.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  pursue  these  conjectures  any  farther. 

32.  The  level  area  called  el-Haram  esh-Sherif,  the  nolle  Sanc 
tuary  (more  briefly,  the  Ifaram),  on  which  now  stand  the  great 
mosque  Kxlld-es-SukhraJi,  Dome  of  the  JRock,  and  the  mosque 
el-Aksa,  that  is,  the  farthest  (so  called,  says  Robinson,  as  being  the 
remotest  of  the  Mohammedan  holy  places  in  distinction  from 
Mecca  and  Medina),  covers,  as  is  universally  admitted,  the 
summit  of  the  ancient  Moriah,  on  which  the  temple  stood.  It 
is  further  agreed  that  the  temple  did  not  itself  occupy  the  whole 
of  this  platform;  for  its  area  was  of  a  square  form,  while  the 


PALESTINE.  83 

Haram  is  much  longer  from  north  to  south  than  from  east  to 
west ;  its  eastern  side  being  1,529  feet,  while  its  southern  end  is 
only  926  feet.  According  to  Josephus,  the  fortress  Antonia, 
which  overlooked  and  commanded  the  temple,  stood  at  the 
angle  where  the  northern  and  western  porches  of  the  temple 
met  (Jewish  War,  5.  5,  8),  consequently  on  the  northwestern 
part  of  the  present  Haram.  The  remains  of  the  bridge  thrown 
from  the  western  side  of  the  temple  across  the  Tyropceon  to  the 
Xystus  on  Zion,  prove  beyond  doubt,  as  Robinson  has  shown 
(Bib.  Ees.  1,  pp.  287-289),  that  here  we  have  the  line  of  the 
western  wall  of  the  ancient  temple  area.  If  now  this  area  was, 
as  Josephus  states  (Antiq.  15.  11.  3),  a  stadium  square,  that  is, 
606?  English gfeet,  it  cannot  be  well  made  to  cover  the  whole 
width  of  the  Haram,  even  if  its  broad  porticos  be  thrown  outside 
of  the  above-specified  area,  as  Robinson  suggests.  It  would 
seem  that  there  must  have  been  an  enclosure  round  the  tem 
ple,  or  a  walled  place  around  it  distinct  from  the  proper  temple 
area,  which  extended  east  and  north  far  enough  to  cover  the 
present  area  of  the  Haram.  See  Josephus,  Jewish  War,  1.  21.  1. 
But  whatever  explanation  of  these  difficulties  be  adopted, 
we  have  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  present  area  of  the  Ha 
ram  coincides  substantially  with  that  on  which  the  temple  and 
fortress  Antonia  stood.  The  immense  stones  which  compose  in 
part  the  lower  courses  of  its  wall  were  not  laid  by  Saracen  or 
Christian  hands.  They  have  every  mark  of  high  antiquity,  and 
in  the  southwestern  angle  they  are,  moreover,  continuous  with 
those  of  the  arch  formerly  thrown  over  the  Tyropceon,  and  this 
existed  before  Herod's  day.  See  Robinson,  1,  pp.  286-289; 
3,  sect.  5.  Herod  may  have  repaired  this  wah1  and  enlarged 
the  level  platform  within  on  the  north;  but  the  foundations 
must  in  ah1  probability  be  referred  to  the  Jewish  kings  from 
Solomon  and  onward,  for  Josephus  says  that  "long  ages"  were 
consumed  upon  the  work.  Jewish  War,  5.  5.  1. 

In  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  Haram  are  several  courses  of  stone, 
on  both  the  east  and  south  sides,  alternating  with  each  other,  in  which  the 
stones  measure  from  seventeen  to  nineteen  feet  in  length  by  three  or  foui 


8i  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

feet  in  height,  while  one  block  at  the  corner  is  seven  and  a  half  feet  thick. 
In  the  northeast  corner  is  a  stone  measuring  twenty-four  feet  in  length  by 
three  in  height  and  six  in  width.  At  the  southwest  corner  huge  blocks 
appear  of  a  still  greater  size.  One  of  the  corner  stones  measures  thirty 
feet  ten  inches  in  length  by  six  and  a  half  in  breadth  ;  and  several  are 
from  twenty  and  a  half  to  twenty-four  and  a  half  feet  long  by  five  feet  in 
thickness.  Robinson  calls  attention  to  the  bevelled  character  of  these  stones, 
which  he  considers  to  be  a  mark  of  high  antiquity.  See  in  Bib.  Res.  1,  p. 
285,  seq. ,  where  also  may  be  found  his  account  of  the  fragment  of  the  arch 
that  formerly  spanned  the  Tyropoion. 

33.  A  detailed  account  of  the  temple  does  not  come  within 
the  plan  of  the  present  work.  The  reader  may  find  it  in  Jose- 
phus,  Antiq.  15.  11.  3-5 ;  Jewish  War,  5,  chap.  5.  "We  simply 
notice  its  general  structure  and  appearance.  It  was  a  stadium 
square,  surrounded  by  magnificent  courts,  the  inner  rising  above 
the  outer ;  and  the  temple  proper,  that  is,  the  house  within  the 
courts,  lying  highest  of  all,  so  as  to  appear  over  the  courts  in 
every  direction.  Josephus  says  that  its  external  splendor  struck 
the  beholder  with  admiration:  that  it  was  everywhere  covered 
with  thick  plates  of  gold,  so  that  at  the  rising  of  the  sun  it 
reflected  a  very  fiery  splendor,  which  compelled  those  approach 
ing  it  to  turn  away  their  eyes ;  that  to  strangers  coming  from  a 
distance  it  appeared  like  a  mountain  covered  with  snow;  for 
where  it  was  not  overlaid  with  gold,  it  was  of  a  brilliant  white 
ness;  that  some  of  its  stones  were  forty-five  cubits  long,  five 
high,  and  six  wide ;  and  that  the  roof  had  sharp  golden  spikes, 
so  that  no  birds  might  light  upon  it  and  pollute  it.  In  view  of 
this  description,  l^ow  pertinent  was  the  disciple's  remark  to  our 
Saviour:  "Master,  see  what  manner  of  stones,  and  what  build 
ings  are  here!"  and  the  Saviour's  solemn  reply:  "Seest  thou 
these  great  buildings!?  there  shall  not  be  left  one  stone  upon 
another  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down."  Mark  13 : 1,  2, 

It  was  the  temple  itself  with  its  porches  to  which  the  Lord  referred, 
and  his  prediction  was  terribly  fulfilled  by  the  Roman  legions.  We  need 
not  suppose  that  the  external  enclosure  of  the  temple  area  was  everywhere 
overturned  to  its  foundations,  built  up  as  were  its  walls  from  the  deep 
adjacent  valleys. 

When  the  Saviour  and  the  people  are  spoken  of  as  in  the  temple,  we 


PALESTINE.  85 

are  to  understand  this  of  its  porches ;  for  into  the  proper  sanctuary  (naos) 
none  but  the  priests  could  enter.  Without  a  certain  enclosure  the  Gen 
tiles  were  allowed,  but  within  none  but  Israelites  might  come.  Josephus, 
Jewish  War,  5.  5.  2.  The  temple  had  outer  gates  leading  into  its  enclo 
sures,  of  which  four  were  on  the  west  side  ;  and  also  inner  gates  from  one 
porch  to  another,  with  an  ascent  of  steps  to  eax?h.  The  gate  "  called  Beau 
tiful  "  (Acts  3  :  2)  is  generally  thought  to  have  been  an  inner  gate  on  the  east 
ern  side  of  the  temple  leading  from  the  court  of  the  Gentiles  into  that  of 
the  Israelites,  the  magnificence  of  which  is  extolled  by  Josephus.  Jewish 
War,  5.  5.  3.  But  some  suppose  that  it  was  an  outer  gate  opening  into 
Solomon's  porch,  which  lay  on  the  east  side.  Of  the  ancient  gates  several 
have  been  identified  by  modern  research.  See  Barclay's  City  of  the  Great 
King,  p.  486,  seq. 

34.  The  fortress  Antonio,  stood  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
the  temple  area,  at  the  junction  of  the  outer  porches  on  the 
north  and  west.  It  was  originally  built  by  the  Maccabean 
kings  under  the  name  of  Saris.  Herod  rebuilt  it  with  great 
magnificence  and  strength.  It  stood,  Josephus  tells  us  (Antiq. 
15.  11.  4 ;  Jewish  War,  5.  5.  8),  on  a  rock  fifty  cubits  high,  pre 
cipitous  on  all  sides,  covered  from  the  bottom  with  smooth 
stone  plates,  which  made  it  beautiful  in  appearance  and  diffi 
cult  of  ascent,  and  surrounded,  moreover,  by  a  wall  three  cubits 
in  height.  The  castle  itself  was  of  a  square  form,  and  rose 
above  this  rock  to  the  height  of  forty  cubits,  having  the  appear 
ance  of  a  palace  with  apartments  and  conveniences  of  every 
kind.  Above  it  had  four  towers,  one  at  each  corner ;  of  which 
three  were  fifty  cubits  high ;  but  the  fourth,  which  stood  at  the 
southeast  corner,  rose  to  the  height  of  seventy  cubits,  so  as  to 
overlook  the  whole  temple.  It  had  flights  of  stairs  descending 
to  the  northern  and  western  porches  of  the  temple,  by  which 
the  Koman  guards  might  pass  and  repass  at  all  hours  to  main 
tain  order.  The  fortress  was  separated  from  Bezetha  on  the 
north  by  a  deep  ditch,  which  added  greatly  to  the  height  of  the 
towers.  Josephus,  Jewish  War,  5.  4.  2.  Kobinson  thinks  that 
in  the  so-called  "Pool  of  Bethesda,"  which  lies  along  the  north 
eastern  border  of  the  Haram,  measuring  360  feet  in  length,  130 
in  breadth,  with  a  present  depth  of  75  feet,  we  have  the  remains 
of  this  trench. 


86  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

It  was  from  this  fortress,  called  the  Castle,  that  Lysias  "ran  down" 
with  soldiers  and  centurions  to  the  multitude  assembled  around  Paul  in 
one  of  the  porches  of  the  temple  ;  and  up  one  of  the  flights  of  stairs  above 
mentioned  he  was  borne  by  the  soldiers  ;  and  from  the  same  stairs  he 
addressed  the  people.  Acts  21 :  32-40. 

35.  North  of  the  temple  area  and  adjacent  to  the  fortress 
Antonia,  from  which  it  was  separated  by  the  trench  already 
mentioned,  lay  Bezetha,  that  is,  as  Josephus  interprets  the  word, 
the  New  City — a  suburb  not  included  within  the  walls  of  Jeru 
salem  in  our  Saviour's  time,  but  afterwards  enclosed  by  Agrippa. 
According  to  Robinson,  Akra  lay  west  of  the  temple  area.     Ac 
cording  to  Hitter's  plan,  "  the  hill  Akra  was  the  ridge  north  of 
the  temple  area  sloping  towards  the  Damascus  [gate]  valley, 
then  the  Tyropoeon — and  Bezetha,  the  ridge  rising  northward 
from  this,  and  skirted  by  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat."     Thomp 
son  in  Alexander's  Kitto. 

South  of  the  Haram  the  hill  of  Moriah  is  continued  in  a 
rocky  ridge  "  between  the  deep  valley  of  Jehoshaphat  on  the 
east,  and  the  steep  but  shallower  Tyropceon  on  the  west.  The 
top  of  the  ridge  is  flat,  descending  rapidly  towards  the  south, 
sometimes  by  offsets  of  rocks,"  and  ending  "just  over  the  pool 
of  Siloam,  in  a  steep  point  of  rock  forty  or  fifty  feet  high." 
Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  1,  pp.  231,  267.  This  is  the  ancient  Ophel. 

36.  On  a  marble-paved  platform,  raised  to  an  average  height 
of  some  ten  feet  above  the  general  level  of  the  Haram,  stands 
the  splendid  edifice  Kubbet-es-Sukhrah,  Dome  of  the  Bock,  com 
monly  called  the  Mosque  of  Omar.     It  is  a  true  octagon,  about 
170  feet  in  diameter,  and  of  the  same  height.     The  dome  which 
crowns  the  building  is  the  admiration  of  all  travellers.     It.  is 
surmounted  by  a  lofty  bronze  crescent.     Immediately  beneath 
the  dome,  in  an  inner  enclosure  overhung  by  the  richest  crim 
son-silk  canopy,  is  the  venerated  Sukhrah,  that  is,  Rock,  equally 
sacred  to  Jews  and  Mohammedans,  and  with  which  so  many 
traditions  and  legends  are  connected. 

Against  the  southern  wall  of  the  Haram,  rather  nearer  its 
western  than  its  eastern  side,  stands  the  mosque  d-Aksa,  which 


PALESTINE.  87 

is  thought  with  good  reason  to  have  been  originally  one  of  the 
churches  built  by  the  emperor  Justinian,  afterwards  enlarged 
and  changed  in  various  respects  by  the  Saracens,  and  converted 
into  a  Mohammedan  mosque.  For  the  other  places  of  the  Ha- 
rani  see  the  work  of  Barclay  above  referred  to,  p.  494,  seq. 

The  great  mosque  which  bears  the  name  of  Omar  is  said  by  the  Arabian 
•writers  to  have  been  rebuilt  by  the  Khalif  Abd-el-Melek.  The  shape  of 
the  Sukhrah  is  irregular ;  it  is  about  sixty  feet  long  from  north  to  south,  and 
fifty-five  feet  broad.  It  rises  about  five  feet  above  the  marble  floor  of  the 
mosque.  In  the  southeastern  part  of  the  rock  is  a  small  room  about  eight 
feet  high  and  fifteen  on  each  side,  and  there  is  evidence  of  further  excava 
tions.  Jewish  tradition  represents  this  rock  as  the  Beth-el  of  Jacob,  the 
place  where  Abraham  offered  up  Isaac,  the  threshing-floor  of  Araunah  the 
Jebusite,  and  the  site  of  the  Holy  of  Holies  in  Solomon's  temple.  For  the 
Mohammedan  legends  connected  with  it,  see  Barclay  as  above. 

37.  The  pool  of  Siioam  (Heb.  Shiloali,  Isa.  8:6;  SMaJi,  Neh. 
3  : 15;  Septuagint  version,  Siioam;  Latin  Vulgate,  Siloe)  is  one 
of  the  few  undisputed  localities  in  Jerusalem.  We  find  it  now 
in  the  precise  spot  where  Josephus  places  it,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Tyropoeon  (Jewish  War,  5.  4.  1),  and  it  retains  its  ancient 
name,  being  called  Selwan  by  the  Arabs. 

* 

"The  water  flows  out  of  a  small  artificial  basin  under  the  cliff,  the  en 
trance  to  which  is  excavated  in  the  form  of  an  arch,  and  is  immediately 
received  into  a  larger  reservoir  fifty-three  feet  in  length  by  eighteen  feet 
in  width  [according  to  Barclay,  fifty  feet  in  length,  with  a  breadth  varying 
between  fourteen  and  a  half  and  eighteen  and  a  half  feet].  A  flight  of 
steps  leads  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  reservoir,  which  is  nineteen  feet 
deep."  Alexander's  Kitto.  It  is  never  filled  at  present,  but  the  water 
may  be  retained  to  the  height  of  three  or  four  feet  from  the  bottom,  when 
it  passes  off  through  a  duct,  and  soon  reappears  in  a  deep  ditch  under  the 
perpendicular  cliff  of  Ophel.  Barclay,  p.  524.  It  was  situated,  as  we  learn 
from  the  words  of  Josephus  in  his  address  to  the  Jews  (Jewish  War,  5.  9.  4), 
without  the  ancient  city  wall,  but  apparently  near  to  it ;  for  the  wall  ran 
"above  the  fountain  of  Siioam."  Jewish  War,  5.  4.  2.  The  present  wall 
is  upwards  of  twelve  hundred  feet  from  it.  Its  water,  which  Josephus 
calls  "sweet  and  abundant,"  seems  to  have  been  more  copious  formerly 
than  at  present.  Some  of  the  subterranean  channels  which  once  fed  it 
may  have  become  obstructed.  See  below. 


88  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Siloam  is  not  a  fountain,  but  only  the  receptacle  of  a  stream 
conveyed  to  it  by  a  subterranean  channel  from  the  so-called 
Fountain  of  the  Virgin,  which  lies  on  the  west  side  of  the  valley 
of  Jehoshaphat,  some  1,200  feet  farther  up.  Through  this  zig 
zag  channel  Robinson  and  Smith  crawled  in  the  year  1838,  thus 
settling  for  ever  the  question  of  the  connection  between  the  two 
reservoirs.  They  found  the  length  of  the  winding  passage  1,750 
feet.  The  word  Shiloah  signifies  sent  or  conducted.  Robinson 
thinks  that  it  refers  to  this  very  subterranean  passage  through 
which  the  water  is  sent  down  from  the  upper  reservoir  of  the 
Virgin. 

The  Fountain  of  the  Virgin  is  a  deep  excavation  in  the  solid 
limestone  rock,  to  which  one  descends  by  two  successive  flights 
of  steps  to  the  depth  of  about  twenty-five  feet.  The  irregular 
flow  of  the  water  at  this  reservoir  was  noticed  by  ancient  wri 
ters  as  far  back  as  Jerome,  and  has  been  fully  verified  by  mod 
ern  observation.  See  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  1,  pp.  341,  342;  Bar 
clay,  pp.  520-522.  This  reservoir  does  not  appear  to  be  a 
proper  fountain  any  more  than  is  the  pool  of  Siloam  to  which  it 
sends  its  water.  Barclay  explored  a  subterranean  canal  leading 
to  it  from  Zion,  as  he  thinks,  for  more  than  a  thousand  feet, 
which,  though  now^dry,  seems  once  to  have  supplied  a  copious 
stream  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  there  are  other  artificial  chan 
nels  leading  to  it — Barclay  thinks  also  to  the  canal  between  this 
pool  and  Siloam. 

The  flowing  of  the  water  occurs  at  irregular  intervals  ;  sometimes  two 
or  three  times  a  day.  and  sometimes  in  summer  once  in  two  or  three  days. 
A  woman  from  Kefr  Selwan  (village  of  Siloam,  lying  near  the  two  pools  of 
Siloam  and  the  Virgin  on  the  eastern  brow  of  the  Kidron  valley)  told  Rob 
inson  and  Smith  that  "  she  had  seen  the  fountain  dry,  and  men  and  flocks, 
dependent  upon  it,  gathered  around  and  suffering  from  thirst ;  when  all 
at  once  the  water  would  begin  to  boil  up  from  under  the  steps,  and  (as  she 
said)  from  the  bottom  in  the  interior  part,  and  flow  off  in  a  copious  stream." 
Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  342.  The  cause  of  this  phenomenon  is  as  yet  unknown.  It 
admits,  however,  of  an  easy  explanation  on  the  principle  of  the  siphon. 

38.  The  remarkable  words  of  Tacitus  (Hist.,  5. 12),  "  A  peren 
nial  fountain  of  water ;  the  mountains  excavated  underground ; 


PALESTINE.  S<) 

and  pools  and  cisterns  for  preserving  the  rain-water,"  are  fully 
verified  in  every  particular  by  modern  research-  The  immense 
substructions  under  the  southeast  corner  of  the  Hararu  and  the 
mosque  el-Aksa  were  explored,  at  least  partially,  by  Catherwood 
and  his  companions  in  1833,  and  at  t  later  period  by  Barclay. 
They  consist  of  spacious  vaults,  resting  upon  rows  of  lofty  col 
umns,  and  their  great  extent  fills  the  mind  with  wonder.  Rob 
inson  has  given  from  Catherwood  a  description  of  them,  and  a 
detailed  account  of  them  may  be  found  in  Barclay,  pp.  503-511. 
It  is  probable  that  other  like  vaults  remain  farther  north  unex 
plored.  Whether  they  date  from  Herod's  age  or  one  still  ear 
lier,  or,  as  some  suppose,  were  built  up  by  Herod  on  founda 
tions  laid  by  Solomon,  is  a  question  that  has  been  much  dis 
cussed,  and  cannot  be  regarded  as  yet  settled. 

Near  the  Damascus  gate  is  an  entrance  to  a  vast  subterra 
nean  cavity,  which,  according  to  the  description  of  Barclay 
(pp.  459-469),  and  a  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Traveller  quo 
ted  by  him,  is  a  quarry  cavern  on  a  grand  scale.  Here  are 
heaps  of  marble  chips,  fragments  of  stone,  and  blocks  but  half 
quarried,  and  still  attached  to  one  side  of  the  rock.  The  floor 
is  of  rock,  smooth,  but  extremely  uneven,  the  irregularities  being 
caused  by  breaking  off  the  blocks  at  the  bottom ;  and  the  roof, 
which  is  supported  by  colossal  pillars  of  irregular  shape,  pre 
sents  a  similar  appearance.  The  marks  of  the  cutting  instru 
ments  are  as  plain  and  well  defined  as  if  the  workmen  had  just 
ceased  from  their  labor.  The  stone  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
portions  of  the  temple  wall  still  remaining,  and  referred  by  Dr. 
Robinson  to  the  period  of  the  first  building.  The  mouth  of  the 
quarry  is  higher  than  the  level  of  the  platform  on  which  the 
temple  stood,  making  the  transportation  of  the  immense  blocks 
of  stone  a  comparatively  easy  task.  The  heaps  of  chippings 
which  lie  about  show  that  the  stone  was  dressed  on  the  spot, 
which  accords  with  the  account  of  the  building  of  the  temple : 
"And  the  house  when  it  was  in  building,  was  built  of  stone 
made  ready  before  it  was  brought  thither :  so  that  there  was 
neither  hammer  nor  axe,  nor  any  tool  of  iron  heard  in  the  house 


90  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

while  it  was  in  building."  1  Kings  G :  7.  Barclay  gives  the 
extent  of  this  cayern  in  a  direct  line  at  750  feet,  and  says  that 
it  is  upwards  of  3,000  feet  in  circumference.  He  thinks,  more 
over,  that  it  is  connected  with  the  so-called  Grotto  of  Jeremiah, 
lying  north  of  it.  Many  other  rock-hewn  passages  remain  to  be 
explored  in  these  "  mountains  excavated  underground." 

39.  There  was  also,  according  to  Tacitus,  a  perennial  foun 
tain  of  water.  In  and  around  the  Haram  enclosure  are  many 
wells,  which  furnish  a  constant  supply  of  water,  whether  from 
natural  fountains  or  brought  thither  from  a  distance  through 
artificial  channels.  One  of  these,  west  of  the  Haram  wall,  was 
explored  by  Kev.  Samuel  Wolcott  in  1842,  by  Tobler  in  1846, 
and  by  Barclay  in  1853.  Its  depth  is  given  by  Wolcott  at 
eighty-two  and  a  half  feet,  with  four  and  a  half  feet  of  water. 
At  eleven  feet  from  the  bottom,  in  the  north  side  of  the  well,  is 
a  doorway  leading  to  a  vaulted  room  eighteen  feet  •long  and 
fourteen  wide.  A  passage  artificially  cut  in  the  rock  enters  the 
well  from  the  south  side.  This  Wolcott  succeeded  in  following 
eighty  feet,  and  Barclay  one  hundred  and  five  feet.  The  well 
does  not  seem  to  be  connected  with  any  other  reservoir.  See 
on  p.  534  of  Barclay's  work  a  plan  of  the  well  and  the  passage 
leading  to  it  from  the  south.  Barclay  also  describes  (pp.  525- 
527)  a  large  subterranean  reservoir,  apparently  of  rainwater, 
under  the  enclosure  of  the  Haram,  which  is  seven  hundred  and 
thirty-six  feet  in  circumference  and  forty-seven  feet  in  depth. 
He  found  but  little  water  in  it,  but  estimates  its  capacity  at  two 
millions  of  gallons.  He  discovered  no  entrance  to  it  from  the 
aqueduct  of  Solomon's  pools,  nor  exit  from  it,  though  both  may 
possibly  exist.  » 

Further  explorations  may  solve  the  mystery  of  the  way  in  which  Heze- 
kiah  "stopped  the  waters  of  the  fountains  which  were  without  the  city," 
and  "the  brook  that  flowed  through  the  midst  of  the  land"  (2  Chron. 
32  :  3,  4);  and  "the  upper  water-course  of  GiMm,  and  brought  it  straight 
down  to  the  west  side  [or  on  the  west  side]  of  the  city  of  David  "  (ver.  30). 
That  there  is  a  system  of  subterranean  water-channels  under  the  city  is 
evident  from  the  various  notices  of  the  ancients.  The  evidence  at  present 


PALESTINE.  91 

preponderates  for  putting  the  fountain  of  Gihon,  with  Robinson,  on  the 
west  of  the  city.     See  in  Bib.  Res.,  3,  pp.  243-5. 

A  little  below  the  junction  of  the  Hinnom  valley  with  that 
of  Kidron  is  a  well  called  by  the  Franks  the  iccll  of  Nehcmiah, 
but  by  the  natives  Bir  Eyub,  icell  of  Job.  It  is  of  an  irregular 
quadrilateral  form,  walled  up  with  large  square  stones,  termina 
ting  in  an  arch  on  one  side,  and  has  over  it  a  small  rude  build 
ing.  The  well  is  one  hundred  and  twenty -five  feet  in  depth, 
with  a  variable  quantity  of  water.  In  April,  1838,  Kobinson 
found  fifty  feet  in  it ;  Barclay,  in  October,  1852,  forty-two  and  a 
half  feet ;  October  7,  1853,  only  six  and  a  half  feet ;  March  2, 
1854,  the  well  was  overflowing  vigorously,  as  is  sometimes  the 
case  during  the  rainy  season.  The  position  of  this  well  corre 
sponds  perfectly  to  that  of  En-rogel  (Josh.  15  :  7,  8;  18  : 16,  17), 
which  lay  at  the  mouth  of  the  valley  of  Hinnom.  With  its  posi 
tion  its  architectural  character  agrees;  for  it  bears  the  marks 
of  high  antiquity.  This,  then,  is  the  well  by  which  Jonathan 
and  Ahimaaz  stayed  at  the  time  of  Absalom's  insurrection 
(2  Sam.  17  : 17),  and  at  which  Adonijah  made  his  feast  (1  Kings 
1:9),  which  Josephus  places  "  without  the  city,  at  the  fountain 
which  is  in  the  royal  garden."  Antiq.,  7.  14.  4. 

40.  We  may  notice,  also,  the  cisterns  and  pools  for  receiving 
the  rainwater.  The  cisterns  excavated  in  the  soft  limestone- 
rock  are  innumerable,  almost  every  private  house  having  one  or 
more,  and  some  of  them  being  of  great  size.  They  have  usually 
a  round  opening  at  the  top,  like  that  of  an  ordinary  well.  "Bro 
ken  cisterns"  of  high  antiquity  abound  along  the  ancient  roads 
of  Palestine.  One  of  these  cisterns,  in  the  court  of  the  prison 
at  Jerusalem,  doubtless  served  as  the  dungeon  into  which  Jere 
miah  was  let  down  by  cords,  when  he  sunk  in  the  mire.  Jer. 
38:6. 

Of  the  pools  within  the  limits  of  the  present  city  wall  we 
notice  the  following : 

The  Pool  of  Hezekiah,  called  by  the  Arabs  BirJcet-elrHammam,  Pool  of 
tJie  Bath,  its  waters  being  used  to  supply  a  bath  in  the  vicinity,  is  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty-two  feet  long,  with  an  average  breadth  of  about  one  hun- 


92  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

divd  and  twenty-six  feet.  Its  average  depth  may  be  eight  or  ten  feet.  It 
is  supplied  with  water  from  the  upper  pool  of  Gihon.  Its  position  corre 
sponds  to  that  of  the  pool  built  by  Hezekiah  (2  Kings  20  : 20 ;  2  Chrou. 
32  :  30) ;  nor  is  there  any  thing  in  its  structure  that  betrays  a  later  age.  It 
is  thought  to  be  identical  with  "the  pool  called  Amygdalon,"  mentioned 
by  Josephus.  Jewish  War,  5.  11.  4. 

The  so-called  Pool  of  Bethesda  is  a  deep  reservoir  or  trench  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Haram  wall,  which  is  thought,  with  good  reason,  to  be  a  rem 
nant  of  the  ancient  ditch  which  separated  the  fortress  Antonia  on  the  north 
from  Bezetha.  "The  main  pool,"  says  Barclay  (p.  321),  " is  about  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty  feet  broad  and  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  in  length  ;  its 
length,  however,  is  continued  one  hundred  and  forty-two  feet  farther, 
though  the  breadth  of  this  extension  is  only  forty-five  feet.  That  they 
•were  both  originally  designed  to  hold  water  is  evident  from  the  cement 
with  which  they  were  lined,  much  of  which  still  remains."  Which  of  the 
existing  pools  about  Jerusalem,  if  any,  was  the  true  Pool  of  Bethesda  is 
unknown.  Robinson  is  inclined  to  identify  it  with  the  present  Fountain 
of  the  Virgin.  Bib.  Res.,  1,  pp.  342,  343;  3,  p.  249. 

Without  the  present  city  walls  we  find,  besides  the  Pool  of. 
Siloam  and  the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin,  two  immense  reservoirs 
in  the  valley  of  Hinnom : 

Of  these  the  upper  pool,  commonly  called  by  the  monks  Gihon,  but 
known  to  the  natives  as  Birket-el-mamilla,  Pool  of  Mamilla,  lies  about  seven 
hundred  yards  west-northwest  from  the  Yafa  gate,  in  the  basin  forming 
the  head  of  the  valley  of  Hinnom.  The  sides  are  built  up  of  hewn  stone 
laid  in  cement,  with  steps  to  descend  into  it,  and  a  level  bottom.  The 
dimensions,  as  given  by  Robinson,  are  as  follows  : 

Length  from  east  to  west 316  English  feet. 

Breadth  at  the  west  end 200  " 

Breadth  at  the  east  end        218  " 

Depth  at  each  end 18  " 

Water  was  probably  conveyed  to  it  formerly  by  subterranean  channels  ; 
but  at  present  it  is  wholly  dependent  on  the  surface  water  in  the  surround 
ing  basin.  Robinson  would  identify  it  with  "the  upper  pool "  of  the  Old 
Testament.  Isa.  7  : 3.  Barclay  thinks  (pp.  329-331)  that  it  is  the  /Ser- 
pents1  Pool  of  Josephus  (Jewish  War,  5.  3.  2) ;  that  it  was  supplied  by  a 
higher  aqueduct  than  the  present  from  Etham  (Solomon's  pools) ;  and  that 
its  waters  were  carried  thence  to  the  city. 

The  Lower  Pool  of  Gihon  (Birket-es-Sultctn,  Pool  of  the  Sulian]  is  per 
haps  "  the  lower  pool"  of  Isa.  22  : 9.  It  is  situated  in  the  valley  of  Hin 
nom,  south  of  the  Yafa  gate,  and  is  the  largest  reservoir  in  the  vicinity  of 
Jerusalem.  The  following  are  its  measurements  as  given  by  Robinson  : 


PALESTINE.  95 

Length  along  the  middle  (from  north  to  south,   592  English  feet. 

Breadth  at  the  north  end .     .     245 

Breadth  at  the  south  end      .......     275 

Depth  at  the  north  end 35 

Depth  at  the  south  end    .........       42 

It  is  now  in  ruins.  Besides  the  water  of  the  valley  that  flowed  during 
the  rainy  season,  it  may  once  have  been  supplied  in  part  from  the  aque 
duct  that  leads  from  Solomon's  pools  to  the  city,  and  which  crosses  the 
valley  just  above  it. 

41.  Solomons  Pools,  though  distant  about  eight  miles  from 
Jerusalem,  belong  to  its  water-system,  and  may  therefore  be 
appropriately  considered  here.  These  celebrated  pools,  called 
by  the  natives  d-Burakt  the  reservoirs,  are  situated  near  the  head 
of  the  Wady  Urtas,  which  opens  towards  the  east,  about  an  hour 
southwest  of  Bethlehem.  They  consist  of  "  three  huge  reser 
voirs,  built  of  squared  stones  and  bearing  marks  of  the  highest 
antiquity.  They  lie  one  above  another  in  the  steep  part  of  the 
valley,  though  not  in  a  direct  line,  and  are  so  situated  that  the 
bottom  of  the  one  is  higher  than  the  surface  of  the  next  below, 
rising  one  above  another  towards  the  west."  "  The  inside  walls 
and  bottoms  of  all  the  reservoirs,  so  far  as  visible,  are  covered 
with  cement."  "  Flights  of  steps  lead  down  in  various  places 
into  all  the  pools."  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  474.  The  follow 
ing  are  their  dimensions,  as  given  by  the  same  author : 

Lower  pool.        Middle  pooL        Upper  pool. 

Length      ...     .     .     .     .     582  feet.       423  feet.       380  feet. 

Breadth  of  east  end      ...     207  250  236 

Breadth  of  west  end    ...     148  160  229 

Depth  at  east  end    ....       50  39  25 

The  distance  of  the  middle  pool  above  the  lower  is  248  feet ;  of  the  upper 
above  the  middle,  160  feet. 

A  few  hundred  yards  up  the  valley  is  "a  spring  shut  up,  a  fountain 
sealed,"  whence  the  main  supply  of  water  for  these  reservoirs  is  derived. 
This  is  accomplished  in  the  following  way.  A  narrow  shaft  enclosed  with 
masonry  leads  directly  down  to  a  vaulted  room,  according  to  Maundrell, 
some  fifteen  paces  long  and  eight  broad.  Joining  to  this  is  another  room 
of  the  same  fashion,  but  somewhat  less."  Quoted  by  Kobinson  as  above. 
Here  the  water  rising  in  various  places  is  conveyed  by  little  rivulets  into  a 
kind  «f  basin,  and  thence  by  a  subterranean  passage  to  the  pools.  In  a 


94  SACRED  GEOGEAPHY. 

similar  way,  as  Robinson  suggests,  Hezekiah  stopped  (shut  tip  or  hid,  as  the 
Hebrew  menus)  nil  the  fountains  about  Jerusalem.  2  Chron.  32  : 3,  4,  30. 
To  such  a  sealed  fountain  the  chaste  bride  is  beautifully  compared  in  Can 
ticles  4  : 12.  A  vaulted  room,  of  considerable  size  has  also  been  discovered 
under  the  eastern  end  of  the  lowermost  of  the  above  described  pools  of 
Solomon.  Such  subterranean  chambers  seem  to  have  been  one  of  the 
delights  of  Solomon  and  his  successors.  A  small  aqueduct,  with  branches 
to  receive  contiguous  waters,  is  carried  from  the  pools  along  the  sides  of 
the  hills  to  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem.  Its  course  upon  entering  the  city 
may  be  learned  from  an  inspection  of  the  map  of  Jerusalem.  Its  termina 
tion  is  under  the  southwestern  part  of  the  Haram. 

"  Later  Jewish  writers,  as  cited  in  the  Talmud,  speak  often  of  the  man 
ner  in  which  the  temple  was  supplied  with  water  by  an  aqueduct  from  the 
fountain  of  Etam,  which  lay  at  a  distance  from  the  city  on  the  way  to 
Hebron."  Robinson  in  Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  348.  This  seems  to  have  been  the 
fountain  above  described,  probably  in  connection  with  other  adjacent  foun 
tains  which  contributed  their  share  of  water.  It  corresponds  also  very 
well  to  the  Etltam  of  Joseplms,  which  was  one  of  the  favorite  resorts  of 
Solomon.  The  Jewish  historian  gives  (Antiq.,  8.  7.  3)  a  lively  picture  of 
this  monarch's  splendor,  telling  how  his  horses  excelled  all  in  the  region 
for  beauty  and  speed ;  how  their  appearance  was  made  more  imposing  by 
the  character  of  those  who  mounted  them — tall  young  men  in  the  prime 
of  life,  clothed  in  robes  of  Tyrian  purple,  with  long  flowing  hair  which 
they  every  day  sprinkled  with  gold-dust,  so  that  their  heads  glistered  when 
the  rays  of  the  sun  smote  upon  them  ;  how,  surrounded  by  this  magnifi 
cent  guard,  all  of  whom  were  armed  and  furnished  with  bows,  the  king 
himself,  riding  in  a  chariot  and  clad  in  white  raiment,  was  accustomed  to 
ride  forth  from  the  city  at  the  morning  dawn.  "But  there  was,"  he  adds, 
"a  certain  place  distant  from  Jerusalem  two  schceni" — sixty  stadia  or 
about  seven  and  a  half  Roman  miles — "which  is  called  Etham,  pleasant 
by  reason  of  its  gardens  and  flowing  streams,  and  also  fertile.  To  this  ho 
was  accustomed  to  go  forth  borne  aloft  in  his  chariot." 

42.  In  an  oblong  plat  at  the  junction  of  the  valley  of  Hin- 
nom  with  that  of  Kidron  are  pleasant  gardens  irrigated  by  the 
waters  of  Siloain.  Here  Jerome  places  the  Topliet  of  the  Old 
Testament  (Commentary  on  Jer.  7  :  31;  on  Matt.  10  :  28),  widen 
lie  describes  as  a  pleasant  place,  with  trees  and  gardens  watered 
from  Siloarn.  From  the  scriptural  notices,  it  is  plain  that 
Topliet  was  a  place  in  the  valley  of  Hiiinom.  Its  abominable 
character  consisted  not  in  its  physical  features,  but  in  the  hor 
rid  rites  there  practised  (Jer.  7  :  31 ;  19  :  5),  for  which  God  threat- 


PALESTINE.  95 

ened  that  he  would  make  the  valley  of  Hinnom  the  valley  of 
slaughter  :  "for  they  shall  bury  in  Tophet  till  there  be  no  place. 
And  the  carcasses  of  this  people  shall  be  meat  for  the  fowls  of 
the  heaven,  and  for  the  beasts  of  the  earth,  and  none  shall  fra^ 
them  away."  Jer.  7  :  31,  32 ;  19  :  6,  7.  Josiah,  that  he  might 
brand  this  spot  with  infamy,  defiled  it,  as  he  did  the  other  high 
places  before  Jerusalem.  2  Kings  23 : 10.  The  manner  of 
defilement  is  indicated  in  2  Chron.  34  : 4,  5. 

The  Valley  of  Hinnom  (Hebrew  Ge  Hintwrn,  whence  the  Greek  Geenna, 
and  the  English  Gehenna)  is  a  term  which  has  been  employed  for  ages  to 
represent  hett,  that  is,  the  place  of  future  punishment.  The  current  expla 
nation  is  that  into  this  valley  were  thrown,  after  Josiah's  day,  the  car 
casses  and  other  ordure  of  the  city  ;  and  that  a  fire  was  kept  continually 
burning  to  consume  the  filth  collected  there,  while  worms  preyed  on  what 
the  fire  spared.  It  is  not  necessary  to  pronounce  any  judgment  on  this 
apocryphal  and  doubtful  tradition,  since  the  Old  Testament  itself  furnishes 
a  ready  and  natural  explanation.  We  read  in  Isaiah  (chap.  66  : 23,  24)  that 
after  the  great  overthrow  of  God's  enemies  (ver.  15-17),  his  worshippers 
assembled  from  all  nations  "shall  go  forth  and  look  upon  the  carcasses  of 
the  men  that  have  transgressed  against  me  [Jehovah] :  for  their  worm  shall 
not  die,  neither  shall  their  fire  be  quenched  " — the  worm,  namely,  that 
preys  upon  these  carcasses,  and  the  fire  kindled  to  consume  them  ;  "and 
they  shall  be  an  abhorring  unto  all  flesh."  In  connection  with  the  awful 
threatening  of  Jehovah  above  quoted,  that  he  would  make  Tophet  and  the 
valley  of  Hinnom,  where  the  idolatrous  Jews  burnt  their  children  with 
fire  "for  burnt-offerings  unto  Baal,"  the  valley  of  Slaughter,  and  that  they 
should  bury  in  Tophet  till  there  should  be  no  place  left ;  and  also  with  the 
notice  in  Isaiah  that  the  idolaters  chose  gardens  for  their  abominable  rites 
(chap.  65  :3;  66  :17),  the  Jewish  rabbins  seem  naturally  enough  to  have 
made  the  gardens  of  Tophet  in  the  valley  of  Hinnom  the  scene  of  this 
great  final  burning;  and  to  have  interpreted  the  words:  "their  worm 
shall  not  die,  neither  shall  their  fire  be  quencflld,"  not  of  material  worms 
and  fire,  but  as  an  image  of  the  everlasting  destruction  of  the  wicked— an 
interpretation  harmonizing  fully  with  the  use  made  of  this  passage  by  our 
Lord.  Mark  9  : 43-48.  Hence  the  valley  of  Hinnom  (  Gehenna)  became 
the  representative  of  hell  as  the  place  of  future  punishment  for  the  wicked. 
Again,  the  prophet  Isaiah  says  (chap.  30  :33),  with  manifest  reference 
to  the  destruction  of  the  Assyrian  host :  "  For  Tophet "  (Hebrew  Topltteh, 
probably  only  a  variation  or  perhaps  an  earlier  form  of  the  word  Tophet) 
"is  ordained  of  old;  yea,  for  the  king  it  is  prepared;  he  hath  made  it 
deep  and  large  :  the  pile  thereof  is  fire  and  much  wood  :  the  breath  of  the 


96  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Lord,  like  a  stream  of  brimstone,  dotli  kindle  it."  This  mighty  funeral 
pile,  kindled  by  the  breath  of  Jehovah's  wrath,  represents  in  like  manner 
the  utter  and  perpetual  destruction  of  the  Assyrian  invaders.  Hence  the 
transition  was  easy  and  natural  to  make  Tophet  also  a  symbol  of  hell 
Thus  we  have  in  the  beautiful  words  of  Milton  : 

"  The  pleasant  valley  of  Hinnom,  Tophet  thence, 
And  black  Gehenna  called,  the  type  of  hell." 

43.  The  valleys  on  the  north,  east,  and  south  of  Jerusalem 
are  skirted  with  numerous  ancient  sepulchres — as  a  rule,  on  the 
side  opposite  to  the  city  so  far  as  this  extends — making  them  a 
vast  necropolis.  Of  these  Kobinson  gives  the  following  descrip 
tion: 

The  numerous  sepulchres  which  skirt  the  valleys  on  the  north,  east, 
and  south  of  Jerusalem,  exhibit  for  the  most  part  one  general  mode  of 
construction.  A  doorway  in  the  perpendicular  face  of  the  rock,  usually 
small  and  without  ornament,  leads  to  one  or  more  small  chambers  excava 
ted  from  the  rock,  and  commonly  upon  the  same  level  with  the  door. 
Very  rarely  are  the  chambers  lower  than  the  doors.  The  walls  in  general 
are  plainly  hewn  ;  and  there  are  occasionally,  though  not  always,  niches 
on  resting  places  for  the  dead  bodies.  In  order  to  obtain  a  perpendicular 
face  for  the  doorway,  advantage  was  sometimes  taken  of  a  former  quarry  ; 
or  an  angle  was  cut  in  the  rock  with  a  tomb  in  each  face  ;  or  a  square 
niche  or  area  was  hewn  out  in  a  ledge,  and  then  tombs  excavated  in  all  three 
of  its  sides.  Bib.  Res.  1,  p.  352.  The  reader  should  carefully  notice  in 
the  above  description  that  the  recesses  for.  depositing  the  dead  are  horizon 
tal,  the  bodies  being  slid  into  them,  not  let  down.  This  was  generally  the 
case,  whether  the  cavities  were  natural  or  artificial,  a  circumstance  to  be 
borne  in  mind  in  the  narrative  of  the  resurrection  Of  Lazarus. 

Then  there  are  more  elaborate  tombs  in  the  vicinity  of 
Jerusalem,  as  the  so-caj^d  Tomb  of  Jehoshaphat,  of  Absalom,  of 
St.  James,  and  of  Zechariah,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Kidron  val 
ley,  opposite  to  the  southeast  corner  of  the  Haram ;  the  Tombs 
of  the  Prophets  higher  up  on  the  western  declivity  of  the  Mount 
of  Olives :  the  Tomb  of  Helena,  commonly  called  the  Tombs  of 
the  Kings,  "  about  one  hundred  and  seventy  rods  north  of  the 
Damascus  gate,  on  the  right  of  the  Nabulus  road  "  (Kobinson) ; 
and  the  Tombs  of  the  Judges,  northwest  of  these,  at  the  head  of 
the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  Of  the  last  three  of  these  the  read- 


PALESTINE.  97 

er  may  find  an  elaborate  description  in  Robinson,  Bib.  Res., 
1,  pp.  355-364;  3,  pp.  253,  254.  Their  essential  parts  are  sub 
terranean  rock-hewn  galleries  leading  to  interior  chambers, 
around  which  are  niches  for  depositing  the  bodies  of  the  dead; 
or,  as  in  the  case  of  the  "  Tombs  of  the  Prophets,"  the  galleries 
themselves  may  be  lined  with  these  niches. 

The  most  remarkable  of  these  are  the  so-called  Tombs  of  the  Prophets, 
which  may  with  probability  be  assigned  to  the  age  of  the  Jewish  kings. 
The  entrance  to  them  is  through  a  hole  in  the  rock  leading  down  to  a  cir 
cular  apartment  about  ten  feet  high  and  twenty-one  feet  in  diameter  ;  with 
this  is  connected  a  system  of  galleries,  for  the  plan  of  which  see  the  ac 
companying  engraving. 


TOMBS   OF    THE    PROPHETS. 

• 

Far  more  magnificent  and  of  later  architecture  are  the  so-called  Tombs 
of  the  Kings.  They  consist  of  interior  subterranean  chambers  lined  with 
crypts,  which  are  reached  by  rock-hewn  passages  from  an  outer  sunken 
court  about  90  feet  square.  The  court  itself  is  reached  from  another  ex 
cavation  having  at  its  western  end  a  sloping  descent.  Robinson  refers 
this  splendid  mausoleum  to  Helena  queen  of  Adiabene.  See  the  accom 
panying  engraving.  Very  similar  are  the  arrangements  of  the  so-called 
Tombs  of  the  Judges. 

Snr.  O«og.  5 


98 


HACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 


SCALE  OF  FEET; 

10     5       0  10  20  30  40  SO 


!        . 


TOMBS   OF    THE   KINGS. 


The  ancients  took  great  delight  in  splendid  tombs.  The  soft  lime-stone 
rock  offered  a  ready  means  by  which  the  higher  classes  among  the  Israel 
ites  might  gratify  their  taste  in  that  direction.  To  these  magnificent  mau 
soleums — if  not  to  the  Egyptian  pyramids  above  ground — there  is  an  un 
doubted  reference  in  the  words  of  Job  (chap.  3  :13,  14):  "For  now  should 
I  have  lain  still  and  been  quiet,  I  should  have  slept ;  then  had  I  been  at 
rest,  with  kings  and  counsellors  of  the  earth,  which  built  desolate  places 
for  themselves."  It  was  the  vanity  of  Shebna  in  constructing  such  a  tomb 
which  the  prophet  Isaiah  was  directed  to  rebuke  :  "What  hast  thou  here, 
and  whom  hast  thou  here,  that  thou  hast  hewed  thee  out  a  sepulchre 
here,  as  he  that  heweth  him  out  a  sepulchre  on  high,  and  that  graveth  a 
habitation  for  himself  ft\  a  rock  ?"  Isa.  22  : 16.  It  was  in  the  ancient  un- 
tenanted  sepulchres  of  Galilee,  that  the  lunatics  mentioned  by  the  evange 
lists  (Matt.  8  : 28  ;  Mark  5  :  2*5  ;  Luke  8  : 27)  had  their  abode. 

44.  The  garden  of  Gttlisemane,  according  to  the  unanimous 
testimony  of  the  evangelists,  was  across  the  brook  Cedron  on  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  Matt.  26 : 30,  36 ;  Mark  14 : 26,  32 ;  Luke  22 : 39, 
40;  John  18 : 1,  2.  That  this  garden  was  not  simply  on  the  way 
to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  but  on  the  mount  itself,  is  clear  from  the 
words  of  Luke :  "He  came  out  and  went,  as  he  was  wont,  to  the 


PALESTINE.  99 

Mount  of  Olives;  and  his  disciples  followed  him.  And  when  he 
was  at  the  place  " — the  place  namely  to  which  he  was  wont  to  re 
sort — "he  said  unto  them,"  etc.  With  the  words  of  Luke  agree 
also  those  of  John :  "  where  was  a  garden  into  the  which  he  en 
tered,  and  his  disciples.  And  Judas  also  which  betrayed  him,, 
knew  the  place:  for  Jesus  ofttimes  resorted  thither  with  his 
disciples."  The  garden  of  Gethsemane  was  then  on  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  and  the  Saviour's  usual  place  of  resort,  manifestly  for 
seclusion  and  prayer.  That  now  shown  to  the  traveller  is  just 
over  the  bridge  of  the  Kidron  at  the  fork  of  two  roads  lead 
ing  the  one  round  the  mount  to  the  right,  the  other  directly  over 
it.  It  is  an  enclosure  of  stone  some  150  feet  on  a  side,  contain 
ing  eight  very  old  and  gnarled  olive-trees.  The  presumption 
from  its  position  is  against  its  being  the  true  Gethsemane;  for 
it  is  not  far  enough  removed  from  travel  for  the  purpose  of 
seclusion,  nor  can  it  be  properly  said  to  be  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives.  We  are  told,  moreover,  by  Josephus  (Jewish  War,  6. 1. 
1.  and  elsewhere)  that  Titus  in  order  to  procure  materials  for 
the  siege,  cut  off  all  the  trees  for  ninety  stadia  about  Jerusa 
lem.  "The  appearance  of  the  ground,"  he  says  "was  deplora 
ble;  for  the  places  formerly  adorned  with  trees  and  gardens 
were  then  desolate  in  every  direction  having  been  shorn  of  all 
their  trees."  And  he  adds  that  "one  who  had  formerly  known 
the  place,  coming  suddenly  upon  it,  would  not  recognize  it,  but 
being  present  at  the  city  would  seek  to  find  it."  No  safe  argu 
ment  therefore  can  be  drawn  from  the  age  of  these  olive-trees. 
There  has  been  time  enough  since  the  fourth  century,  from  which 
apparently  the  tradition  dates,  for  these  olive-trees  to  assume 
their  present  venerable  appearance.  It  should  be  added  that 
there  are  other  enclosures  in  the  vicinity  with  trees  equally 
aged.  All  that  we  can  safely  affirm  is  that  the  Saviour's  agony 
was  in  a  garden  somewhere  in  this  vicinity. 

The  position  of  Aceldama,  the  field  of  blood,  and  in  connection  with  this, 
of  the  Potters'  field,  is  uncertain.  Tradition  reaching  back  to  the  age  of 
Jerome,  places  Aceldama  on  the  steep  southern  face  of  the  valley  of  Hiu- 
nom  near  its  eastern  end. 


100  SACRED  GEOGKAPHY. 

The  road  to  the  Fullers'  field  led  by  the  conduit  of  the  upper  pool. 
2  Kings  18  : 17  ;  Isa.  7  : 3  ;  36  ;  2.  It  lay  therefore  on  the  west  side  of 
the  city. 

45.  The  Mount  of  Olives  is  the  well-known  ridge  east  of 
Jerusalem,  and  separated  from  it  by  the  valley  of  the  Kidron, 
called  at  the  present  day  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  The  ridge 
brgiiis  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  south  of  the  Haram,  where 
the  Kidron  turns  eastward  towards  the  Dead  sea.  Thence  it 
runs  north  past  the  city,  having  three  rounded  summits.  The 
church  of  the  Ascension  is  on  the  middle  summit,  opposite  to 
the  mosque  of  Omar.  About  a  mile  farther  north  it  sweeps  round 
to  the  west,  being  still  higher  than  the .  city,  and  spreads  out 
into  the  high  level  tract  north  of  the  city,  which  is  with  good 
reason  regarded  as  the  Scopus  of  Josephus,  where  the  Roman 
armies  encamped  with  the  city  and  temple  in  full  view. 

The  general  features  of  Olivet  are  not  rugged  but  tame  and  rounded, 
as  in  other  limestone  hills.  It  is  sprinkled  all  over  with  olive-trees,  many 
of  them  old  and  gnarled.  Of  the  three  summits  the  middle  and  northern 
are  the  highest.  Schubert  gives  the  altitude  of  the  church  of  the  Ascen 
sion  at  2,724  feet,  that  of  Zion  being  2,537  feet,  and  that  of  Moriah  2,429 
feet.  The  elevation  of  the  bridge  near  Gethsemane  is  2,281  feet,  of  the 
well  En-Eogel,  1,996  feet.  Consequently  from  the  bridge  to  the  summit 
of  the  middle  ridge,  there  is  an  ascent  of  443  feet ;  from  the  well  to. the 
same  summit,  of  728  feet.  The  lower  southern  hill  is  called  "the  mount 
of  Offence,"  as  being  that  on  which  Solomon  built  a  high  place  for  Che- 
mosh.  This  was  "in  the  hill  that  is  before  Jerusalem,"  that  is,  east  of  it, 
and  "  on  the  right  hand  "  (that  is,  south)  "of  the  mount  of  Corruption" 
(1  Kings  11:7;.  2  Kings  23  :3),  which  may  have  been  this  very  summit 
standing  over  against  Tophet  in  the  valley  of  Hinnom. 

Many  sacred  associations  cluster  around  the  Mount  of 
Olives.  It  first  appears  in  the  Old  Testament  as  the  hill  up 
which  David  went  in  his  flight  before  Absalom,  weeping  and 
barefoot,  pausing  on  its  summit  to  worship  God,  before  he  laid 
his  course  thence  eastward  to  the  fords  of  the  Jordan.  2  Sam. 
15:30,  32.  Doubtless  it  was  often  trodden  by  the  feet  of  the 
Hebrew  kings  and  prophets.  This  must  be  also  the  mount  to 
which  the  people  went  forth  in  Nehemiah's  day  to  "  fetch  olive- 


l'.\  LEST]  NK.  101 

branches,  and  pine-branches,  and  myrtle-branches,  and  palm- 
br; inches,  and  branches  of  thick  trees  to  make  booths,  as  it  is 
written."  Chap.  8  : 15.  It  would  seem  that  during  the  long  deso 
lation  of  the  land  in  the  Babylonish  captivity  the  mountain  had 
been  overgrown  with  trees  and  shrubbery,  much  of  which  re 
mained  now  ninety  years  after  the  close  of  the  captivity :  for  the 
land  was  yet  but  thinly  peopled.  More  prominent  is  the  Mount 
of  Olives  in  the  New  Testament.  It  was  a  constant  place  of. 
resort  for  our  Lord  and  his  disciples  during  his  visits  to  Jerusa 
lem.  Thence  he  entered  Jerusalem  in  triumph,  riding  on  an 
ass,  amid  the  hosannas  of  the  people ;  and  wept  over  the  city 
as  he  approached,  which  lay  in  full  view  before  him.  Sit 
ting  on  the  same  mount,  and  looking  upon  the  magnificent 
structures  of  the  temple,  he  predicted  their  utter  overthrow. 
The  fulfilment  of  this  awful  prophecy  by  the  legions  of  Borne  is 
a  solemn  commentary  on  his  memorable  words  uttered  011  that 
occasion :  "  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  words 
shall  not  pass  away."  From  Olivet  also  he  ascended  to  heaven, 
when  he  had  finished  the  work  of  man's  redemption. 

From  Luke  (chap.  24  : 50,  51)  we  learn  that  the  ascension  took  place  at 
or  in  the  vicinity  of  Bethany.  But  Bethany  is  on  the  eastern  slope  of 
Olivet.  Hence  the  same  evangelist  says  (Acts  1:12)  that  the  disciples, 
after  witnessing  their  Lord's  ascent,  returned  to  Jerusalem  "from  the 
mount  called  Olivet."  The  church  of  the  Ascension,  on  the  central  sum 
mit  of  the  mountain,  has  no  claim  to  be  considered  the  real  place  of  this 
event. 

46.  The  valley  of  Repliaim  (2  Sam.  5  : 18,  22 ;  23  : 13 ;  1  Chron. 
11 :15;  14:9),  or,  as  the  same  Hebrew  expression  is  translated 
in  the  book  of  Joshua  (chap.  .15:8;  18:16),  the  valley  of  the 
giants,  so  named  from  the  Rephaini,  an  aboriginal  race  of  gigan 
tic  stature,  is  a  flat  and  fertile  plain,  shut  in  on  all  sides  by 
rocky  hilltops  and  ridges.  It  descends  gradually  from  Jerusa 
lem  towards  the  southwest  for  more  than  a  mile,  when  it  con 
tracts  into  a  narrow  valley  called  Wady  el-Werd.  It  was  the 
scene  of  several  warlike  exploits  in  David's  day.  See  the  refer 
ences  above.  In  ancient  times,  as  now,  it  was  distinguished  for 


SACllKI)    ('  K<Mi  IIAPHY. 

its  fertility.  Hence  the  reaper  gathering  ears  in  the  valley  of 
Kephaim  furnishes  the  prophet  with  an  expressive  figure  for 
God's  desolating  judgments  on  Israel  and  Damascus,  Isa.  17  : 5. 

There  is  no  occasion  to  seek  another  location  for  the  valley  of  Rephaim. 
In  describing  the  northern  boundary  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  the  sacred 
writer,  tracing  it  upward  from  the  east,  comes  to  the  well  En-Rogel  (Josh. 
15  : 5-7).  The  verse  following  may  be  literally  rendered  as  follows  :  "And 
the  boundary  went  up  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom  unto  the  shoulder  " 
(that  is,  brow)  "of  the  Jebusite  on  the  south  :  the  same  is  Jerusalem." 
"The  broAV  of  the  Jebusite  on  the  south  "is  a  plain  description  of  the 
southern  brow  of  Zion.  The  narrator  proceeds:  "And  the  boundary 
went  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill  which  is  before  the  valley  of  Hiunom  west 
ward,  which  is  in  the  border  of  the  valley  of  Rephaim  northward. "  The 
meaning  is  that  the  hill  before  the  valley  of  Hinnoin  on  the  west  borders 
upon  the  northern  part  of  the  valley  of  Rephaim ;  all  which  agrees  with 
the  situation  of  this  plain.  In  Josh.  18  : 15-19,  the  southern  boundary  of 
Benjamin,  which  is  this  same  northern  border  of  Judah,  is  described  in  the 
reverse  order  down  ward  from  the  west.  Hence  we  read  (ver.  16) :  ' '  And 
the  boundary  went  down  to  the  border  of  the  hill  which  is  before  the  val 
ley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom,"  which  (that  is,  which  border)  "is  in  the  val 
ley  of  Rephaim  northward  :  and  it  went  down  the  valley  of  Hinnom  to 
the  shoulder  (that  is,  brow)  of  the  Jebusite  southward  :  and  [continuing 
its  descent  past  the  brow  of  the  Jebusite]  it  went  down  to  En-Rogel." 

47.  From  Jerusalem  as  a  centre,  the  following  places  may 
be  conveniently  described : 

Bethany,  a  small  village  on  the  eastern  slope  of  Olivet,  fifteen  furlongs 
from  Jerusalem  (John  11  : 18),  lying  on  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho, 
at  the  edge  of  the  wilderness  of  Judea.  Shut  out  by  a  secondary  ridge 
from  the  view  not  only  of  Jerusalem  but  also  of  the  summit  of  Olivet  it 
is,  and  must  always  have  been  a  place  of  seclusion,  and  to  it  the  Saviour 
loved  to  resort.  Here  was  the  family  of  Mary,  and  Martha,  and  Lazarus, 
where  he  found  a  quiet  home.  Here  he  raised  Lazarus  from  the  dead ; 
and  hence  he  ascended  to  heaven.  Its  modern  name  is  el-Azarlyeh,  that 
is,  Lazarus-place,  from  the  Arabic  el-Azir,  Lazarus.  The  site  of  Bethphage 
is  not  known.  It  lay  in  the  near  vicinity  of  Bethany,  but  whether  east 
or  west  of  it  is  a  question  among  biblical  scholars. 

Anata,  situated  betAveen  two  ravines  on  a  broad  swell  sloping  off  tow 
ards  the  southeast,  an  hour  and  a  quarter  north-northeast  from  Jerusalem, 
corresponds  in  name  and  position  to  the  ancient  Anathoth,  which  Joseph  us 
places  at  twenty  stadia  from  Jerusalem  (Antiq.  10.  7.  3).  and  Jerome  three 


PALESTINE.  103 

Roman  miU's  north  of  Jerusalem.  Comment.  Jer.  1:1.  There  can  be  no 
reasonable  doubt  of  the  identity  of  the  two  places.  It  was  one  of  the 
cities  assigned  to  the  priests  (Josh.  21:18),  and  here  Jeremiah  "of  the 
priests  that  were  in  Anathoth  in  the  land  of  Benjamin "  had  his  home. 
Jer.  1 : 1  ;  32  : 7,  8,  9.  It  is  now  a  miserable  village,  but  with  ruins  of  a 
former  place.  See  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.  1,  pp.  437,  438.  The  approach 
of  the  king  of  Assyria  towards  Jerusalem  from  the  north,  would  naturally 
cause  a  panic  in  "poor  Anathoth."  See  Isa.  10  :30. 

Four  miles  north  of  Jerusalem,  a  little  to  the  right  of  the  Nabulus  road, 
stands  a  bare  conical  hill  called  Tideil-el-Ful  that  is,  in  English,  Bean-hil 
lock.  A  heap  of  ruins  crowns  its  summit,  which  affords  a  wide  view.  Rob 
inson  has  shown  (Bib.  Res.  1,  pp.  577-579)  by  satisfactory  arguments  that 
this  is  the  site  of  the  ancient  Gibeah  of  Sctul  (I  Sam.  11:4;  15  : 34  ;  2  Sam. 
21:6),  so  called  as  being  the  home  of  Saul  (1  Sam.  10  : 26  ;  and  also  Gibe 
ah  of  Benjamin  (I  Sam.  13: 2, 15,  16),  as  belonging  to  that  tribe  ;  also  simply 
Gibeah  (Judg.  chaps.  19,  20).  Gibeah  signifies  a  hill,  and  several  other  places 
bore  this  name,  as  Gibeah  of  Phmehas  (Josh.  24:33)  ;  a  place  in  Judah 
(Josh.  15:57),  etc.  Gibeah  is  notorious  for  the  infamous  transaction  re 
corded  in  the  book  of  Judges  with  the  terrible  retribution  that  followed 
(chaps.  19-21),  by  which  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  was  well  nigh  exterminated. 
Its  site,  four  miles  north  of  Jerusalem,  with  Ramah  in  full  view  two  miles 
farther  north,  agrees  perfectly  with  the  narrative  (Judg.  19:11-15). 

Ramah  of  Benjamin,  the  modern  er-Ram,  is  about  two  miles  north  of 
Gibeah  and  five  English  miles  north  of  Jerusalem.  This  site  answers  to 
the  statement  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome  (Onomasticon)  that  it  was  in  the 
sixth  mile  (Roman  mile)  north  of  the  Holy  City,  and  also  of  Josephus  that 
it  was  forty  stadia  distant  from  Jerusalem.  This  is  the  Ramah  mentioned 
Josh.  18:25;  Judg.  19:13;  1  Sam.  22:6;  1  Kings  15:17,21,  22;  Ezra 
2:26;  Neh.7:30;  11:33;  Isa.  10:29  ;  Jer.  31 :15;  40  :1 ;  Hosea  5  : 8 ;  per 
haps  also  in  Judg.  4:5.  It  is  at  present  "a  smaU  miserable  village;  but 
in  the  walls  and  foundations  of  the  houses  are  many  large  hewn  stones,  and 
in  the  lanes  and  fields,  broken  columns  and  other  remains  of  the  ancient 
capital.  The  situation  is  commanding,  on  the  top  of  a  conical  hill,  half  a 
mile  east  of  the  great  northern  road."  Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto.  Its 
strong  position,  commanding  the  road  to  Jerusalem  from  the  north,  ex 
plains  why  Baasha  king  of  Israel  seized  it  and  fortified  it,  * '  that  he  might 
not  suffer  any  to  go  out  or  come  in  to  Asa  king  of  Judah  ;"  and  why  Asa, 
when  he  had  regained  the  place,  demolished  it.  1  Kings  15 : 17-22.  It  was 
apparently  with  reference  to  a  slaughter  of  the  Benjamites  at  Ramah  by 
the  Chaldeans  that  Jeremiah  wrote  :  "A  voice  was  heard  in  Ramah,  lamen 
tation  and  bitter  weeping ;  Rachel  [the  mother  of  the  Benjamites,  repre 
sented  by  a  bold  poetic  figure  as  present  in  the  land  of  her  posterity] 


104  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

weeping  for  her  children  refused  to  be  comforted  for  her  children,  because 
they  were  not"  (Jer.  31:15);  words  that  had  a  second  fulfilment  whrn 
Herod  slew  the  babes  "in  Bethlehem,  and  in  all  the  coasts  thereof." 
Matt.  2:16-18. 

Ramah  signifies  height,  high  place.  In  ancient  as  in  modern  times,  the 
cities  and  villages  of  Palestine  were  very  commonly  built  on  the  summits 
of  hills  for  greater  security  against  the  incursions  of  robbers  and  plunder 
ers.  Hence  Ramah,  or  in  the  plural,  Ramoth,  is  a  name  given  to  various 
places;  as  to  a  town  of  Asher  (Josh.  19:29),  of  Naphtali  (Josh.  19:36),  of 
Issachar.  1  Chron.  6 : 73.  The  same  word  appears  with  an  added  descrip 
tion,  when  it  takes  in  the  singular  the  form  Ramath.  Thus  we  have  Ra- 
math-mizpeh,  high  place  of  the  watch-tower,  in  the  tribe  of  Gad  (Josh.  13  : 26) ; 
Ramath-negeb,  high  place  of  the  south  (Josh  19:8),  and  Ramoth-negeb,  heights 
of  the  south  (1  Sam.  30:  27),  which  two  places  are  doubtless  identical. 

In  1  Sam.  1 : 1,  the  home  of  Samuel's  parents  is  called  Ramathaim-zo- 
phim,  that  is,  either  the  double  height  of  the  Zuphites,  so-called  from  Zuj>1i  an 
ancestor  of  Elkanah ;  or,  the  double  height  of  the  watchmen,  double  watch- 
tower.  But  in  the  19th  verse  of  the  same  chapter,  and  in  chap.  2:11,  the 
same  place  is  called  simply  Ramah,  and  this  is  probably  the  RamnJ/  <>f 
Samuel,  where  he-  had  his  house  (chap.  7:17;  8:4;  15:34;  16:13;  19:18— 
20:1),  and  was  buried  (chap.  25:1 ;  28:3).  If  so,  we  must  look  for  it  in 
Mount  Ephraiin  ;  for  Elkauah  was,  as  the  original  reads,  from  Ramath- 
Bim-zophim/rap  Mount  Ephraiin  (not,  in  Ramath-zophim  [having  come] 
from  Mount  Ephraiin,  as  some  would  explain),  and  the  word /row  gives  in 
both  cases  his  present  habitation.  But  now  we  encounter  a  serious  diffi 
culty.  The  place  where  Saul  first  met  with  Samuel,  and  where  he  was 
anointed,  was  certainly  south  of  Mount  Ephraim;  for  on  his  return  he 
passed  by  Rachel's  sepulchre  near  Bethlehem,  chap.  10;  2.  We  must, 
therefore,  assume  either  that  the  Ramah  of  Samuel  was  not  identical  with 
Ramathaim-zophim  in  Mount  Ephraim,  or  that  Samuel  was  then  away 
from  his  home  on  a  circuit.  The  latter  assumption  is  the  more  probable  of 
the  two  ;  since  nothing  in  the  narrative  compels  us  to  believe  that  ' '  the  city  " 
there  spoken  of  was  the  one  in  which  the  prophet  resided.  But  where, 
then,  was  Ramathaim-zophim  ?  It  has  been  variously  answered — at  Ramah 
of  Benjamin,  at  Mizpeh  (see  below),  at  Soba  about  six  miles  west  of  Jeru 
salem.  With  the  Hebrew  article  prefixed  Ramathaim  becomes  Harama- 
thaim,  and  there  is  much  probability  in  the  opinion  of  Eusebius  and 
Jerome  that  it  is  the  Arimathea  of  the  New  Testament.  They  place  it 
near  Lydda. 

Proceeding  northeast  from  Ramah  of  Benjamin  we  come  at  the  dis 
tance  of  about  half  an  hour  to  the  small  village  of  Jeba,  which  is  in  all 
probability  the  Geba  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  stands  on  the  top  of  u 
rocky  ridgo,  on  the  southern  edge  of  the  deep  glen  called  Wady-es-Su- 


PALESTIM:  lur, 

weinit,  which  separate*  it  i'nun  Midimnult,  the  modern  Mukhinas  on  the 
north.  The  words  Geba  and  Gibeah  both  signify  hill.  It  is  thought  that 
the  two  names  are  sometimes  interchanged  in  the  Hebrew  text.  However 
this  may  be,  they  are  certainly  confounded  at  times  in  our  version,  where 
the  clearness  of  the  narrative  required  that  they  should  be  kept  distinct. 
Thus  in  the  narrative  of  Jonathan's  adventure,  when  attended  by  his 
armor-bearer,  lie  crossed  the  passage  of  Michmash  without  the  knowledge 
of  his  father  (1  Sam.  14:1-18),  Saul  was  in  Gibeah  a  little  south  of  Raman 
(ver.  2),  but  Jonathan-  and  his.  armor-bearer  crossed  the  glen  from  Geba 
(not  Gibeah).  The  sacred  narrative,  speaking  of  the  two  sharp  rocks  on 
either  side  of  the  passages  says:  "The  forefront  of  the  one  was  situate 
northward  over  against  Miclmiash,  and  the  other  southward  over  against 
Geba,"  ver.  5.  When  the  watchman  of  Saul  in  Gibeah  saw  the  tumult,  he 
numbered  the  people,  etc. 

Dr.  Robinson  has  identified  Michmash  in  the  modern  Mukhmas  which 
Eusebius  and  Jerome  (Ouomasticon)  describe  as  a  large  village  nine  Ro 
man  miles  from  Jerusalem  and  not  far  from  Rama.  It  lies  on  the  north 
ern  edge  of  the  steep  and  difficult  Wady-es-Suweinit,  which  is  "the  pas 
sage  of  Michmash."  The  two  sharp  rocks  of  which  the  sacred  writer  speaks 
still  exist  as  two  hills  of  a  conical,  or  rather  spherical  form,  having  steep 
rocky  sides,  with  small  wadys  running  up  behind  each,  so  as  almost  to 
isolate  them.  One  of  them  is  on  the  side  towards  Jeba,  and  the  other 
towards  Mukhmas.  See  in  Bib.  Res.  1,  pp.  440-442.  The  four  places 
Michmash,  Geba,  Rainah,  Gibeah  of  Saul,  are  mentioned  in  their  exact 
order  (Isa.  10:28,  29),  when  the  prophet  is  describing  the  Assyrian  king's 
approach  to  Jerusalem  from  the  north,  with  the  additional  stroke  that  "at 
Michmash  he  hath  laid  up  his  carriages,"  that  is  baggage.  He  leaves  his 
baggage  there  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  the  pass. 

About  six  miles  north-northeast  of  Mukhxnas,  crowning  the  summit  of  a 
conical  hill  in  a  high  tract  of  land,  is  the  village  of  et-Taiyibeh.  Robinson 
thinks  that  this  may  be  the  site  of  the  ancient  Ophrah  in  the  tribe  of  Ben 
jamin,  Josh.  18:23;  1  Sam.  13:17.  Of  the  three  bands  of  spoilers  that 
went  out  from  the  camp  of  the  Philistines  at  Michmash,  one  company 
turned  westward  towards  Beth-horon  (see  below)  ;  and  another  "towards 
the  wilderness,"  which  lay  on  the  east.  The  third  company  went  towards 
Ophrah,  which  must,  therefore,  have  lain  in  a  northerly  direction  from 
Michmash.  Eusebius  and  Jerome  place  Ophrah  (Onarnasticon,  Art.  Aphra) 
five  Roman  miles  east  of  Bethel,  which  accords  with  the  site  of  et-Taiyi 
beh.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  Ophrah  was  identical  with  the  city  of 
Epliraim  (2  Sam.  13:23  ;  2  Chron..l3:19),  to  which  place  our  Lord  retired 
to  avoid  the  enmity  of  the  Jews,  John  11:54.  Ephraim  was  "near  to  the 
wilderness,"  as  is  the  modern  et-Taiyibeh. 


KM)  SACRED   GEOGRAPHY. 

About  four  miles  northwest  of  Micliuiash,  are  the  ruins  called  Beitin, 
which  Robinson  has  fully  identified  with  the  site  of  the  ancient  Beth-el 
Eusebius  and  Jerome  (Ouamasticon)  place  Beth-el  twelve  miles  from  Jeru 
salem  on  the  right  hand  of  the  road  to  Sichem.  This  agrees  with  the  site 
of  Beitiu.  The  name  also  is  identical,  the  Arabic  substituting  n  for  /,  as 
in  some  other  cases.  See  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  449,  note.  These 
ruins  lie  upon  the  brow  of  a  hill  sloping  off  to  the  southeast,  and  cover  a 
space  of  three  or  four  acres.  Among  them  are  the  remains  of  a  square 
tower,  the  broken  walls  of  several  churches,  and  the  ruins  of  an  immense 
reservoir,  314  feet  in  length  by  217  feet  in  breadth.  The  whole  region 
around  is  wild  and  rugged,  with  gray  bare  rocks,  every  where  cropping  up' 
over  the  scanty  soil.  "Jacob,"  says  Porter,  "could  scarcely  have  found 
any  spot  there  on  which  a  '  pillow '  of  stone  was  not  ready  laid  for  his 
head." 

Beth-el,  originally  called  Luz  (Gen.  28:19  ;  Judg.  1:23),  first  appears  in 
Scripture  as  the  place  near  which  Abraham  twice  pitched  his  tent,  upon 
"a  mountain  on  the  east  of  Beth-el,"  "having  Beth-el  on  the  west,  and 
Hai  on  the  east,"  Gen.  12:8  ;  13:3.  No  one  can  mistake  the  position  of 
this  mountain.  It  is  the  loftiest  and  most  conspicuous  hill  in  the  neigh 
borhood,  with  a  broad  summit  commanding  a  wide  view  of  the  country  all 
around.  From  its  top  Lot  looked  down  across  the  intervening  wilderness 
upon  the  green  and  well-watered  valley  of  the  Jordan,  and  Abraham,  after 
his  departure,  looked  from  the  place  where  he  stood  "northward,  and 
southward,  and  eastward,  and  westward,"  upon  his  promised  inheritance. 
Gen.  13:10-14.  At  Beth-el  also  Jacob  tarried  over  night  on  his  lonely 
journey  from  Beer-sheba  to  Haran,  and  here  he  had  that  glorious  vision  of 
a  ladder  set  on  the  earth  and  reaching  to  heaven,  with  the  angels  of  God 
ascending  and  descending  upon  it,  while  the  Lord  stood  above  it,  and 
proclaimed  himself  his  covenant  God.  In  the  morning  he  named  the 
place  Beth-el,  that  is,  Jiouse  of  God  (Gen.  28:10-22),  and  on  his  return 
many  years  afterwards,  he  re-consecrated  the  spot  (Gen.  35:1-7).  Beth-el 
originally  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  lying  on  the  very  border  be 
tween  it  and  Ephraim.  Josh.  18  : 13,  22.  But  upon  the  division  of  Solo 
mon's  kingdom,  it  fell  to  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes,  and  Jeroboam 
desecrated  it  by  making  it  one  of  the  two  places  for  the  worship  of  his 
golden  calves.  1  Kings  12 : 28,  29.  For  this  sin  the  prophet  from  Judah 
foretold  its  defilement  by  Josiah,  but  perished  on  his  way  home  for  his  dis 
obedience.  1  Kings,  chap.  13.  The  curse  pronounced  by  the  prophet  still 
rests  on  Beth-el.  "Amid  the  ruins,"  says  Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto, 
"are  about  a  score  of  miserable  huts,  in  which,  when  the  writer  last  visit 
ed  it  (1857),  a  few. poor  families,  and  a  few  flocks  of  goats  found  a  home." 
"The  desolation  of  Bethel,  and  the  shapeless  ruins  scattered  over  its  site  are 
not  without  tljeir  importance  even  yet — they  are  silent  witnesses  to  the 
t 


PALESTINE.  107 

truth  of  scripture,  and  the  literal  fulfilment  of  prophecj.  Amos  said  many 
centuries  ago  :  '  Seek  not  Beth-el,  nor  enter  into  Gilgal ;  for  Gilgal  shall 
surely  go  into  captivity,  and  Beth-el  shall  come  to  naught.'  "  Chap.  5  :5. 

Hai,  the  At  of  Joshua  and  the  Aiath  of  Isaiah  (chap.  10: 28),  lay  not  far 
east  from  Beth-el.  About  an  hour  southeast  of  Bethel,  a  little  south  of  the 
village  called  Deir  Duwan  are  some  ruins  which  Kobinsou  thinks  may  be 
the  site  of  Ai.  Bib.  Res.,  1,  pp.  574,  575. 

Passing  now  to  the  northwest  of  Jerusalem,  we  come,  at  the  distance  of 
about  five  miles,  to  a  lofty  peak  called  Neby  Samwll  (prophet  Samuel),  ris 
ing  some  six  hundred  feet  above  the  plain  of  Gibeon.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  marked  sites  in  the  vicinity  of  Jerusalem,  and  commands,  acc"ord- 
ing  to  Porter,  a  wider  view  than  any  other  point  in  southern  Pales 
tine.  Respecting  the  ancient  place  represented  by  Neby  Samwll  there 
has  been  much  controversy.  The  arguments  of  Robinson  (Bib.  Res., 
1,  pp.  458-460)  go  far  to  show  that  here  was  the  Mizpah  of  Benjamin 
(called  in  the  Hebrew  Mizpeh,  Josh.  18:26;  perhaps  also  13:26,  and 
often  in  our  version) ;  while  Grove  would,  with  less  probability,  identify 
Mizpah  with  the  hill  Scopus  of  Josephus,  north  of  Jerusalem.  It  was  at 
Mizpah  that  the  Israelites  assembled  to  inflict  punishment  upon  the 
Benjamites  for  protecting  the  perpetrators  of  the  crime  recorded  in  the 
nineteenth  chapter  of  Judges.  At  the  same  place  Samuel  afterwards  gath 
ered  all  Israel  together  to  offer  sacrifices  and  pray  for  deliverance  from  the 
Philistines,  and  also  to  establish  Saul  in  his  kingdom  (1  Sam.  7 : 5-12  ; 
10: 17-25) ;  and  this  was  one  of  the  towns  which  he  took  yearly  in  his  circuit 
as  judge  of  Israel  (1  Sam.  7  : 16).  This  place  appears  again  in  the  later  his 
tory  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  (2  Kings  25  : 23-26;  Jer.  chaps.  40,  41), 
where  it  is  the  scene  of  a  bloody  massacre. 

The  names  Mizpeh  and  Mizpah  signify  watch-toicer,  and  are  given  to 
various  other  places  on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan  valley,  josh.  11:8;  15 : 38  ; 
Judges  11:11,  29,  34 ;  1  Sam.  .22:3. 

About  a  mile  north  of  Neby  Samwil,  on  the  south  side  of  the  camel 
road  from  Jerusalem  to  Joppa  is  el- Jib,  the  ancient  Gibeon.  Its  distance 
from  Jerusalem  by  the  main  travelled  road  is  six  and  a  half  miles,  by  the 
most  direct  road  not  much  over  five  miles.  It  stands  on  the  top  of  a  low 
isolated  hill  of  an  oblong  form,  composed  of  horizontal  layers  of  limestone 
rock,  rising  above  each  other  in  succession  with  almost  the  regularity  of 
steps.  The  hill  is  in  some  parts  steep  and  difficult  of  access,  and  capable 
of  being  every  where  strongly  fortified.  All  around  its  base  lies  a  rich 
upland  plain,  covered  near  the  village  with  vineyards  and  olive  groves  ; 
and  "sending  out  branches,"  says  Porter,  "  like  the  rays  of  the  star-fish, 
among  the  rocky  acclivities  that  encircle  it."  On  the  east  side  of  the 
hill  is  a  copious  spring  issuing  from  a  chamber  excavated  in  the  limestone 


108  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

rock,  and  a  little  farther  clown,  among  olive-trees,  are  the  ruins  of  an  an 
cient  reservoir,  according  to  Robinson  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  by 
one  hundred.  Here  is  doubtless  "the  pool  of  Gibeon "  (2  Sain.  2:1'3), 
where  the  men  of  Joab  and  Abiier  met  in  fierce  encounter  ;  and  here  also 
are  "the  great  waters  that  are  in  Gibeon"  (Jer.  41:12),  where  Jolmiian 
rescued  the  captives  whom  Ishmael  had  taken.  The  natural  strength  of 
Gibeon  and  the  fertility  of  the  surrounding  region  are  a  sufficient  expla 
nation  of  the  fact  that  ' '  Gibeon  was  a  great  city,  as  one  of  the  royal  cit 
ies,"  Josh.  10  :2.  It  first  conies  into  notice  in  connection  with  the  famous 
stratagem  by  which  its  inhabitants  obtained  a  league  with  the  Israelites, 
Josh. ,  chap.  9.  In  consequence  of  this  league  Gibeon  was  assaulted  by  the 
confederate  kings  of  Canaan,  and  Joshua  came  to  its  rescue.  It  was  in  the 
great  battle  following,  which  began  at  Gibeon,  that  Joshua  said  in  the  sight 
of  Israel:  "Sun,  stand  thou  still  upon  Gibeou,  and  thou  moon  in  the 
valley  of  Ajalon. "  Chap.  10 : 12. 

When  David  removed  the  ark  to  Jerusalem,  the  ancient  tabernacle  with 
its  altar  was  set  up  at  Gibeon,  and  there  the  daily  sacrifices  were  offered 
and  the  other  services  of  the  sanctuary  maintained  (1  Chron.  16:39-42  ; 
21 : 29)  until  the  dedication  of  the  temple  by  Solomon  at  Jerusalem  ;  and 
thus  it  became  the  "  great  high  place. "  Hither  Solomon,  at  the  commence 
ment  of  his  reign  repaired  to  offer  sacrifices — "a thousand  burnt-offerings 
did  Solomon  offer  upon  that  altar ;"  and  there  God  appeared  to  him  in  a 
dream,  saying  :  "  Ask  what  I  shall  give  thee. "  1  Kings  3:4-15.  Biblical 
scholars  have  not  failed  to  notice  the  retribution  that  overtook  Joab  at 
Gibeon  where  he  had  murdered  Amasa.  2  Sam.  20: 8,  10.  Upon  the  over 
throw  of  Adonijah's  conspiracy  against  Solomon,  in  which  Joab  was  im 
plicated,  he  "fled  unto  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord" — then  at  Gibeon — 
"and  caught  hold  on  the  horns  of  the  altar,"  and  there  where  he  had 
"  shed  the  blood  of  war  in  peace,  and  put  the  blood  of  war  upon  his  girdle 
that  was  about  his  loins,  and  in  his  shoes  that  were  on  his  feet "  (1  Kings 
2:5),  his  blood  was  shed  at  Solomon's  command  by  Benaiah  (1  Kings 
2:28-34). 

Following  northwestward,  "  the  great  road  of  communication  and  heavy 
transport  between  Jerusalem  and  the  seacoast "  (Robinson),  we  come  at 
the  distance  of  four  miles  from  Gibeon  and  twelve  Roman  miles  from 
Jerusalem — the  exact  distance  given  by  Eusebius — to  Bcth-horon  the  upper, 
and  three  miles  below  to  Beth-horon  the  nether  (2  Chron.  8:5);  the  modern 
names  of  which  are  Beit  Ur  el-Foka,  Beit  Ur  tJte  upper ;  and  Beit  Ur  el- 
T<ilt/<i,  Beit  Ur  the  netlter.  The  upper  Betlt-horon  stands  on  the  summit  of 
a  conical  hill,  the  culminating  point  of  a  long  narrow  ridge  that  runs  up 
from  the  lower  region  on  the  west.  Down  this  ridge  the  road  winds  in 
a  zigzag  course  between  two  deep  ravines,  steps  being  in  many  pLircs 
cut  into  the  rock.  It  was  down  this  difficult  passage  that  Joshua  drove  tho 


PALESTINE.  10!) 

discomfited  Canaanites,  and  here  "in  the  going  down  of  Beth-horon  the 
Lord  cast  upon  them  great  stones  from  the  heavens  to  Azekah,  and  tlu-y 
died."  Josh  10:11.  Standing  on  the  hill  of  the  upper  Beth-horon,  one 
looks  down  upon  a  broad  and  beautiful  valley  in  the  southwest,  which 
Robinson  has  satisfactorily  identified  with  the  ancient  "valley  of  Ajnl<m" 
over  which  the  moon  stayed  about  a  whole  day.  On  its  southern  border 
lies  the  village  of  Y&lo,  which  is  but  an  abbreviation  of  Ajalon  ( Heb.  Ai- 
yalo-n).  The  modern  name  of  the  valley  is  Merj  Ibn  Omeir,  Meadow  of  the 
son  of  Omeir. 

Dr.  Robinson  thinks  that  the  ancient  Kirjath-jearim,  that  is,  in  English, 
City  of  Forests,  may  possibly  be  recognized  in  the  modern  Kuryet-el-Enab, 
City  of  Grapes.  It  is  a  poor  village,  lying  nine  Roman  miles  from  Jerusa 
lem  on  the  direct  way  from  that  city  to  Lydda  and  Ramleh,  which  agrees 
with  the  situation  assigned  to  it  by  Eusebius  and  Jerome.  To  Kirjath- 
jearim  the  ark  was  brought  from  Beth-shemesh  when  restored  by  the  Phil 
istines,  and  there  it  remained  till  removed  by  David  to  Jerusalem.  1  Sam. 
7:1,  2;  2  Sam.,  chap.  6. 

Two  short  hours  south  of  Jerusalem,  a  little  to  the  east  of  the  road  to 
Hebron,  is  Bethlehem,  a  place  which  every  Christian  must  regard  with 
deep  and  solemn  interest.  It  was  the  home  of  the  sweet  psalmist  of 
Israel.  Here  he  spent  his  youthful  days  in  the  humble  capacity  of  a  shep 
herd,  and  here  Samuel  anointed  him  to  be  the  shepherd  of  God's  covenant 
people.  A  higher  honor  was  conferred  upon  Beth-lehem  when  the  Word 
made  flesh  appeared ;  for  here  the  Lord  of  glory  was  born  and  laid  in  a 
manger,  "because  there  was  no  room  for  them  in  the  inn." 

The  original  name  of  Beth-lehem  was  Ephrath  or  Ephratah  (Gen.  35: 16, 
19  ;  48:7  ;  Ruth  4:11  ;  Psa.  132:6  ;  Micah  5:2),  that  is,  according  to  the 
most  probable  etymology,  fruitful.  The  name  Beth-leliem  signifies  house  of 
bread;  and  it  has  taken  in  Arabic  the  form  of  Beil-Lahm,  house  of  jlesh. 
It  covers  the  eastern  and  northeastern  parts  of  a  long  gray  ridge  of  lime 
stone  which  runs  out  eastwardly  from  the  central  chain  of  mountains,  with 
deep  valleys  on  the  north,  south,  and  east.  The  soil  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  is  fertile,  and  the  steep  slopes  below  the  town  are  carefully 
terraced,  presenting  a  succession  of  olives,  fig-trees,  and  vineyards.  In  the 
valleys  below  and  on  a  little*  plain  to  the  east  are  some  corn-fields,  but 
immediately  beyond  these  lies  "the  wilderness  of  Judaea,"  with  its  white 
limestone  hills  and  deep  winding  ravines  in  full  view  from  the  heights  of 
Bethlehem.  It  was  undoubtedly  from  tending  his  father's  flocks  amid 
these  eastern  hills  that  the  youthful  David  was  sent  by  Jesse  to  the  camp 
of  Israel,  when  his  eldest  brother  Eliab  met  him  with  the  reproachful 
words  :  "  Why  earnest  thou  down  hither  ?"  and  with  whom  hast  thou  left 
those  few  sheep  in  the  wilderness  ?"  1  Sam.  17  :28.  A  quarter  of  a  mile 


110  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

north  of  the  gate  of  the  modern  village  is  pointed  out  the  so-called  ' '  well 
of  Bethlehem."  It  is  merely  a  deep  and  wide  cistern  situated  at  the 
head  of  a  ravine.  Robinson  was  able  to  find  no  well  in  Bethlehem. 

On  the  eastern  brow  of  the  ridge  and  separated  from  the  village  by  a 
level  space  is  the  great  church  of  Mary,  surrounded  by  its  three  spacious 
convents,  the  whole  encompassed  by  an  immense  fortress-like  wall.  The 
church  is  that  built  by  Helena  over  the  alleged  cave  of  the  nativity.  In 
this  grotto,  says  Hitter,  "the  manger  itself  is  exhibited,  and  a  countless 
number  of  stations,  each  of  which  is  hallowed  by  some  monkish  legend  ; 
the  events  of  many,  very  many  saints  from  David  down  to  Christ,  and  of 
the  shepherds,  the  wise  men,  of  Elisabeth,  John,  Joseph,  and  Maiy,  and 
of  the  good  men  of  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  down  to  the  time 
of  Jerome  are  localized  here  ;  and  even  the  most  credulous  of  pilgrims  may 
well  have  been  surprised  to  learn  that  almost  all  the  great  events  of  which 
they  heard,  transpired  in  this  little  spot,  and  mainly  in  caves  and  grottos  !" 
Geog.  of  Palestine,  3,  p.  345.  The  tradition  that  the  Saviour  was  born 
in  a  cave  goes  back  to  the  middle  of  the  second  century.  Justin  Martyn, 
says  (Dial.  2.  7)  :  "Because  he  had  no  place  to  stop  in  that  village,  he 
stopped  in  a  certain  cave  close  to  the  village  ;  and  then,  while  they  were 
there,  Mary  brought  forth  the  Christ,  and  laid  him  in  a  manger."  It  may 
perhaps,  be  so  ;  but  that  the  manger  was  in  this  grotto  we  cannot  know, 
nor  is  there  any  necessity  that  we  should.  Our  salvation  comes  from 
knowing  Christ  himself,  as  he  is  revealed  to  us  by  God's  word  and  Spirit, 
not  the  place  where  Christ  was  born. 

The  present  population  of  Bethlehem  is  about  three  thousand  souls,  all 
nominal  Christians. 

A  mile  north  of  Beth-lehem,  on  the  road  to  Jerusalem,  is  a  little  build 
ing  which  marks  to  the  present  day  the  place  of  EachePs  iamb.  The  tradi 
tion  which  places  it  here  is  fully  sustained  by  the  scriptural  narrative 
(Geu.  35:16;  48:7),  and  its  correctness  cannot  be  reasonably  called  in 
question. 

Jebel  Fureidis  is  the  name  given  to  a  steep  and  round  mountain,  hav 
ing  the  form  of  a  volcanic  cone,  but  truncated,  which  rises  up  some  four 
miles  southeast  of  Bethlehem.  Frank  mountain  is  the  name  by  which  it 
is  known  among  the  Franks.  On  the  top  are  the  ruins  of  a  circular  for 
tress.  Eobinson  suggests  that  this  may  be  fhe  site  of  the  fortress  and  city 
Herodium  erected  by  Herod  the  Great. 

About  six  miles  south  of  Beth-lehem,  on  an  elevated  hill,  steep  but 
broad  on  the  top,  are  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  Tekoa,  covering  a  space  of 
four  or  five  acres.  The  place  retains  its  Hebrew  name  to  the  present  day, 
being  called  Tekua  by  the  Arabs.  It  was  the  birth-place  of  the  prophet 
Amos  (Amos  1:1),  and  hence  Joab  called  the  wise  woman  whom  he  em- 


PALESTINE.  Ill 

in  bringing  about  the  recall  of  Absalom.  2  Sam.  14:2.  It  stands  on 
the  edge  of  the  wilderness,  which  is  here  called  from  it  "  the  wilderness  <«f 
Tekoa."  2  Chron.  20  :  20.  Kehoboam  fortified  the  place  as  a  protection 
against  incursions  from  the  south.  2  Chron.  11:6.  . 

48.  A  second  centre  of  the  mountainous  region  of  Judea  is 
Hebron,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  venerable  cities  in  the 
world,  built  says  the  sacred  record,  "seven  years  before  Zoan 
in  Egypt."  Num.  13:22.  It  was  one  of  the  favorite  abodes  of 
the  patriarch  Abraham,  and  'there  in  the  cave  of  Machpclah, 
which  he  bought  of  Ephron  the  Hittite  for  four  hundred  she 
kels  of  silver,  he  had  his  family  sepulchre.  See  Gen.,  chap.  23. 
We  find  Isaac  at  the  close  of  his  life  living  in  Hebron  (Gen. 
35:27),  and  it  was  "out  of  the  vale  of  Hebron"  that  Jacob 
sent  Joseph  to  his  brethren  when  they  sold  him  to  the  Islima- 
elites,  Gen.  37  : 14.  After  Saul's  death  David  went  up  by  divine 
direction,  from  the  Philistine  plain  to  Hebron,  and  there  he 
reigned  over  the  tribe  of  Judah  alone  seven  years  and  six 
months.  It  was  at  Hebron  also  that  Abner  was  buried  when 
murdered  by  Joab,  and  in  his  sepulchre  was  buried  the  head 
of  Islibosheth.  2  Sam.,  chaps.  2  and  3.  Here  also  Absalom 
began  his  short  and  inglorious  reign.  2  Sam.  15 : 7-12. 

The  modern  town  of  Hebron  is  eighteen  miles  south  of  Jeru 
salem.  It  lies  in  a  deep  narrow  valley  running  down  in  a  south 
erly  direction  into  the  great  Wady  that  runs  off  southwest  tow 
ards  the  Mediterranean.  The  houses  are  all  of  stone,  high,  and 
well  built,  with  windows  and  flat  roofs,  and  on  these  roofs  small 
domes.  They  occupy  chiefly  the  sloping  eastern  side ;  but  in 
the  southern  part  the  town  stretches  across  to  the  western  side. 
The  population  amounts  to  some  nine  thousand  souls.  In  the 
bottom  of  the  valley  towards  the  south  is  the  lower  pool  of  He 
bron,  a  square  reservoir  built  of  hewn  stones,  measuring  one 
hundred  and  thirty-three  feet  on  each  side,  with  a  depth  of  over 
twenty-one  feet,  and  flights  of  steps  at  the  comers  leading  down 
to  the  water.  At  the  north  end  of  the  main  village  "is  a  small 
pool  eighty-five  feet  in  length  by  fifty-five  broad,  with  a  depth 
of  over  eighteen  feet.  These  pools  are  of  high  antiquity,  and 


112  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

doubtless  over  one  of  them  the  assassins  of  Ishbosheth  were 
hanged  by  order  of  David.     2  Sam.  4:12. 

But  the  object  of  chief  interest  in  Hebron  is  the  great  Haram 
on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  valley,  which  encloses  without  doubt 
the  cave  of  Machpelah,  of  which  Jacob  said  when  directing  that 
his  body  should  be  carried  thither :  "  There  they  buried  Abra 
ham  and  Sarah  his  wife ;  there  they  buried  Isaac  and  Rebekah 
his  wife;  and  there  I  buried  Leah."  Gen.  49:31.  Here  is  a 
mosque,  supposed  to  have  been  once  a  Christian  'church,  sur- 
sounded  by  massive  walls  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram  of  very 
high  antiquity.  Robinson,  cautious  as  he  is  in  respect  to  claims 
of  antiquity,  after  quoting  the  Bourdeaux  pilgrim's  description 
of  it,  (A.  D.  333),  says :  "  I  venture  to  suppose  that  this  existed 
already  in  the  days  of  Josephus  and  probably  much  earlier; 
and  was  either  itself  the  monument  referred  to  by  him  (Antiq., 
1.  14;  Jewish  War,  4.  9. '7),  or  perhaps  the  sacred  enclosure 
within  which  the  tombs  of  the  patriarchs  were  erected.  The 
whole  appearance  of  the  building,  as  well  as  its  architecture, 
leads  decidedly  to  such  a  conclusion."  Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  77.  The 
external  enclosure  is  two  hundred  feet  long,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  wide,  and  sixty  high,  surrounded  by  a  colonnade  of  square 
pilasters  forty-eight  in  number.  The  interior  is  guarded  by  the 
Moslems  with  great  jealousy.  For  six  hundred  years  only  one 
European  had  entered  it,  namely,  Ali  Bey  in  disguise.  But  in 
1862  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  his  suite  were  allowed  to  visit  the 
interior;  and  an  engineer  of  the  pasha  of  Jerusalem  named 
Pierotti  has  also  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  the  building. 
The  mosque  contains  the  tombs,  that  is,  monuments  or  cenotaphs 
of  the  bodies  deposited  there,  each  enclosed  within  a  separate 
chapel  or  shrine ;  but  to  the  sacred  cave  itself,  the  real  place  of 
sepulture,  no  one  is  allowed  access.  Pierotti  thinks  that  a  part 
of  the  grotto  exists  under  the  mosque,  and  that  the  other  part  is 
under  the  court,  but  at  a  lower  level.  See  farther  in  Imp.  Bib. 
Diet.,  art. "Hebron.  Stanley,  in  the  appendix  to  his  lectures  on 
the  Jewish  church,  has  given  an  account  of  the  survey  made 
by  him  in  1862,  as  one  of  the  suite  of  the  Prince  of  Wales. 


HEBRON. 


YAFA,    THE  MODERN  JOPPA.    FROM  THE   NORTH. 


PALESTINE.  113 

The  name  of  Hebron  iu  earlier  times  was  Kirjalli-Arla,  that  is,  city  of 
Arba,  "the  great  man  among  the  Anakiru."  Gen.  23:2;  Josh.  14:15, 
15  : 13;  21  : 11;  Juclg.  1 : 10.  Another  name  applied  to  Hebron  is  Mamre; 
from  Mamre  the  Amorite,  brother  of  Eshcol  and  Aner  (Gen.  14  : 13),  but 
in  exactly  what  extent  of  signification  cannot  easily  be  determined.  The 
caye  of  Machpelah,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  valley,  is  described  as  being 
before  Mamre  (Gen.  23  : 17,  19;  49  :  30),  the  natural  interpretation  of  which 
words  is,  that  Mamre  lay  opposite  to  it,  on  the  western  side  of  the  valley. 
"We  must  suppose,  then,  that  Mamre  was  a  particular  quarter  of  Hebron; 
or,  more  probably,  that  Hebron  at  that  time  lay  on  the  west  side.  Ancient 
tradition  places  the  oaks  of  Mamre  (or  terebintJis,  not  plain,  as  in  our  ver 
sion)  where  Abraham  dwelt,  some  distance  north  of  Hebron. 

The  environs  of  Hebron  are  fertile,  and  it  is  particularly  celebrated  for 
its  vineyards,  which  produce  the  largest  and  best  grapes  in  all  the  country. 
"This  valley,  says  Kobinson,  "is  generally  assumed  to  be  the  Eshcol  of 
the  Old  Testament."  Although  Hebron  itself  lies  in  a  valley-,  the  moun 
tainous  region  in  which  it  is  situated  here  attains  its  greatest  elevation. 
From  one  of  the  hills  in  its  vicinity  the  patriarch  Abraham  "looked  toward 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  toward  all  the  land  of  the  plain,  and  beheld, 
and  lo,  the  smoke  of  the  country  went  up  as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace." 
Gen.  19  : 28. 

49.  South  of  Hebron,  in  the  hill  country  of  Judea,  is  a  con 
siderable  number  of  places  which  have  been  identified  as  those 
mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament. 

Tell  Zlf,  Kunnul&nd  Tell  Main,  on  the  border  of.  the  wilderness,  rep 
resent  the  ancient  Ziph,  Carmel  of  Judah,  and,  Maon,  which  are  noticed 
in  connection  with  the  persecutions  to  which  David  was  subjected  through 
the  enmity  of  Saul.  Tell  Zlf,  that  is,  kill  of  Zlf,  is  a  round  eminence  about 
four  and  a  half  miles  south  of  Hebron.  On  its  top  is  a  level  plot  appa 
rently  once  enclosed  by  a  wall,  with  some  cisterns.  Ten  minutes  east  of 
it  are  ruins  which  Robinson  considers  to  be  the  proper  site  of  Ziph.  It 
was  in  the  adjoining  "wilderness  of  Ziph"  that  David  and  his  men  were 
lurking  when  the  Ziphites  attempted  to  betray  him  into  the  hand  of  Saul. 
1  Sam.  23  : 19.  About  seven  miles  south  of  Hebron"  is  Tell  Main,  the  Jtitt 
Main,  which  gave  its  name  to  the  adjacent  "  wilderness  of  Maon,"  where 
also  Saul  was  frustrated  in  his  attempt  to  take  David,  1  Sam.  23  : 24-27. 
A  little  north  of  Main  is  Kurmid,  the  Carmel  of  Nabal,  famous  for  the 
interview  which  David  had  there  with  Abigail,  which  resulted  in  her  be 
coming  his  wife.  1  Sam.  chap.  25.  This  is  also  the  Carmel  where  Saul 
"set  him  up  a  place  "  on  his  return  from  the  slaughter  of  the  Amalekites, 
who  occupied  the  southern  desert.  1  Sam.  15  : 12.  The  ruins  of  Carmel 


114  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

are  extensive.  "They  lie,"  says  Porter  (in  Alexander's  Kitto),  "around 
the  semicircular  head  and  along  the  shelving  sides  of  a  little  valley,  which 
is  shut  in  by  rugged  limestone  rocks."  The  most  remarkable  ruin  is  that 
of  the  castle,  a  structure  dating  back  as  far  at  least  as  the  time  of  Herod. 

Other  places  are,  Yutta,  Anab,  Sliuweikeli,  Semiia ;  answering  respect 
ively  to  the  ancient  towns,  Juttali,  Anal,  Shoclioli,  EsUtemoa.  For  their 
position,  see  the  map.  West  of  Hebron  are,  Teffuh  and  Dura;  the  ancient 
Tappuah  and  Adoraim.  The  tenacity  with  which  the  old  towns  of  Pales 
tine  retain  their  names  is  remarkable.  By  this  means,  in  connection  with 
ancient  notices  of  their  situation,  Eobinson  and  others  have  been  enabled 
satisfactorily  to  identify  a  multitude  of  them. 

50.  Last  of  all  we  come  to  Beer-slieba,  the  well  of  the  oath 
(Gen.  21 :  31 ;  26  :  32,  33),  on  the  border  of  the  southern  desert, 
twelve  good  hours  with  camels  from  Hebron  in  a  southwesterly 
direction.  As  the  traveller  approaches  from  the  south  the  great 
Wady-es-Seba,  which  runs  off  in  a  westerly  direction  towards 
the  Mediterranean,  the  shrubs  of  the  .desert  begin  to  disappear, 
and  the  hills  are  covered  with  grass ;  large  flocks  of  sheep  and 
goats  and  herds  of  camels  and  horned  cattle  are  grazing  around ; 
and  he  sees  for  the  first  time  extensive  patches  of  unfenced  land 
covered  with  corn.  All  these  are  signs  that  the  desert  is  at  an 
end.  Crossing  the  broad  bed  of  the  wady,  he  comes  upon  its 
northern  side  to  two  immense  wells  surrounded  by  drinking- 
troughs  of  stone,  while  farther  up  the  hills  north  of  the  well  are 
the  scattered  ruins  of  what  Eobinson  calls  "  a  small  straggling 
village,"  and  Eusebius  and  Jerome  (Onomasticon)  describe  as  a 
large  village  with  a  Koman  garrison.  This  is  the  ancient  Beer- 
sJicha,  where  the  patriarchs  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  pastured 
their  flocks.  Hagar,  when  dismissed  by  Abraham,  wandered 
"  in  the  wilderness  of  Beer-sheba  "  on  her  way  home  to  Egypt 
(Gen.  21 : 14) ;  from  this  place  Jacob  fled  to  Padan-aram  (Gen. 
28  : 10) ;  and  here,  many  years  afterwards,  on  his  way  to  Egypt, 
he  offered  sacrifices  to  the  God  of  his  fathers;  here  Samuel 
made  his  sons  judges  (1  Sam.  8:2);  and  from  here  Elijah  set 
out  on  his  journey  to  Horeb,  casting  himself  down  under  a  shrub 
of  rctem  (English  version,  juniper),  just  as  the  Arabs  do  at  the 
present  day.  See  Kobinson,  Bib.  Bes.,  1,  pp.  203,  205.  In  later 


PALESTINE.  115 

(1,-ivs  Beer-sheba,  like  Beth-el,  was  desecrated  by  being  made 
one  of  the  seats  of  idolatrous  worship.     Amos  5:5;  8  : 14. 

The  two  wells  described  by  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  204)  are  fifty- 
five  rods  apart,  of  a  circular  form,  and  all  that  part  of  them  which  lies 
above  the  limestone  rock  is  neatly  built  up  with  solid  masonry.  The 
larger  well  is  twelve  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  and  the  masonry  reaches 
down,  according  to  Robinson's  measurement,  twenty- eight  and  a  half  feet 
to  the  solid  rock.  When  he  visited  the  well  in  1838,  it  was  forty-four  and 
a  half  feet  to  the  surface  of  the  water.  Tristram,  in  1864,  found  the  depth 
to  the  water  only  thirty-eight  feet.  The  entire  depth  of  the  well  is  not 
given.  The  smaller  well  is  five  feet  in  diameter,  and  Robinson  found  the. 
depth  to  the  water  forty-two  feet.  Abraham  digged  a  well  at  this  place 
(Gen.  21 :31),  and  afterwards  Isaac  (Gen.  26  : 32,  33),  apparently  because 
the  Philistines  had  stopped  this  among  the  other  wells  digged  by  his  father 
(Gen.  26  : 18),  and  he  found  it  more  convenient  to  dig  a  new  well  than  to 
open  the  old  one.  Both  wells  bear  marks  of  great  antiquity,  and  we  have 
no  good  reason  to  doubt  that  they  are  the  veritable  wells  opened  by  the 
patriarchs. 


116  {SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTEE   III. 

THE      MEDITERRANEAN     PLAIN. 
I.  PLAIN  OF   AKKA,  OR  ACRE. 

1.  FROM  Ras-el-Abyad,  the  northern  promontory  of  Pales 
tine,  to  Bas-en-Nakurah  (the  ancient  Ladder  of  Tyre),  a  dis 
tance  of  about  six. miles,  is  only  a  sandy  strip  of  plain,  not  more 
than  three  or  four  miles  wide.     South  of  Bas-en-Nakurah  the 
plain  of  Akka  or  Acre  opens,  and  extends  to  the  base  of  Carmel, 
a  distance  of  about  twenty  miles,  with  an  average  breadth  of 
from  four  to  six  miles.     On  the  east  lies  the  hill  country  of  Up 
per  Galilee,  sending  forth  frequent  ridges  which  gradually  lose 
themselves  in  the  plain.     The  whole  tract  is  fertile  and  well 
watered.     Bobinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  pp.  125,  126.     The  KisJton 
has  been  already  described  (chap.  2,  No.  6).     Farther  north  is 
the  Nahr  Nam  an,  River  Naman,  the  Belus  of  the  ancients,  and 
celebrated  by  them  for  the  accidental  discovery  of  the  art  of 
making  glass. 

2.  The  plain  of  Akka  derives  its  name  from  Akka,  or  more 
fully,  according  to  the  French  orthography,  St.  Jean  d'Acrc,  so 
called  from  the  order  of  knights  in  the  middle  ages  that  took 
the  name  of  St.  John  of  Akka.     It  is  the  Acclio  of  the  Old  Tes 
tament  (Judg.  1 :  31),  and  the  Ptolemais  of  the  New  (Acts  21 :  7), 
probably  so  called  from  one  of  the  Ptolemies  of  Egypt.     Akka 
is  situated  on  a  triangular  projection  of  land  that  forms  the 
northern  limit  of  the  great  bay  of  Akka.     Massive  fortifications 
guard  the  city  towards  the  sea  on  both  sides.     On  the  land  side 
there  is  a  double  rampart.     Its  present  harbor  is  shallow  and 
exposed;  so  that  vessels  usually  lie  in  the  roadstead  of  Haifa, 
on  the  south  side  of  the  bay,  under  Carmel,  where  there  is  good 
anchorage.     Akka  was  the  stronghold  of  the  Crusaders,  being 


*  PALESTINE.  117 

in  their  day  next  in  importance  to  Jerusalem.  It  is  celebrated 
for  the  many  sieges  to  which  it  has  been  subjected.  In  1799  it 
was  besieged  in  vain  for  sixty  days  by  the  French  under  Napo 
leon  Bonaparte,  and  it  has  undergone  three  investments  since, 
the  last  in  1840,  when  it  was  bombarded  by  the  combined  fleets 
of  England,  Austria,  and  Turkey,  and  suffered  great  damage. 
Its  present  population  is  reckoned  at  about  10,000. 

3.  Other  places  on  the  plain  of  Akka  are  the  following : 

0 

Haifa,  at  the  foot  of  Carmel,  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  bay,  a  place 
of  considerable  trade.  Robinson  thinks  that  it  is  the  ancient  Phoenician 
city  Sycaminum.  Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  340. 

Zib,  the  Ecdippa  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  AcJizib  of  Judges  1  : 31  (there 
was  another  Achzib  in  Judah,  Josh.  15  : 44 ;  Micah  1  : 14),  a  small  village 
on  the  Mediterranean  coast,  about  ten  miles  north  of  Akka. 

Kabul,  southeast  of  Akka,  on  the  confines  of  the  plain,  answers  in  name 
and  position  to  the  Cab  id  of.  Josh.  19  :  27,  and  the  Chabolo  of  Josephus. 
See  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  3,  p.  88.  This  Cabul  is  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  land  of  Cabul  (1  Kings  9  : 13)  containing  the  twenty  Galilean  cities 
given  by  Solomon  to  Hiram  king  of  Tyre  (1  Kings  9  : 11-13),  which  Jose 
phus  says  (Antiq..  8.  5.  3)  lay  not  far  from  Tyre.  * 

II.   PLAIN   OF   SHARON. 

4.  The  plain  of  the  coast  is  wholly  interrupted  by  the  ridge 
of  Carmel  which  extends  far  out  into  the  Mediterranean,  "  dip 
ping  his  feet  in  the  western  sea."     South  of  Carmel  the  plain 
reappears,  but  at  first  very  narrow,  the  interval  between  the 
mountains  and  the  sea  being  filled  up  by  a  low  ridge  of  rocky 
hills  running  parallel  to  the  coast,  so  that  little  is  left  except  a 
line  of  sand-drifts.     But  in  the  vicinity  of  the  ancient  Caesarea 
it  opens'  to  the  extent  of  seven  or  eight  miles,  and  continues 
without  interruption  to  the  southern  extremity  of  Palestine. 
Since,  moreover,  the  shore  trends  in  a  direction  west  of  south, 
while  the  mountainous  region  on  the  east  runs  due  north  and 
south,  the  plain  widens  gradually  towards  the  south  to  some 
twenty  miles  in  the  latitude  of  Gaza.     All  along  the  coast  is  a 
line  of  sand-dunes,  generally  flat  and  wavy,  but  rising  in  places 
into  mounds  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  feet  high.     At  Gaza  the 


118  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY.  » 

sand-belt  is  said  to  be  not  less  than  three  miles  wide,  and  it  is 
slowly  but  irresistibly  encroaching  upon  the  fertile  plain  all 
along  the  coast. 

5:  The  northern  part  of  this  plain,  from  the  vicinity  of  Car- 
mel  as  far  south  as  Joppa  and  Lydda,  is  the  Sharon  of  the  Old 
Testament,  so  celebrated  for  its  beauty  and  fertility.  Isa.  35  :  2. 
Its  length  is  over  thirty  miles,  with  an  average  breadth  of  about 
ten  miles.  The  plain  is  not  so  level  as  that  of  Akka,  or  as  the 
plain  of  the  Philistines,  farther  south.  The  sand-drifts  on  the 
coast  choke  up  the  streams,  producing  pools  and  marshes  in 
their  rear  during  the  rainy  weather.  Farther  back  the  soil  is 
of  exuberant  fertility,  and  capable  of  supporting  a  dense  popu 
lation.  We  are  told  (1  Chron.  27 : 29)  that  over  the  herds  of  Solo 
mon  "  that  fed  in  Sharon  was  Shitrai  the  Sharonite."  Sharon 
contains  at-  the  present  day  some  of  the  finest  pasture  land  in 
Palestine.  In  spring  it  is  all  spangled  with  flowers  of  the  bright 
est  colors  and  forests  of  gigantic  thistles.  But,  owing  to  the 
wretched  government  that  prevails,  this  region  has  become  to  a 
great  extent  a  solitude,  and  indicates  its  fertility  only  by  the 
enormous  growth  of  weeds  that  covers  it.  The  fear  of  the 
Bedouin  has  driven  the  inhabitants  to  the  mountains,  and  the 
exactions  of  Turkish  rulers  operate  as  an  effectual  discourage 
ment  to  agriculture. 

The  traveller  in  Palestine  is  struck  with  the  fact  that  the  people  every 
where  select  elevated  spots — the  summits  of  hills  and  steep  ridges  difficult 
of  access — for  their  villages.  The  reason  is,  that  on  the  plains  they  are 
liable  to  be  plundered  by  the  Arabs  that  roam  over  them.  On  the  whole 
plain  of  Esdraelon  is  not  a  single  village.  Those  who  cultivate  it  reside  on 
the  neighboring  hills.  "In  Sharon,"  says  Porter,  "and  in  the  southern 
section  of  Philistia,  there  are  stretches  of  twenty  miles  or  more  without 
a  village." 

6.  In  Sharon  we  have  to  do  more  with  the  ruins  of  ancient 
places  than  with  present  cities  and  villages.  Foremost  among 
these  ruins  is  Ccesarea,  sometimes  called,  in  distinction  from 
Caesar e a  Philippi,  Ccesarea  Palcestince,  Ccesarea  of  Palestine,  or 
Ccesarea  Stratonis,  Cccmrea  of  Strata,  because  built  on  the  site 


PALESTINE.  119 

before  called  Strata  s  Toicer.  In  modern  Arabic  it  retains  its 
ancient  name  under  the  form  of  Kaisdriyeh.  This  city  was  built 
by  Herod  the  Great  with  much  beauty  and  magnificence,  and 
adorned  with  sumptuous  public  buildings,  among  which  were  a 
forum,  a  theatre,  and  in  its  rear  an  amphitheatre  of  immense 
capacity.  It  stood  on  the  sea-shore,  about  twenty-one  miles 
south  of  the  promontory  of  Carmel.  To  form  a  safe  anchorage 
for  vessels  on  a  coast  destitute  of  natural  harbors,  he  threw  out 
from  the  southern  wall  of  the  city  a  semicircular  mole  con 
structed  of  immense  blocks  of  stone,  and  sunk  in  the  sea  to  the 
depth  of  twenty  fathoms,  with  an  opening  for  vessels  only  on 
the  north  side.  Having  completed  the  whole  work  a  few  years 
before  our  Saviour's  birth,  he  fixed  his  residence  there,  thus 
making  Csesarea  the  capital  of  Judea.  For  an  elaborate  account 
of  this  place,  see  Josephus,  Antiq.,  15.  9.  6;  Jewish  War,  1. 
21.  5-8. 

Ceesarea  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  It 
was  the  home  of  Philip  the  evangelist  (Acts  21 : 8),  which  ex 
plains  the  statement  of  Luke,  that  he  preached  in  all  the  cities 
along  the  coast  from  Azotus  (Ashdod)  "  till  he  came  to  Ca3sa- 
rea."  Acts  8  :  40.  It  was  the  residence  also  of  the  Roman  cen 
turion  Cornelius,  and  the  place  where  the  Holy  Spirit  was  first 
poured  out  on  the  Gentiles.  Acts,  chap.  10.  From  this  place 
Paul  embarked  when  the  brethren  sent  him  from  Jerusalem  to 
Tarsus.  Acts  9  :  30.  Here  he  landed  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem, 
at  the  close  of  his  second  missionary  tour.  Acts  18  :  22.  Hither 
he  was  afterwards  sent  from  Jerusalem  as  a  prisoner  under  a 
guard  of  Roman  soldiers,  that  he  might  plead  his  cause  before 
Felix,  who,  -instead  of  releasing  him,  kept  him  two  years  in  im 
prisonment  (Acts  23  :  23 ;  chap.  24) ;  and  from  the  same  place  he 
was  sent  by  Festus  to  Rome.  Acts  chaps.  25,  26.  Finally,  it 
was  at  Cresarea  that  the  elder  Herod  Agrippa,  the  grandson  of 
Herod  the  Great,  was  smitten  by  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  "  be 
cause  he  gave  not  God  the  glory :  and  he  was  eaten  of  worms, 
and  gave  up  the  ghost."  Acts  12  :  21-23. 

Ca3sarea,  once  the  proud  capital  of  Judea,  is  now  a  mass  of 


120  •  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

ruins.  A  strong  wall,  built  in  the  middle  ages,  encompasses  it 
on  the  land  side,  enclosing  an  area  about  half  a  mile  long  and 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  broad.  Here  the  traveller  wanders  over  im 
mense  piles  of  rubbish,  amid  dense  jungles  of  thorns  and  this 
tles.  Of  the  mole  described  by  Josephus,  the  ruins  of  nearly 
one  hundred  yards  still  appear  above  water,  but  a  large  portion 
of  the  materials  of  the  structure  has  been  earned  off  to  rebuild 
the  ramparts  of  Acre.  The  ancient  city  extended  considerably 
beyond  the  present  walls.  Here  are  hewn  stones  and  broken 
columns  of  granite  and  marble,  around  and  among  which  the 
sands  driven  by  the  wind  are  continually  silting.  "  The  site  of 
Csesarea  is  thus  singularly  lonely  and  desolate.  Solitude  keeps 
unbroken  Sabbath  there.  The  sighing  of  the  wind  as  it  sweeps 
over  the  shattered  walls  and  through  the  sun-dried  jungle,  and 
the  deep  moaning  of  the  sea  as  each  wave  breaks  on  the  cav 
ernous  fragments  of  the  ancient  mole,  are  the  only  sounds  that 
fall  upon  the  traveller's  ears  as  he  wanders  over  the  site  of  Csc- 
sarea."  Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto. 

7.  Another  city  built  in  Sharon  by  Herod  the  Great  was 
Antipatris,  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  plain,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  stadia  northeast  from  Joppa.  According  to  Josephus 
(Antiq.,  16.  5.  2),  he  built  it  "  on  the  plain  called  Kapliarsaba, 
choosing  a  well-watered  place  and  a  soil  propitious  to  plants, 
the  city  itself  having  a  river  flowing  around  it,  and  being  sur 
rounded  by  a  grove  of  trees  most  beautiful  for  their  size."  The 
original  name  still  survives  under  the  form  of  Kefr  Saba,  village 
of  Saba.  The  arguments  for  the  identity  of  Kefr  Saba  with 
Antipatris  are  given  by  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  3.  pp.  138,  139. 
Nothing  exists  here  at  present  but  a  village  built  of  mud-houses. 
Antipatris  lay  on  the  route  from  Jerusalem  to  Caesarea,  and 
through  it  the  apostle  Paul  was  carried  by  his  escort  of  Roman 
soldiers  on  his  way  to  the  latter  place.  Acts  23  :  31. 

Dor,  one  of  the  royal  cities  of  the  Canaanites  (Josh.  12  :23),  stood  on 
a  rocky  promontory  on  the  coast  fourteen  miles  south  of  Carmel  and  seven 
north  of  Csesarea.  It  was  one  of  the  Phoenician  strongholds,  and  in  the 
Roman  age.  was  still  a  flourishing  town.  Its  modern  representative  is  tho 


PALESTINE.  121 

little  fishing  village  Txntura,  consisting  of  some  thirty  houses,  lying  south 
of  the  rocky  promontory  of  the  ancient  Dor,  which  is  now  covered  with 
ruins. 

Arsuf,  a  place  renowned  in  the  history  of  the  Crusades,  is  now  a  de 
serted  village  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nahr  Arsuf,  six  hours  north  of  Yafa.  It 
is  probably  the  ancient  Apollonia.  Robinson,  Bib.  Kes.,  2,  p.  242,  note. 

8.  Joppa  (or  Japho,  Josh.  19  :  46 ;  modern  Arabic,  Yafa),  one 
of  the  most  ancient  seaports  in  the  world,  is  situated  on  the 
Mediterranean  coast,  in  the  southern  part  of  Sharon,  about 
thirty  geographical  miles  northwest  of  Jerusalem,  of  which  city 
it  has  been  the  port  ever  since  the  days  of  Solomon.  It  is  first 
mentioned  (Josh.  19  : 46)  as  fronting  the  border  of  Dan ;  then  as 
the  port  to  which  Hiram -king  of  Tyre  conveyed  "in  floats  by 
sea"  the  timber  cut  by  him  on  Lebanon  for  the  temple  in  Jeru 
salem  (2  Chron.  2  : 16) ;  then  as  the  port  at  which  Jonah  em 
barked  on  his  way  to  Tarshish  (Jonah  1:3);  and  once  more,  as 
the  port  to  which  cedar-trees  were  brought  from  Lebanon  for 
the  second  temple  (Ezra  3:7).  Joppa  appears  as  a  stronghold 
in  the  wars  of  the  Maccabees  (1  Mac.  10  :  75 ;  14  :  5,  34),  and  it 
fell  in  the  days  of  Pompey  under  the  power  of  Rome  with  the 
rest  of  Palestine.  Josephus,  Antiq.,  14.  4.  4.  It  was  at  Joppa 
that  Peter  raised  Tabitha  to  life  (Acts  9 : 36-42),  after  which 
miracle  "  he  tarried  many  days  in  Joppa  at  the  house  of  one 
Simon  a  tanner."  There  he  had  the  vision  recorded  in  Acts 
10 : 9-18,  which  taught  him  the  abolition  under  the  gospel  of 
the  distinction  between  Jews  and  Gentiles,  and  thence  he  jour 
neyed  to  the  house  of  Cornelius  in  Ca3sarea.  Acts  10  :  23.  Since 
that  day  the  place  has  been  often  taken  and  retaken  by  con 
tending  armies,  and  has  been  the  theatre  of  some  bloody  scenes. 

The  modem  Yafa  is  built  on  the  steep  sides  of  a  hill  over 
hanging  the  sea,  and  commanding  from  its  summit  a  magnifi 
cent  view.  The  houses  rise  one  above  another,  and  when  seen 
at  a  distance  present  a  picturesque  appearance.  But  as  soon 
as  one  enters,  he  finds  narrow,  crooked,  and  filthy  streets,  as  in 
most  oriental  cities.  The  place  is  encompassed  on  the  land  side 
by  luxuriant  groves  of  olives,  figs,  oranges,  lemons,  apricots,  and 


122  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

-+ 

other  fruits.  Its  present  population  is  variously  estimated  from 
7,000  to  15,000.  Joppa  has  no  harbor  worthy  of  the  name,  or 
good  landing-place,  which  is  a  great  drawback  to  its  prosperity. 

9.  Lydda  is  the  Lod  of  the  Old  Testament  (1  Chron.  8 :  11 ; 
Ezra  2:33;  Neh.  7:37;  11:35),  and  the  Ludd  of  the  modern 
Arabs.     Under  the  Roman  dominion  it  was  called  Diospolis. 
The  place  lies  on  a  gentle  eminence,  twelve  miles  from  Joppa, 
on  the  road  to  Jerusalem,  where  the  fertile  plain  of  Sharon 
approaches  to  that  of  the  Philistines.     It  was  built  by  a  Benja- 
mite  (1  Chron.  8 : 12),  whence  we  infer  that  it  lay  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.     It  is  memorable  as  the 
place  where  Peter  healed  the  cripple  Eneas  (Acts  9 : 32-35). 
Under  Roman  sway,  it  became  one  of  the  most  important  places 
in  Western  Palestine.     The  modern  village  of  Ludd  contains 
about  1,000  inhabitants,  living  in  small  and  poor  houses,  with 
dirty  lanes  for  streets. 

Two  and  a  half  miles  south  of  Lydda  is  er-Ramleli,  lying  on  the  east 
ern  side  of  a  broad  swell  in  the  sandy  though  fertile  plain,  and,  like  Joppa, 
surrounded  by  olive-groves  and  gardens  of  vegetables  and  delicious  fruits, 
the  gardens  being  enclosed  as  often  in  this  region,  by  impenetrable  hedges 
of  prickly  pear.  Ramleli  is  a  larger  and  more  important  place  than  Lydda, 
but  as  its  origin  was  subsequent  to  the  apostolic  times  we  pass  by  it.  For 
full  information  concerning  this  place  see  Robinson,  Bib.  Res. ,  2,  pp.  230- 
242. 

Mention  is  several  times  made  of  Ono,  and  always  in  connection  with 
Lod,  that  is,  Lydda,  1  Chron.  8  : 12  ;  Ezra  2  :33  ;  Neh.  7  : 37  ;  11 :  35.  Hence 
it  is  evident  that  the  two  places  lay  near  together.  From  this  place  "the 
plain  of  Ono"  (Neh.  6  : 2)  undoubtedly  took  its  name.  Robinson  (Phys. 
Geog.,  pp.  113,  127)  suggests  that  it  may  be  the  plain  around  Beit  Nuba 
north  of  Ajalon." 

J/ljuIeh,  a  little  south  of  Antipatris,  is  perhaps  the  Gilgal  of  Josh.  12  : 23, 
which  is  mentioned  with  Dor  on  the  Mediterranean  plain.  Robinson 
Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  243. 

III.  THE   SHEPHELAH  OR  PHILISTINE   PLAIN. 

10.  Porter  (in  Alexander's  Kitto,  Art.   Ekron)   places  the 
line  of  division  between  Sharon  and  the  Philistine  plain  on  "  a 
low  bleak  ridge  or  swell,"  on  the  southern  slope  of  which  lies 


PALESTINE.  123 

Akir,  the  ancient  Ekron.  This  plain  bears  in  Hebrew  the  spe 
cific  name  Shephelah,  that  is,  low  land  ;  and  is  never  confounded 
in  the  original  Hebrew  with  the  ArabaJt,  the  term  applied  to  the 
valley  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea. 

In  our  version  the  geographical  name  Sliephelah  is  unfortunately  not 
always  kept  distinct  from  the  term  Arabith,  and  other  words  also  rendered 
plain.  Arab  ah  is  with  few  exceptions,  rendered  plain.  ShepJielah  is  vari 
ously  rendered  as  will  appear  from  the  following  synopsis. 

Vale,  Deut.  1:7;  Josh.  10  : 40 ;  1  Kings  10  : 27  ;  2  Chron.  1:15;  Jer. 
33  : 13. 

Valley,  Josh.  11:2,  16;  15:33  (twice)  ;  Juclg.  1:9;  Jer.  32:44. 

Valleys,  Josh.  9:1;  12:8. 

Plain,  Jer.  17  :26 ;  Obad.  19  ;  Zech.  7:7. 

Low  plains,  1  Chron.  27  : 28  ;  2  Chron.  9  : 27. 

Low  country,  2  Chron.  26  : 10  ;  28  : 18. 

Of  the  above  terms  the  most  appropriate  is  low  country,  and  plain  is  the 
most  objectionable,  as  confounding  this  region  with  the  Arabah,  which 
denotes  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  the  Dead  sea. 

The  Philistine  plain  extends  to  Gaza  and  beyond.  Its 
length  is  not  less  than  forty  miles.  The  breadth  in  the  north 
ern  part  is  about  ten  miles ;  in  the  southern,  as  much  as  twen 
ty.  On  the  coast,  as  already  remarked,  it  is  bordered  by  a  line 
of  sand  hills,  which  exhibit  a  scene  of  utter  desolation;  while 
on  the  east  there  is  a  tract  of  lower  hills  intervening  between  it 
and  the  mountainous  region.  The  surface  of  the  plain  it 
self  is  flatter,  and  its  general  elevation  less  than  that  of  the 
plain  of  Sharon.  In  many  parts  it  is  almost  a  dead  level,  in 
others  gently  undulating,  with  here  and  there  low  mounds  or 
hillocks.  It  has  a  brown  loamy  soil,  light  but  rich,  and  almost 
without  stones.  A  striking  feature  is  the  depth  of  its  wadys  or 
torrent  beds  which  have  cut  their  way  through  the  loamy  or 
sandy  soil.  Except  in  the  rainy  season  these  beds  are  dry,  and 
covered  with  dust,  white  pebbles,  and  flints.  Now,  as  in  ancient 
days,  it  is  one  enormous  cornfield  without  fences  or  hedges,  so 
that  the  traveller  can  ride  all  day  without  hindrance.  "  Its  fer 
tility,"  says  Grove  (in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  Art.  Palestine),  "is 
marvellous;  for  the  prodigious  crops  which  it  raises  are  pro- 


124  SACRED  GEOGEAPHY. 

duccd,  and  probably  have  been  produced  almost  year  by  year 
for  the  last  forty  centuries,  without  any  of  the  appliances  which 
we  find  necessary  for  success  —  with  no  manure  beyond  that 
naturally  supplied  by  the  washing  down  of  the  hill-torrents — 
without  irrigation,  without  succession  of  crops,  and  with  only  the 
rudest  method  of  husbandry."  The  district  of  inferior  hills  on 
the  eastern  border  between  the  proper  plain  and  the  "hill  coun 
try  of  Judea  "  is  described  by  Kobinson  (Phys.  Geog.,  pp.  33,  34) 
as  "  a  beautiful  open  country,  consisting  of  low  hills,  usually 
rocky,  separated  by  broad  arable  valleys  mostly  well  adapted 
for  grain,  as  are  also  many  of  the  swelling  hills.  The  whole  tract 
is  full  of  villages  and  deserted  sites  and  ruins,  and  there  are 
many  olive  groves." 

11.  Over  the  plain  of  the  Philistines  and  Sharon  lies  the 
great  hightvay  between  Egypt  on  the  south,  and  Damascus  and 
the  eastern  empires  on  the  north.  It  has  been  often  traversed 
in  both  directions  by  mighty  armies  that  drew  their  supplies 
from  its  rich  cornfields  and  granaries. 

The  coast  road  passes  througli  Gaza,  Joppa,  and  Czesarca,  and  arouml 
the  promontory  of  Carmel  to  Akka.  Thence  the  traveller  can  proceed 
north  to  ancient  Phoenicia,  or  eastward  across  the  Jordan  between  the 
lakes  Huleh  and  Tiberias  to  Damascus.  The  inland  or  groat  caravan  road 
from  Egypt,  passes  through  Eamleh  and  Lydda ;  theiice  through  Kefr 
Saba  along  the  eastern  border  of  Sharon  to  the  southwestern  base  of  Car 
mel.  Here  the  Damascus  road  turns  off  to  the  northeast,  and  passes 
over  the  spur  of  Carmel  by  Lejjiin,  the  ancient  Megiddo  ;  while  the  road 
northward  to  Akka  crosses  the  ridge  farther  to  the  northwest. 

12?  Tfle  Shephelah  was  the  country  of  the  Philistines.  In 
the  division  of  the  land  of  Canaan  under  Joshua  it  fell  to  the 
tribe  of  Judah  (Josh.,  chap.  15),  but  was  never  actually  in  their 
possession  before  the  captivity,  as  the  scriptural  history  of  the 
long  and  bloody  struggle  between  the  Philistines  and  the  Israel 
ites  abundantly  proves.  Though  humbled  from  time  to  time, 
the  Philistines  continued  for  many  successive  centuries  to 
harass  their  neighbors  the  Jews ;  till  at  last  their  territory  be 
came  the  prize  for  which  the  Egyptians  on  one  side,  and  the 


PALESTINE.  125 

Assyrians  and  after  them  the  Chaldeans  on  the  other,  contend 
ed.  After  the  captivity,  Philistia,  no  longer  able  to  maintain 
an  independent  existence,  fell  successively  under  the  sway  of 
whatever  one  among  the  great  contending  powers  had  for  the 
time  being  the  ascendency. 

The  scriptural  notices  of  the  origin  of  the  Philistines  are  very  scanty. 
From  them  we  gather,  however,  that  they  were  not  the  aboriginal  inhabi 
tants  of  the  Shephelah  ;  but  came  forth  from  Caphtor  and  dispossessed 
the  Avirn  and  dwelt  in  their  stead  (Deut.  2  :  23  ;  Jer.  47  : 4  ;  Amos  9  : 7. 
From  Gen.  10  : 13,  14,  it  may  be  inferred  that  they  were  of  Egyptian  ori 
gin.  Concerning  the  identification  of  Caphtor  there  has  been  much  dis 
pute.  At  present  most  biblical  scholars  regard  it  as  having  been  either 
Crete  or  some  maritime  province  of  Egypt.  In  favor  of  Crete  is  adduced 
the  fact  that  the  Cherethites  (assumed  to  be  the  same  as  Cretites)  were  mani 
festly  Philistines  or  a  tribe  of  the  Philistines  (1  Sam.  30  : 14  compared  with 
verse  16  ;  Ezek.  25  :16  ;  Zeph.  2  :5).  It  is  not  necessary  here  to  discuss 
the  question  whether  the  Cherethites  of  David's  body-guard  were  so  called 
from  their  origin,  or  from  their  office  (Heb.  Karath,  to  cut  off]  as  execu 
tioners.  In  favor  of  an  Egyptian  province  is  the  geographical  position  of 
Philistia  with  reference  to  Egypt.  In  the  days  of  Abraham  and  Isaac, 
the  Philistines  were  already  a  regularly  organized  nation.  Gen.  21 : 22- 
34 ;  chap.  20. 

13.  There  were  five  principal  cities  in  the  Philistine  terri 
tory — Ekron,  Gath,  Ashdod,  Askelon,  Gaza — under  the  jurisdic 
tion  severally  of  the  five  lords  of  the  Philistines.  1  Sam.  6 : 4 
compared  with  ver.  17.  "We  add  a  brief  notice  of  these  places, 
beginning  with  the  most  northerly  and  proceeding  south. 

The  modern  representative  of  Ekron  is  Akir,  about  five  miles  southwest 
of  Ramleh.  It  lies  on  the  southern  slope  of  a  low  ridge  or  swell  which 
forms  the  northern  border  of  a  broad  shallow  wady  coming  down  from 
the  northeast.  It  contains  about  fifty  mud  houses,  built  on  the  accumu 
lated  rubbish  of  past  ages,  with  no  vestige  of  antiquity  except  two  large 
and  deep  wells  and  some  stone  water-troughs.  It  may  be  here  remarked 
in  general  respecting  the  houses  of  the  Philistine  plain,  that  being  built  of 
mud  or  sun-dried  bricks,  they  speedily  crumble  to  dust  if  left  untenanted 
for  a  few  years.  Ekron  was  the  last  Philistine  city  to  which  the  captive 
ark  of  God  was  sent ;  and  thence  it  was  returned  to  the  Israelites  as  rela 
ted  in  the  book  of  Samuel  (chap.  6),  the  two  milch-kine  that  drew  the 
cart  on  which  it  was  placed,  taking  "  the  straight  way  to  the  way  of  Beth- 


126  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

shomesh  ;"  that  is,  the  modern  A  in  Shems,  in  the  border  region  between 
the  mountains  and  the  plain,  full  ten  miles  to  the  southeast. 

Galh,  another  of  the  five  cities  of  Philistia,  has  utterly  perished,  so  that 
even  its  site  is  a  matter  of  doubt.  Porter  would  identify  it  with  TeU-es- 
Sdfieh,  a  conspicuous  hill  at  the  foot  of  the  Judean  mountains,  ten  miles 
east  of  Ashdod  and  about  the  same  distance  south  by  east  of  Ekron.  See 
in  his  Syria  and  Palestine,  p.  253  ;  and  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet. ,  Art.  Gath. 
Gath  was  the  home  of  the  Philistine  champion  Goliath  and  his  brethren 
of  the  race  of  giants  (1  Sam.,  chap.  17;  2  Sam.  21:18-22)  ;  and  here 
David  found  refuge  from  Saul's  persecution  with  Achish  its  king,  1  Sam., 
chap.  27.  That  Gath  was  a  strong  military  position  is  evident  from  the 
scriptural  notices  concerning  it,  2  Kings  12:17;  2  Chron.  11:8;  26 : 6. 
flie  words  of  Amos  (chap.  G :  2)  imply  that  in  his  day  the  city  was  in  ruins. 

Ashdod,  the  Azotus  of  the  New  Testament  (Acts  8:40)  and  the  Esdud  of 
the  modern  Arabs,  lies  on  the  coast  road  three  miles  from  the  Mediterra 
nean  sea,  and  nearly  midway  between  Joppa  and  Gaza.  It  stood  on  the 
summit  of  a  hill  overlooking  the  plain,  and  the  natural  advantages  of  the 
position  were  improved  by  fortifications  of  great  strength.  It  lay,  more 
over,  on  the  high  road  between  Egypt  and  Palestine.  Hence  its  posses 
sion  was  a  matter  of  great  importance  in  a  military  point  of  view,  2  Chron. 
26:6  ;  Isa.  20:1.  Herodotus  informs  us  (2.  157)  that  the  Egyptian  king 
Psammetichus  took  this  place  after  a  siege  of  twenty-nine  years.  At  Ash 
dod  was  a  temple  of  the  Philistine  god  Dagon,  and  to  this  the  ark  of  God 
was  brought  from  Ebenezer  when  captured  by  the  Philistines.  From 
Ashdod  it  was  carried  to  Gath  and  thence  to  Ekron,  whence  it  was  sent  up 
to  Beth-Shemesh,  1  Sam.,  chaps.  5,  6.  The  modern  Esdud  is  only  an 
insignificant  village. 

Ashkelon  or  (in  Judges  and  Samuel  after  the  Greek  form  of  the  Septua- 
gint)  Askelon  is  the  modern  Askulan.  The  ancient  city  stood  immediately 
on  the  seashore  west  of  the  great  coast  road  from  Egypt  northward, 
twelve  geographical  miles  north  of  Gaza,  and  ten  south  by  west  of  Ash 
dod.  It  occupied  a  strong  situation,  the  walls  flanked  with  towers  being 
built  on  the  top  of  a  ridge  of  rock  encircling  the  town  and  reaching  at 
each  end  to  the  sea.  Its  strong  position  caused  it  to  be  the  seat  of  many 
sanguinary  struggles,  especially  in  the  wars  between  Egypt  and  Syria.  It 
played  also  an  important  part  in  the  Crusades.  It  is  now  a  deserted  ruin. 
"Of  the  proud  city  of  Askelon,"  says  the  Rev.  Eli  Smith  (Missionary 
Herald  for  1827.  pp.  341,  342),  "little  now  remains  except  its  walls.  They 
are  in  the  form  of  a  semicircle,  having,  on  the  opposite  side,  the  sea.  I 
climbed  to  the  top  of  them,  and  looked  over  among  the  scattered  fragments 
of  granite  pillars  which  were  lying  in  every  direction."  "What  a  com- 


PALESTINE.  127 

mentaiy  on  the  words  of  prophecy  (Zech.  9:5):  "The  king  shall  perish 
from  Gaza  and  Ashkelon  shall  not  be  inhabited !"  For  an  interesting 
account  of  the  excavations  of  Lady  Hester  Stanhope  amid  the  ruins  of 
Ashkelon,  and  the  splendid  relics  of  antiquity  thus  brought  to  light,  the 
reader  may  consult  Hitter's  Geog.  of  Palestine,  vol.  3,  pp.  214^216. 

Gaza  (the  Greek  form  of  the  name,  sometimes  called  in  our  version 
Azzah  that  is,  strong,  Deut.  2  :  23  ;  1  Kings  4  :  24  ;  Jer.  25  : 20,  which  is  a 
nearer  representation  of  the  Hebrew  word),  on  the  southwest  frontier  of 
Palestine  towards  Egypt,  was  the  stronghold  of  Philistia,  and  to  the  Egyp 
tians  the  key  of  Palestine  and  Syria,  lying  as  it  did  on  the  great  highway  to 
those  regions.  "No  conqueror,"  says  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  40), 
"could  well  pass  by,  until  this  city  had  submitted  to  his  power."  Its 
commercial  importance  is  obvious.  The  caravans  passing  from  Gaza 
across  the  desert  to  Egypt  here  took  in  of  necessity  a  supply  of  provisions 
for  the  way,  and  those  coming  from  Egypt  replenished  here  their  ex 
hausted  stores.  (Robinson  as  above.)  The  military  and  commercial 
importance  of  the  city  caused  it  to  be  strongly  fortified.  It  withstood  for 
five  months  all  the  efforts  of  Alexander  the  Great ;  but  he  finally  took  it 
by  storm  and  slaughtered  its  brave  defenders.  It  was  several  times  after 
wards  destroyed  and  rebuilt. 

Gaza  was  the  scene  of  Samson's  greatest  exploits.  It  was  here  that  he 
"arose  at  midnight,  and  took  the  doors  of  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  the 
two  posts,  and  went  away  with  them,  bar  and  all,  and  put  them  upon  his 
shoulders  and  carried  them  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill  "  (so  the  Hebrew  reads 
with  the  article)  "which  is  before  Hebron,"  Judg.  1G:3.  "  The  hill 
which  is  before  Hebron  "  is  not  necessarily  a  hill  in  the  vicinity  of  Hebron. 
It  may  be,  as  Porter  suggests  (in  Alexander's  Kitto),  the  hill  east  of  Gaza 
which  fronts  towards  Hebron,  and  commands  a  wide  view  of  the  whole 
plain  and  the  distant  mountains  that  encircle  Hebron  ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
words,  "which  is  before  Hebron"  may  have  been  added  simply  to  distin 
guish  this  hill  from  the  other  hills  around  Gaza.  Samson's  strength  was 
supernatural,  and  therefore  adequate  to  carry  the  gates  of  Gaza  any  dis 
tance.  But  the  more  natural  idea  suggested  by  the  narrative  is  that  he 
carried  them  to  the  top  of  a  hill  -in  view  of  Gaza,  and  left  them  there  as  a 
trophy  of  his  victory  over  those  who  sought  his  life.  Gaza  was  also  the 
place  of  Samson's  dishonor.  Here  the  Philistines,  having  put  out  his  eyes 
and  bound  him  with  fetters  of  brass,  made  him  grind  in  the  prison-house  ; 
and  here,  after  his  hair  was  grown,  he  pulled  down  the  temple  of  Dagon 
upon  himself  and  the  assembled  multitude.  Judg.  chap.  16.  Gaza  ap 
pears  once  in  the  New  Testament  in  the  angel's  direction  to  Philip  :  "Arise 
and  go  towards  the  south,  unto  the  way  that  goeth  down  from  Jerusalem 
to  Gaza,  which  is  desert."  Acts  8:26.  Respecting  the  true  interpreta 
tion  of  these  words  there  has  been  much  discussion.  JBut  the  words 


128  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

"which  is  desert"  (literally,  "this  is  desert")  are  most  naturally  refeired 
to  the  road,  not  the  city.  Philip  is  directed  to  take  the  desert  road  to 
Gaza,  viz.,  "the  southern  road  leading  from  Eieutheropolis  to  Gaza 
through  the  'desert,'  or  region  without  villages,  as  is  the  case  at  the  pres 
ent  day."  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  41. 

The  modern  Arabic  name  of  Gaza  is  Ghuzzeh,  a  place  without  walls,  of 
about  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants.  It  resembles  a  group  of  villages,  of 
which  the  principal  one  stands  on  the  southern  slope  of  a  low  round 
hill  elevated  not  more  than  fifty  or  sixty  feet  above  the  adjacent  plain, 
and  which  seems  to  be  composed  in  great  measure  of  the  ruins  of  suc 
cessive  cities.  But  the  greater  part  of  the  city  lies  on  the  plain  below. 
The  hill  is  crowned  by  the  great  mosque,  and  its  houses  are  mostly  of  stone, 
while  those  on  the  plain  are  mean  mud  hovels  with  narrow  and  filthy  lanes 
between  them.  Gaza  is  surrounded  on  the  south,  east,  and  north  by  lux 
uriant  gardens  hedged  with  prickly  pear.  Beyond  the  gardens  toward  the 
north  lie  extensive  olive-groves.  The  distance  of  Gaza  from  the  sea  is 
three  miles,  the  whole  occupied  by  the  belt  of  drifting  sand  hills  already 
noticed.  Some  have  thought  that  the  primitive  city  lay  nearer  to  the  sea; 
but  of  this  there  is  no  certain  proof. 

The  five  principal  cities  of  the  Philistines  have  been  considered  togeth 
er  in  their  geographical  order.  It  remains  that  we  notice  some  other  places. 

(I.)  Jcibneel  (Josh.  15:11),  or  Jabneli  (2  Chron.  2G:6),  which  stands 
on  a  slight  eminence  just  south  of  Nahr  Rubin,  two  miles  from  the  sea 
and  three  or  four  from  Ekron.  It  is  the  Jamneia  or  Jamnia  of  Josephus 
and  the  Maccabees.  During  the  wars  of  the  Maccabees  it  was  an  impor 
tant  place.  1  Mac.  4  : 15  ;  5  : 58  ;  10  : 69  ;  2  Mac.  12  :8,  9.  At  the  time 
when  Jerusalem  was  destroyed  it  was  a  populous  place,  and  contained  a 
celebrated  Jewish  school,  which  survived  the  overthrow  of  the  metropolis 
and  became  the  seat  of  the  great  Sanhedrim.  According  to  Jewish  tradi 
tion  the  celebrated  Rabbi  Gamaliel  taught  and  was  buried  here.  The 
name  Jalneh  is  perpetuated  in  the  modern  village  Ycbna,  which  probably 
occupies  the  site  of  the  ancient  city.  It  should  be  distinguished  from  the 
Jabnecl  of  Josh.  19  : 33,  which  was  in  the  tribe  of  Naphtali. 

(2.)  Eglon  (Josh.,  10:5),  one  of  the  five  cities  that  made  war  upon 
Gibeon  and  was  destroyed  by  Joshua.  The  name  survives  in  the  modern 
AjUm,  about  fourteen  miles  northeast  of  Gaza,  which  is  described  by  Por 
ter  as  completely  desolate.  "The  ruins  are  mere  shapeless  heaps  of  rub 
bish  strown  over  a  low  white  mound." 

Porter  (in  Alexander's  Kitto)  would  identify  the  ruins  called  Urn  Litkis, 
a  short  distance  west  of  Eglon,  with  the  ancient  Lachish;  but  Robinson 
(Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  47)  dissents. 


PALESTINE.  129 

14.  The  prophets  denounce  upon  the  Philistine  cities,  in 
common  with  all  the  countries  adjacent  to  Palestine,  a  destruc 
tion  that  shall  be  simultaneous  and  of  terrible  magnitude.     It 
shall  come  from  the  north,  "and  shall  be  an  overflowing  flood, 
and  shall  overflow  the  land  and  all  that  is  therein."    Isa.  14  : 31 ; 
Jer.,   chap.   47;    25:20;   Ezek.   25:15-17;   Joel  3:4;    Amos 
1 : 6-8  ;  Zeph.  2  : 4-7.     The  first  instalment,  so  to  speak,  of  this 
threatened  desolation,  and  that  to  which  the  prophets  had  im 
mediate  reference,  came  by  the  Chaldean  armies  under  Nebu 
chadnezzar  when  he  was  on  his  way  to  Egypt.     Ezek.  25  : 15- 
17  compared  with  chap.  26.      But  other  judgments   awaited 
these  ancient  and  inveterate  enemies  of  the  covenant  people 
after  the  close  of  the  Babylonish  captivity.    Zech.  9:5,  6.    The 
issue  of  the  whole  has  been  a  desolation  such  as  the  prophet 
Zephaniah  described  with  wonderful  vividness  more  than  twen 
ty-four  centuries  ago — a  picture  to  which  the  modern  Ghuzzeh, 
standing  on  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  city,  forms  no  real  excep 
tion  :  "  Gaza  shall  be  forsaken,  and  Ashkelon  a  desolation :  they 
shall  drive  out  Ashdod  at  the  noonday,  and  Ekron  shall  be 
rooted  up.     "Woe   unto  the  inhabitants  of  the  seacoasts,  the 
nation  of  the   Cherethites!   the  word  of  the  Lord  is  against 
you,  O  Canaan,  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  I  will  even  destroy 
thee,  tha.t  there  shall  be  no  inhabitant.     And  the  seacoast  shaU 
be  dwellings,  and  cottages  for  shepherds,  and  folds  for  flocks 
And  the  coast  shall  be  for  the  remnant  of  the  house  of  Judah ; 
they  shall  feed  thereupon :  in  the  houses  of  Ashkelon  shall  they 
lie  down  at  evening:  for  the  Lord  their  God  shall  visit  them, 
and  turn  away  their  captivity."     Zeph.  2:4-8.     An  earnest  of 
the  promise  to  God's  people  contained  in  the  latter  part  of  this 
prophecy  was  received  after  the  captivity,  and  who  can  teh1  what 
a  consummation  of  it  remains  for  the  time  when  "  all  Israel 
shall  be  saved !" 

15.  Among  the  hills  near  the  eastern  border  of  the  Philis 
tine  plain,  and  a  little  south  of  the  latitude  of  Ashkelon,  is  the 
modern  village  of  Beit  Jibrin;  the  site  of  the  geographer  Ptole 
my's  Betogabra,  and  of  the  Eleuthcropolis  of  the  Roman  age, 

G* 


130  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

where,  says  Robinson,  there  are  ruins,  "apparently  of  different 
ages,  and  more  extensive  and  massive  than  any  we  saw  in  Pal 
estine,  except  the  substructions  of  the  ancient  temple  at  Jerusa 
lem  and  the  Haram  at  Hebron."  The  most  important  of  them 
are  described  by  him  and  Porter  as  consisting  of  a  large  irreg 
ular  enclosure  surrounded  by  the  ruins  of  a  very  ancient  and 
strong  wall  measuring  on  its  northern  side  six  hundred  feet. 
Within  towards  the  west  and  northwest,  is  a  row  of  ancient 
massive  vaults  with  five  round  arches,  apparently  of  the  same 
age  as  the  wall  itself.  In  the  midst  of  the  area  stands  the  cas 
tle,  the  lower  part  of  which  Robinson  judges  to  be  as  ancient 
as  the  exterior  wall,  but  the  upper  part  of  which  belongs  to  the 
age  of  the  Crusaders.  Twenty  minutes  south-southeast  from 
the  village  are  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  church,  aud  near  by  those 
of  an  ordinary  village.  The  limestone  ridges  which  enclose 
the  valley  south  of  Beit  Jibrin  abound  on  both  sides  in  artifi 
cial  excavations,  occurring  in  large  groups,  like  subterranean 
villages,  of  which  Robinson  has  given  an  elaborate  description. 
Similar  excavations  are  found  near  Deir  Dubban  north  of  Beit 
Jibrin.  Their  general  form — mostly  that  of  bell-shaped  domes 
lighted  from  above — and  especially  their  intercommunication, 
shows  that  they  were  subterranean  dwellings.  According  to 
the  statement  of  Jerome  (Commentary  on  Obadiah) :  "  All  the 
southern  region  of  the  Idumseans  from  Eleutheropolis  as  far 
as  Petra  and  Aila  (this  is  the  territory  of  Esau)  has  cave-dwell 
ings  ;  and  on  account  of  the  excessive  heat  of  the  sun,  because 
it  is  a  southern  province,  uses  subterranean  abodes."  The 
Horim,  whom  the  Edomites  dispossessed  (Gen.  14 : 6 ;  Deut. 
2:12,  22),  were  cave-dwellers,  as  the  word  Horim  signifies; 
and  from  them  the  Idumaeans  seem  to  have  adopted  the  cus 
tom. 

Dr.  Robinson  has  the  high  merit  of  having  identified  Beit 
Jibrin  with  the  Eleutheropolis  of  the  Romans,  a  most  impor 
tant  fact  for  sacred  geography,  since  Eusebius  and  Jerome  as 
sumed  it  as  the  central  point  in  southern  Palestine,  from  which 
to  fix  the  position  of  many  other  places.  For  the  evidence  ad- 


PALESTINE.  131 

duced  by  him,  as  well  as  for  a  description  of  the  place  and  its 
vicinity,  see  Bib.  Eos.,  2,  pp.  24-31,  51-66. 

'  16.  The  belt  of  lower  hills  intermediate  between  the  Philis 
tine  plain  and  the  mountains  of  Judea  was  the  border  region 
between  the  IsraelitislT  people  and  the  Philistines,  and  was, 
therefore,  naturally  the  scene  of  many  bloody  struggles.  Here 
is  Wady-es-Swnpt,  the  ancient  volley  of  Elah  in  which  the 
famous  encounter  between  David  and  Goliath  took  place 
(1  Sam.,  chap.  17) ;  and  on  its  left  bank  are  the  ruins  of  Shochoh 
now  called  Shutveikeh,  "  Azekali"  says  Porter,  "  appears  to  have 
stood  on  a  conical  hill  some  two  miles  distant  on  the  same 
bank.  The  valley  itself  runs  in  a  northwesterly  direction 
through  the  low  hills  at  the  base  of  the  mountains  into  the 
Philistine  plain,  which  it  enters  some  six  miles  north  of  Beit 
Jibrm." 

The  Philistines  occupied  the  southern  bank  of  the  valley,  and  the 
Israelites  the  northern.  "The  distance  between  the  armies  was  about  a 
mile  ;  and  the  vale  beneath  is  flat  and  rich.  Through  the  centre  winds  a 
torrent  bed,  the  banks  fringed  with  shrubbery  of  acacia,  and  the  bottom 
covered  with  rounded  '  smooth  stones. '  The  ridges  on  each  side  rise  to 
the  height  of  about  five  hundred  feet,  and  have  a  steep  uniform  slope,  so 
that  the  armies  ranged  along  them  could  see  the  combat  in  the  valley.  The 
Philistines,  when  defeated,  fled  down  the  valley  towards  Gath  and  Ekron." 
(Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto.)  The  valley  of  Elah  signifies  the  valley  of 
Tei-ebinths,  and  one  of  the  largest  terebinths  in  Palestine  now  stands  in  a 
branch  of  this  valley  only  a  few  miles  from  the  scene  of  conflict.  Kobinson 
Bib.  Ees. ,  2,  p.  21  ;  Handbook  for  Syria  and  Palestine,  p.  280.  The  mod 
ern  name,  Wady-es-Sumpt,  means  vale  of  acacias,  so  called  from  the  aca 
cias  scattered  in  it. 

17.  Other  places  in  this  intermediate  belt  of  hills,  beginning 
from  the  south,  are  the  following : 

M<irc)tJi(i7i,  memorable  for  the  great  battle  between  Asa  and  Zerah  the 
Ethiopian,  in  which  the  latter  was  defeated  and  fled  south  towards  Gerar 
(2  Chron.  14  :  9-15),  is  placed  by  Eusebius  and  Jerome  (Onomasticon)  "in 
the  second  mile  from  Eleuth'eropolis. "  Robinson  would  identify  its  site 
with  the  ruins  still  visible  on  a  hill  about  a  Roman  mile  and  a  half  south 
of  Beit  Jibrin,  the  Eleutheroplis  of  the  Romans.  Bib.  Res.,  2,  pp.  67,  68. 


132  SA€RED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Mureshcth-naih  (Micah  1  :14),  the  birthplace  of  "Micali  the  Morasthite, " 
was  also,  according  to  Jerome,  in  the  vicinity  of  Eleutheropolis,  but  its 
site  is  not  clearly  determined. 

Jarmuth,  one  of  the  royal  cities  of  the  Canaanites  (Josh.  10  :  3  ;  12  :11), 
and  reinhabited  after  the  captivity  (Nek.  11  :  29),  has  been  identified  with 
the  modern  village  of  Yarmuk.  It  lies  about  eight  miles  northeast  of 
Eleutheropolis,  on  the  crest  of  a  rugged  kill.  The  name  Jarmuth  signifies 
height,  and  it  answers  well  to  its  site. 

The  site  of  Adulfam,  which  lay  in  this  vicinity,  and  was  one  of  the  royal 
cities  of  the  Canaanites,  has  not  been  ascertained. 

Befli-sJiemesh,  that  is,  home  of  the  sun,  has  been  satisfactorily  identified 
with  the  modern  Ain  Shems,  fountain  of  the  Kim.  It  lies  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Shephelah,  close  to  the  foot  of  the  Judeau  mountains,  and 
about  ten  miles  north-northeast  from  Eleutheropolis.  The  ruins  of  the 
ancient  place  are  beautifully  situated  on  the  rounded  point  of  a  low  ridge 
between  the  Wady  Surar  on  the  north  and  a  smaller  ravine  on  the  south. 
The  two  unite  below  on  the  west,  and  then  the  Surar  runs  off  in  a  north 
westerly  direction  as  a  broad  fertile  valley  into  the  plain  of  the  Philistines. 
Beth-shemesh  is  celebrated  as  the  place  to  which  the  Philistines  brought 
the  ark  from  Ekron,  a  little  north  of  the  valley.  1  Sam. ,  chap.  6.  "  Ekron," 
says  Porter  (in  Alexander's  Kitto),  "is  ten  miles  distant  in  the  same  direc 
tion  [as  the  vale  of  Surar],  but  is  hid  by  an  intervening  swell.  Standing 
on  the  site  of  Beth-shemesh,  one  can  trace  the  line  of  the  old  road  to 
Ekron  for  miles  through  the  valley.  Along  that  road  the  ark  was  brought. " 

About  two  miles  west  of  Ain  Shems,  near  where  the  Surar  issues  upon 
the  plain,  is  a  deserted  site  called  Tibneh,  in  which,  says  Robinson  (Bib. 
Res.,  2,  p.  17),  "we  may  recognize  the  Timnah  or  Timnath  of  Dan,  the 
city  of  Samson's  wife,  to  which  he  'went  down'  from  Zorah.  It  lies  south 
of  west  from  Zorah,  and  not  more  than  an  hour  distant  from  it."  It  was 
here  that  he  caught  three  hundred  foxes  (or  jackals,  the  same  Hebrew 
word  being  used  for  both  classes  of  animals),  "and  took  firebrands,  and 
turned  tail  to  tail,  and  put  a  firebrand  in  the  midst  between  two  tails," 
and  sent  them  into  the  standing  corn  of  the  Philistines.  Judg.  15  : 3-5. 
The  havoc  thus  made  in  the  sea  of  cornfields  which  then,  as  now,  covered 
the  plain  "in  the  time  of  wheat-harvest,"  must  have  been  immense. 

North  of  Beth-shemesh,  on  a  spur  of  the  mountains  running  into  the 
plain,  stood  Zorah,  the  birthplace  of  Samson.  It  still  retains  its  ancient 
name  but  slightly  changed,  being  called  Surah  by  the  modern  Arabs. 

About  two  miles  east  of  Surah  is  Yeshua,  which  Porter  is  disposed  to 
regard  as  the  site  of  the  ancient  Eshtaol;  and  a  little  south  is  Zanua,  the 
Hebrew  Zanoah.  The  connection  in  which  the  four  places,  Beth-shemesh 


PALESTINE.  133 

(called  also  Ir-s/H'mi'dt,  city  of  Ike  sun),  Zorah,  Zanoah,  and  Eshtaol,  are* 
mentioned  (Josh.  15  : 33,  34 ;   19:41;  Judg.  13:25;   16:31),  shows  that 
they  were  near  to  each  other. 

On  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Lydda,  twenty-two  Koman  miles  from 
the  former  place  and  ten  from  the  latter,  is  the  modern  village  Amwas. 
This  doubtless  represents  that  Emmaus  of  Joseplms  which  is  also  called 
Nicopolis.  Whether  it  is  the  Emmaus  of  Luke  (chap.  24  : 13)  is  a  question 
that  has  been  warmly  debated.  Both  Eusebius  and  Jerome  explicitly 
identify  the  two  places.  But  then  the  text  of  Luke  ought  to  read  "<t  hun 
dred  and  sixty  furlongs."  This  is  the  reading  of  the  Sinai  Codex  and  three 
other  uncial  manuscripts  (I,  K,  and  N);  while  the  great  body  of  manu 
scripts  read  "  sixty  furlongs, "  that  is,  seven  and  a  half  Roman  miles;  and 
this  is  the  reading  of  Jerome's  own  Latin  version.  That  the  Emmaus  of 
Luke  was  different  from  the  Emmaus  now  under  consideration  appears 
probable  from  the  following  considerations:  (1)  the  weight  of  manuscript 
testimony  is  in  favor  of  the  reading  "sixty  furlongs  ;"  (2)  there  was  an  Em 
maus  nearer  Jerusalem,  as  appears  from  Josephus,  Jewish  War,  7.  6.  6, 
where  he  speaks  of  Amniaus  as  distant  from  Jerusalem,  according  to  some 
copies  thirty,  according  to  others  sixty  stadia.  This,  then,  should  be  the 
Emmaus  of  Luke  ;  (3)  the  distance  of  twenty-two  Roman  miles  is  too  great 
for  the  transaction  as  recorded  by  Luke.  See  on  the  one  side,  for  the 
identity  of  the  two  places,  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  255  and  note;  3, 
pp.  147-150;  on  the  other,  against  their  identity,  Porter  in  Alexander's 
Kitto  and  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  art.  Emmaus. 

Yalo,  the  ancient  Ajalon,  on  the  southern  side  of  the  fine  valley  called 
Merj  Ibn  Omeir,  has  already  been  noticed.  See  above,  chap.  2,  No.  47. 

18.  From  about  the  latitude  of  Gaza  southward,  the  Philis 
tine  plain  gradually  passes  into  the  southern  desert,  the  desert 
of  Par  an.  This  transition  region  is  the  "  south  country  "  where 
Abraham  and  after  liim  Isaac  sojourned.  Here,  apparently  at 
no  great  distance  from  Gaza  and  Beersheba,  was  the  valley  of 
Gerar,  the  residence  of  the  Philistine  king  Abimelech.  Will 
iams  (Holy  City,  1,  app.  46-4)  thinks  he  has  discovered  the 
ruins  of  Gerar  about  three  hours  south -southeast  of  Gaza. 

In  journeyiiig  from  Akabah  to  Beer-sheba,  Robinson  and  Smith  came 
to  a  place  called  RuJmibeh,  between  eight  and  nine  hours  with  camels 
south  of  Beer-sheba.  Here  are  the  ruins  of  an  extensive  city.  The  name 
answers  to  Rcliobotli,  where  Isaac's  sen-ants  digged  a  well.  Gen.  26  : 22. 
Robinson  thinks  that  Ruhaibeh  is  too  far  south  to  be  the  Rehoboth  of 
Isaac  ;  but  Porter  is  inclined  to  identify  the  two  places. 


134  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTEE    IV. 

THE   VALLEY   OF   THE    JORDAN   AND   PEAD    SEA. 
I.  GENERAL  REMARKS. 

1.  THE  most  remarkable  feature  of  Palestine  and  Syria  is 
the  enormous  longitudinal  chasm  or  valley  that  extends  from  the 
Red  sea  on  the  south  to  Antioch  on  the  north.     The  sea  of 
Akabah — the  eastern  arm  of  the  Dead  sea — occupies  the  south 
ern  end  of  this  valley.     Thence  it  stretches  in  a  straight  line 
almost  due  north  to  the  base  of  Hermon,  the  Anti-Libanus 
(Anti-Lebanon)  of  the  ancients.     Crowded  westward  by  that 
mighty  range,  it  passes  around  its  southwestern  extremity,  and 
then  runs  along  its  northwestern  base  in  a  northeasterly  direc 
tion  in  the  form  of  a  long  narrow  vale — the  Wady-et-Teim — 
which  finally  opens  into  the  great  valley  of  Ccele-Syria,  that  sep 
arates  the  two  ranges  of  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon. 

2.  The  Dead  sea  occupies  the  lowest  part  of  this  chasm,  its 
surface  being  more  than  one  thousand  three  hundred  feet  below 
the  level  of  the  Mediterranean.     Into  this  sea  the  Jordan  flows 
from  the  north,  and  all  the  winter  forrents  from  the  south  for 
that  part  of  the   valley  which   lies  north   of  the  water-shed 
between  the  sea  of  Akabah  and  the  Dead   sea.     The  great 
valley   of    Ccele-Syria    sends    its   waters    into   the   Mediterra 
nean,  for   the   northern  part  northward  by  the   Orontes,  for 
the  southern  part  southward  by  the  Leontes;  both  streams 
bending  abruptly  to  the  west  in  the  lower  part  of  their  course, 
the  latter  through  a  narrow  chasm  of  frightful  depth.     The 
water-shed  of  Wady-et-Teiin  is  near  Ain  FAluj,  about  nortli  lat 
itude  thirty-three  degrees  thirty-six  minutes,  according  to  Rob 
inson's  map.     Thence  its  waters  flow  north  into  the  Orontes 
and  south  into  the  Jordan.     Nortli  of  the  chasm  of  the  Leontes 


PALESTINE.  135 

all  the  waters  of  Lebanon  flow  of  course  into  the  Mediterra 
nean.  But  the  eastern  brow  of  the  high  land  south  of  the  Leon- 
tes,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  continuation  of  the  Lebanon 
range,  sends  off  its  waters  eastward  into  the  Jordan  valley. 
The  streams  from  the  southeastern  side  of  Anti-Lebanon  flow  off 
eastward  towards  Damascus,  as  will  be  evident  from  an  inspec 
tion  of  the  map. 

3.  It  is  certain  that  the  Jordan  never  flowed  into  the  Bed 
sea,  at  least   in  historic   ages.      On    the    contrary,  were   the 
chasm  under  consideration  deepened  for  only  a  moderate  dis 
tance  north  of  the  sea  of  Akabah,  this  sea  would  stretch  north- 
ward  beyond  the  sea  of  Galilee,  covering  the  Dead  sea  to  the 
depth  of  one  thousand  three  hundred  feet  or  more,  and  the  sea 
of  Galilee  to  the  depth  of  several  hundred  feet,  the  exact  amount 
of  depression  of  this  little  lake  being  yet  uncertain. 

II.     THE   UPPER     JORDAN    AND   LAKE   HULEH. 

4.  The  range  of  Hermon  terminates  abruptly  at  Banias,  the 
Paneas  of  the  Greeks  and  Komans ;  and  here,  under  its  south 
western  extremity,  are  the  chief  sources  of  the  Jordan,  which  will 
be  described  in  the  order  of  their  magnitude. 

(1.)  On  the  northern  border  of  a  rich  but  marshy  plain,  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  from  the  southwest  corner  of  Hfcrmou,  and  about  midway  of  the 
plain  from  east  to  west,  is  a  low  cup-shaped  hill  thickly  covered  with 
shrubs.  This  is  the  modern  Tell-el-Rady,  Hill  of  the  Judge.  From  its  west 
ern  side  bursts  an  immense  stream  of  the  most  limpid  water.  "This," 
says  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  3,  pp.  390,  391),  "is  one  of  the  largest  fountains 
in  the  world;  the  stream  that  issues  from  it  being  not  less  than  four  times 
as  large  as  the  Hasbany  "  (see  below),  "even  after  all  the  accessions  which 
the  latter  receives."  "Not  all  the  water,  however,  from  the  interior  of 
the  tell,  escapes  in  this  way.  In  the  surface  of  the  tell  directly  above  is  a 
cavity  of  some  extent,  into  which  the  water  also  rises  and  runs  off,  as  a 
considerable  stream,  through  a  break  in  the  edge  of  the  tell,  tumbling 
down  its  southwestern  side.  This  stream  drives  two  mills,  and  furnishes 
water  power  enough  for  any  number.  It  then  goes  to  join  the  other  river. 
This  of  itself  would  be  regarded  as  a  very  large  fountain."  The  stream 
then  flows  off  south  into  the  marshes  of  the  Huleh,  under  the  name  of  Led- 
ddn,  which  Rev.  Eli  Smith  regards  as  an  abbreviation  of  El-ed-Dan,  the 
Arabic  article  being  repeated.  Robinson,  Bib.  Res. ,  p.  392,  note. 


136  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

At  this  fountain,  on  the  northern  border  of  the  Israelitish  territory, 
was  situated  the  ancient  Dan,  so  familiar  to  all  in  the  formula,  "from  Dan 
even  to  Beer-sheba."  The  testimony  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome  on  this 
point  is  explicit.  They  describe  Dan  as  four  Roman  miles  distant  from 
Paneas  (see  below),  on  the  way  to  Tyre ;  which  is  the  present  position  of 
Tell-el-Kady.  Equally  explicit  is  the  testimony  of  Josephus,  though  he 
incorrectly  styles  this  stream  the  lesser  Jordan.  See  the  references  in 
Robinson,  3,  p.  392.  The  story  of  the  occupation  of  this  place,  originally 
called  Laish,  by  the  Danites,  is  familiar  to  all.  See  Judg.,  chap.  18.  The 
description  given  by  their  spies — "We  have  seen  the  land,  and  behold  it 
is  very  good  ;"  "a  place  where  there  is  no  want  of  any  thing  that  is  in  the 
earth  "  (ver.  9,  10) — applies  to  the  region  around  Tell-el-Kady.  It  was  at 
Dan  that  Jeroboam  placed  the  second  of  his  two  golden  calves.  1  Kings 
12  :  29,  30.  A  short  distance  below  Tell-el-Kady  is  "a  low  mound  of  rub 
bish  with  cut  stones,  evidently  the  remains  of  a  former  town."  Robinson 
as  above,  p.  393.  It  bears  the  modern  name  Dif/ieh,  and  probably  marks 
the  site  of  the  Daphne  of  Josephus,  respecting  which  he  speaks  as  "hav 
ing  fountains  which  send  forth  the  lesser  Jordan,  so  called,  under  the  tem 
ple  of  the  golden  calf,  to  join  the  greater."  Jewish  War,  4.  1.  1. 

(2.)  At  Bdnias,  the  Caesarea  Philippi  of  Roman  times,  about  an  hour 
or  an  hour  and  a  quarter  east  of  Tell-el-Kady,  is  the  second  source  of  the 
Jordan,  so  far  as  size  is  concerned,  but  which  the  ancients  made  the  prin 
cipal  source.  The  place  and  fountain  are  thus  described  by  Porter  (in 
Alexander's  Kitto) :  "  Baneas  occupies  one  of  the  most  picturesque  sites  in 
Syria.  A  broad  terrace  on  the  mountain-side  looks  out  over  the  rich  plain 
of  Huleh  westward  to  the  castellated  heights  of  Hunin.  Behind  it  rises, 
in  bold,  rugged  peaks,  the  southern  ridge  of  Hermon,  wooded  to  the  sum 
mit.  Two  sublime  ravines  descend  from  the  ridge,  having  between  them 
a  conical  hill  more  than  a  thousand  feet  in  height,  and  crowned  by  the 
ruins  of  the  castle  of  Subeibeh.  On  the  terrace,  at  the  base  of-  this  cone, 
lie  the  ruins  of  Ceesarea  Philippi.  The  terrace  is  covered  with  groves  of 
evergreen-oak  and  olive-trees,  with  intervening  glades  of  the  richest  green 
turf,  and  clumps  of  hawthorn  and  myrtle  here  and  there.  A  cliff  of  ruddy 
limestone,  nearly  one  hundred  feet  high,  rises  on  the  north  side  of  the 
ruins.  At  its  base  is  a  cave,  whose  mouth  is  now  almost  choked  up  with 
the  debris  of  ancient  buildings  and  fragments  of  the  overhanging  cliff. 
From  the  midst  of  these  ruins,  and  from  numerous  chinks  in  the  sur 
rounding  rocks,  the  waters  of  the  great  fountain  gush  forth.  They  collect 
a  short  distance  below,  and  form  a  rapid  torrent,  which  leaps  in  sheets  of 
foam  down  a  rocky  bed."  This  is  the  cave  described  by  Josephus  (Autiq., 
15.  10.  3)  under  the  name  of  Panium.  "It  is,"  says  he,  "a  very  beautiful 
cave  in  the  mountain,  and  under  it  a  chasm  of  the  earth  and  a  steep  al>ys-, 
of  enormous  depth,  full  of  standing  water.  Above  impends  a  huge  moun- 


PALESTINE.  137 

tain,  and  below  the  cave  spring  forth  the  fountains  of  the  river  Jordan. 
This,  as  being  a  place  eminently  distinguished,  he  [Herod]  also  adorn*  d 
with  the  temple  which  he  consecrated  to  Crcsar."  "At  a  later  period,'.' 
says  Robinson  (3,  p.  410),  "the  place  was  made  part  of  the  territory  of 
Philip,  tetrarch  of  Trachonitis ;  was  enlarged  and  embellished  by  him, 
and  named  Crcsarea  Philippi,  in  distinction  from  the  Csesarea  of  the  sea- 
coast.  See  in  Robinson  the  references  to  Josephus.  A  visit  of  our  Lord 
to  this  vicinity  is  recorded,  Matt.  16: 13  ;  Mark  8 : 27.  Robinson  is  inclined 
to  identify  this  place  with  "Baal-Gad,  in  the  valley  of  Lebanon,  under 
Mount  Hermon."  Josh.  11  ;  17 ;  12  :  7. 

The  stream  from  Banias  unites  with  that,  from  Tell-el-Kady  about  an 
hour  and  a  half  below  the  latter  place. 

(3.)  The  _iV</7/r  Hasbany,  river  Hasbany,  flows  south  from  the  water-shed 
of  the  Wady-et-Teim,  a  short  distance  south  of  Am  Faluj.  But  it  exists  as 
a  permanent  stream  only  from  a  great  fountain  near  Hasbeiya,  twelve  miles 
north  of  Tell-el-Kady.  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  3,  p.  378.  It  joins  the  uni 
ted  streams  from  Tell-el-Kady  and  Banias  about  a  mile  below  their  junc 
tion.  In  the  Hasbany  we  find  the  most  remote  source  of  the  Jordan,. though 
it  is  the  smallest  of  the  three.  Robinson  estimates  their  relative  size  as 
follows:  "That  from  Banias  is  twice  as  large  as  the  Hasbany;  while  the 
Leddan,  including  its  branch  the  Bureij,  is  twice,  if  not  three  times  the 
size  of  that  from  Banias  "  (3,  p.  395).  Above  the  junction  these  streams  all 
run  swiftly  in  channels  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  below  the  level  of  the  plain. 
The  river  below  the  junction  flows  southward  through  the  flat,  marshy 
plain  to  the  lake  Huleh,  a  distance  of  five  or  six  miles. 

(4.)  The  above  three  perennial  streams,  having  their  origin  in  three 
immense  fountains,  constitute  the  proper  sources  of  the  Jordan.  Besides 
these,  there  are  other  minor  streams  which,  however,  can  hardly  be  reck 
oned  as  perennial.  Such  is  that  which  comes  down  to  Banias  from  the  east 
through  a  wild  narrow  chasm,  and  the  Derdarah  from  Merj  Ayun,  a  roman 
tic  little  valley  west  of  et-Teim.  Other  springs  and  rivulets  burst  forth 
along  the  base  of  Herinon ;  and  large  fountains  also  at  the  base  of  the 
mountains  of  Naphtali  send  their  waters  to  the  Hiileh. 

5.  La,ke  Pineda  (Greek  pJiicde,  a  bold)  is  celebrated  for  the 
story  related  of  it  by  Joseplius  (Jewish  War,  3. 10.  7),  that  Philip, 
tetrarch  of  Trachonitis,  caused  chaff  to  be  cast  into  it,  which 
reappeared  at  the  fountain  Paniuni,  already  described ;  whence 
it  was  ascertained  that  there  existed  a  subterranean  passage 
from  Phiala  to  Panium.  He  describes  Phiala  as  a  circular  pool 
one  hundred  and  twenty  stadia  from  Cresarea  on  the  way  to 
Trachouitis,  a  short  distance  from  the  road  on  the  right  hand. 


138  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Its  waters,  he  tells  us,  stand  always  at  the  same  level,  neither 
sinking  nor  overflowing.  Hobinson  describes  a  pool  called  Bir- 
'ket-er-Eam,  which  answers  in  form  and  position  to  this  account 
of  Josephus.  The  lake  lies  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  bowl,  appa 
rently  an  ancient  crater,  a  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred 
feet  below  the  level  of  the  surrounding  tract,  has  the  form  of 
an  irregular  circle,  and  is  perhaps  a  mile  in  diameter.  The 
water  of  the  lake  is  stagnant  and  impure,  "  the  very  paradise 
of  frogs,"  and  "supplies  the  whole  country  with  leeches."  Hob 
inson  thinks  it  evident  that  there  is  at  present  no  communica 
tion  between  Banias  and  Phiala.  "The  bright,  limpid,  spark 
ling  waters  of  the  former  can  have  no  connection  with  the  dark, 
stagnant,  slimy  masses  which  fill  the  latter." 

6.  The  upper  part  of  the  Jordan  valley  is  occupied  by  the 
basin  or  plain  of  the,  Hutch,  of  which  the  length  is  some  sixteen 
miles,  with  a  width  of  about  five  miles.  The  lake  itself  is  of  a 
triangular  form,  with  its  apex  at  the  exit  of  the  Jordan  on  the 
south.  It  is  subject  to  periodical  variations  from  the  fall  of 
rain  in  the  rainy  season  and  the  melting  of  the  snow  on  the 
mountains  in  the  spring ;  but  its  average  length  from  north  to 
south  may  be  stated  at  four  and  a  half  miles,  with  a  breadth  of 
about  three  and  a  half.  "  Round  the  lake  is  a  broad  margin  of 
marshy  ground,  which  extends  several  miles  to  the  northward 
along  the  banks  of  the  streams,  and  is  covered  with  dense  jun 
gles  of  canes,  the  home  of  wild  swine  and  buffaloes."  Porter 
in  Alexander's  Kitto.  "  A  large  triangular  sheet  of  water,"  says 
Tristram  (Land  of  Israel,  p.  589),  "  at  the  lower  end  of  the  vast 
swampy  plain,  it  has  neither  the  bold  outlines  nor  the  deep  col 
oring  of  the  holy  lake.  The  base  of  the  triangle  is  at  the  north 
end,  where  the  impenetrable  mass  of  reed  and  papyrus  suddenly 
breaks  into  a  lake."  The  same  writer  speaks  of  seeing  "herds 
of  ill-looking  buffaloes  wallowing  in  the  mud  or  standing  with 
only  their  noses  out  of  water."  The  lake  appears  to  be  shal 
low,  and  is  covered  for  acres  with  yellow  water-lilies,  with  some 
patches  of  the  white  lily  (nymphcea)  growing  behind  papyrus 
tufts ;  for  the  true  Egyptian  papyrus  is  abundant  here.  North 


PALESTINE.  139 

of  the  marshes  "succeeds  a  fertile  meadow-like  tract,"  in  which 
is  the  junction  of  the  streams  of  the  Jordan.  See  Robinson, 
Phys.  Geog.,  p.  199. 

The  name  Huieh  is  very  ancient,  for  it  occurs  in  Josephus 
(Antiq.,  15.  10.  3)  under  the  form  Ulatha,  where  he  speaks  of 
"the  region  of  Ulatha,  Paneas,  and  the  surrounding  country," 
"lying  between  Trachon  [Trachonitis]  and  Galilee."  But  the 
name  by  which  he  calls  this  lake  is  Semechonitis :  "The  Jordan 
beginning  as  a  visible  stream  from  this  cave  [that  of  Panium 
described  above]  cuts  through  the  marshes  and  fens  of  the  lake 
Semechonitis."  Jewish  War,  3. 10.  7.  See  also  4. 1. 1;  Antiq., 
5.  5.  1.  This  lake  is  generally  regarded  as  identical  with  "  the 
waters  of  Merom"  (Josh.  11:5,  7),  where  the  confederate  kings 
of  Canaan  assembled  their  forces,  and  were  defeated  by  Joshua. 
See  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  440;  Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto; 
and,  on  the  other  side,  the  difficulties  suggested  by  Grove  in 
Smith's  Bible  Dictionary. 

7.  On  issuing  from  the  Huleh,  the  Jordan  flows  for  a  short 
distance  along  a  narrow  cultivated  plain;  its  current  being 
swift,  but  without  rapids,  and  its  breadth  from  thirty  to  forty 
yards.  A  mile  below  the  lake  is  the  bridge  called  Jisr  Benat 
Yakob,  Bridge  of  Jacob's  daughters.  It  has  four  pointed  arches, 
is  sixty  paces  long,  and  is  built  of  the  black  volcanic  stones  of 
the  region.  About  two  miles  below  the  lake  begins  a  series  of 
rapids,  over  wrhich  the  wrater  rushes  through  a  deep  and  some 
what  winding  ravine,  dashing  and  foaming  along  its  rocky  bed, 
till  it  reaches  the  level  of  the  lower  plain  two  miles  north  of  the 
sea  of  Galilee.  The  direct  distance  from  the  upper  to  the  lower 
lake  is  about  twelve  miles;  and  in  this  short  space  the  river 
falls  several  hundred  feet.  See  farther  in  Robinson's  Phys. 
Geog.  (pp.  154-156),  from  which  the  above  particulars  are 
drawn. 

Van  de  Velde  gives  the  elevation  of  the  surface  of  Lake  Huleh  above  the 
Mediterranean  at  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  and  that  of  the  sea  of  Gal 
ilee  (after  Lynch)  at  six  hundred  and  fifty-three  feet  below;  making  a  differ 
ence  of  seven  hundred  and  seventy-three  feet.  The  difference  according  to 


140  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Berteau  is  seven  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet.  But  according  to  the  trig 
onometrical  survey  of  Lieutenant  Simonds  in  1841  (which,  however,  Yiui 
de  Velde  discredits),  the  depression  of  the  sea  of  Galilee  is  only  three  hun 
dred  and  twenty-eight  feet.  Even  this  would  give  a  great  descent  for 
the  distance  of  twelve  miles. 

The  present  structure  of  the  bridge  Jisr  Benat  Yacob  is  referred  by 
Robinson  to  the  fifteenth  century ;  but  from  the  importance  of  the  pas 
sage,  lying  as  it  does  on  one  of  the  great  roads  leading  from  Egypt  and 
Palestine  to  Damascus,  we  must  suppose  that  the  present  structure  is  only 
the  renewal  of  one  more  ancient. 

III.     THE   SEA  OF   GALILEE   AND   THE  JORDAN  BELOW. 

8.  To  the  Christian  the  holiest  associations  cluster  around  the 
Sea  of  Galilee.  In  Capernaum,  on  the  border  of  this  sea,  was 
the  later  residence  of  our  Lord  (Matt.  4:13):  in  the  cities  and 
villages  around  it  he  performed  most  of  his  mighty  works 
(Matt.  11:20-24;  Luke  10:13-15):  walking  on  its  shore,  he 
called  Peter  and  Andrew  his  brother,  James  the  son  of  Zebedee 
and  John  his  brother  (Matt.  4  : 18-22) :  from  a  boat  on  the  mar 
gin  of  this  sea  he  taught  the  assembled  multitudes  and  inaugu 
rated  that  wonderful  series  of  parables  recorded  by  the  evan 
gelists  (Matt.  13 : 1,  2 ;  Mark  4:1):  over  its  clear  waters  he  often 
sailed:  on  them  he  walked  (Matt.  14:25;  Mark  0:48;  John 
6:19),  and  hushed  the  tempest  to  a  great  calm  (Matt.  8:23-27; 
Mark  4 : 37-41 ;  Luke  8 : 23-25) :  in  a  desert  place  on  its  shore 
he  twice  fed  the  assembled  multitudes  with  a  few  loaves  and 
fishes  (Matt.  14 : 15-21 ;  15 : 32-39) :  it  was  when  he  came  out  of 
the  ship  on  the  other  side,  in  the  country  of  the  Gadarenes, 
that  he  met  two  furious  lunatics  possessed  of  devils  coming  out 
of  the  tombs,  and  healed  them,  by  his  word,  while  the  swine 
were  driven  by  the  demons  down  a  steep  place  into  the  sea  and 
perished  (Mark  5 : 1-13) ;  and  it  was  immediately  upon  his  return, 
when  "  he  was  nigh  unto  the  sea,"  that  he  was  summoned  to 
raise  from  the  dead  Jairus'  daughter,  and  healed  on  his  way 
to  the  house  the  woman  with  a  bloody  issue  (Mark  5 : 22-43). 
But  why  enumerate  farther,  in  a  region  filled  throughout  with 
the  Saviour's  mighty  works  ?  Honored  above  all  other  waters 


THE  DEAD  SEA  J   AND  THE  CONVENT  OF  SANTA  SABA,   ON  TIIE  BKOOK  KIDRON. 


SEA  OF  GALILEE,   FliOM  THE  NORTHWEST  COAST  ;    WITH  MAGDALA  AND  TIEERIA  ;. 


PALESTINE.  141 

were  these  waters  of  Geimesaret,  for  they  oiten  bore  on  their 
pure  bosom  the  Lord  of  glory. 

9.  This  sheet  of  water  is  called  the  Sea  of  Galilee  from  the 
region,  in  which  it  is  situated ;  the  Sea  of  Tiberias  (John  G :  1 ; 
21 :1),  from  the  principal  city  on  its  border  (see  below,  No.  11); 
while  the  name  Gennesaret  or  Genncsarefh,  the  Gennesar  of  Jo- 
sephus,  seems  to  be  a  modification  of  the  Hebrew  name  G/tinne- 
reth  or  Cinneroth,  and  is,  like  it,  applied  to  the  sea  itself  and  an 
adjacent  tract.    Numb.  34 : 11 ;  Deut.  3:17;  Josh.  11 : 2 ;  1  Kings 
15:20;  Matt,  14:34;  Mark  6:53;  Luke  5:1.     The  sea  is  "a 
beautiful  sheet  of  limpid  water  lying  in  a  deep  depressed  basin, 
and  shut  in  by  rounded  hills  which  rise  steeply  from  its  margin. 
Most  travellers  are  agreed  in  describing  the  scenery  of  this  lake 
as  tame  and  monotonous,  having  neither  the  romantic  boldness 
of  that  around  the  Dead  sea  nor  the  softer  beauties  of  our  west 
ern  lakes.     On  the  east  the  banks  are  nearly  2,000  feet  high, 
destitute  of  verdure  and  of  foliage,  deeply  furrowed  by  ravines, 
but  quite  flat  along  the  summit ;  forming,  in  fact,  the  supporting 
wall  of  the  table-land  of  Bashan."     Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto. 
The  length  is  given  by  Eobinson  at  "  nearest  thirteen  miles,  by 
a  breadth  of  about  six  miles  across  the  middle."     Its  depression 
below  the  surface  of  the  Mediterranean  is,  according  to  Lynch, 
about  six  hundred  and  fifty  feet.     Symonds,  in  1841,  made  its 
depression  only  three  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet,  which 
Van  de  Velde  thinks  must  be  an  error.     The  lake  abounds  now, 
as  in  ancient  times,  in  fish,  some  species  the  same  as  those  found 
in  the  Nile ;  but  a  bad  government  has  caused  the  fishery,  like 
the  surrounding  soil,  to  be  neglected.     The  last  accounts  repre 
sent  "  one  little  crazy  boat"  as  "the  sole  representative  of  the 
fleets  that  covered  the  lake  in  New  Testament  times." 

10.  On  the  western  shore  of  the  lake  lies  the  plain  of  Gcn- 
<'t,  called  in  the  New  Testament   the  land  of   Gennc*"i-<t 

(Matt.  14:34;   Mark  6:53),  the  marvellous  fertility  of  which 

Josephus  describes  in  such  glowing  terms.     Jewish  War,  3.  10. 

8.     It  is  &  crescent-shaped  plain,  extending  along  the  shore  a 

•distance  of  about  three  geographical  miles,  its  greatest  breadth 


142  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

being  nearly  two.  It  has  the  sea  in  front,  and  is  shut  in  by  a 
semicircle  of  steep  and  rugged  hills.  Its  great  depression  gives 
it  an  almost  Egyptian  climate.  Its  extraordinary*  fertility  re 
mains,  and  its  melons  and  cucumbers  are  still  the  best  and  ear 
liest  in  Palestine.  But  the  same  causes  that  have  brought  des 
olation  to  the  fisheries  of  the  sea  have  made  this  plain  for  the 
most  part  a  neglected  waste,  overgrown  with  tangled  thickets 
of  lote-trees,  oleanders,  dwarf-palms,  and  gigantic  thistles  and 
brambles. 

Joseplius'  description  of  this  little  plain  is  interesting,  as  showing  in  a 
representative  way  what  Palestine  once  was,  and  might  now  be  under  a 
stable  and  righteous  government:  "A  region  of  the  same  name  borders 
the  lake  Gennesar,  admirable  for  its  character  and  beauty:  for  the  soil 
itself,  on  account  of  its  richness,  refuses  nourishment  to  no  plant,  and  all 
varieties  are  accordingly  cultivated  here  by  the  inhabitants,  the  happy 
temperature  of  the  air  suiting  those  of  different  kinds ;  for  nut-bearing 
trees,  which  flourish  in  the  coldest  climate,  thrive  here  in  endless  profu 
sion  ;  then  again  palms,  which  are  nurtured  by  heat,  and  figs  and  olives, 

which  belong  to  a  softer  temperature,  grow  by  their  side It  not 

only  produces,  contrary  to  what  one  might  think,  crops  of  opposite  kinds, 
but  it  preserves  them  also.  Grapes  and  figs,  the  most  noble  of  fruits,  it 
furnishes  ten  months  without  interruption,  and  the  other  fruits  ripening 
by  their  side  all  the  year  round.  For,  in  addition  to  the  genial  character 
of  the  air,  it  is  watered  also  by  a  most  fertilizing  fountain  which  the  natives 
call  Capharnatim.  Some  have  regarded  this  as  a  vein  of  the  Nile,  since  it 
produces  a  fish  similar  to  the  coracinus  of  the  Alexandrine  lake." 

11.  We  add  a  notice  of  the  towns  on  the  border  of  the  lake, 
or  in  its  near  vicinity. 

Tiberias,  the  Tubariyeh  of  the  Arabs,  "lies,"  says  Robinson  (Bib.  Res., 
2,  pp.  380,  381),  "  directly  upon  the  shore,  at  a  point  where  the  heights 
retire  a  little,  leaving  a  narrow  strip,  not  exactly  of  plain,  but  of  undula 
ting  land,  nearly  two  miles  in  length  along  the  lake.  Back  of  this  the 
mountain  ridge  rises  steeply.  The  town  is  situated  near  the  northern  end 
of  this  tract,  in  the  form  of  a  narrow  parallelogram,  about  half  a  mile  long, 
surrounded  towards  the  land  by  a  thick  wall,  once  not  far  from  twenty  feet 
high,  with  towers  at  regular  intervals.  The  city  suffered  terribly  by  the 
earthquake  of  Jan.  1,  1837.  The  walls  were  thrown  down,  the  castle  much 
damaged,  and  very  many  of  the  houses  destroyed.  About  700  persons  oufc 
of  a  population  of  2,500  are  said  to  have  perished.  The  Jews,  who  occupy  . 


PALESTINE.  143 

a  quarter  in  the  middle  of  the  town  nearest  to  the  lake,  were  the  greatest 
sufferers. 

According  to  Josephus  (Antiq.,  18.  2.  3  ;  Jewish  "War,  2.  9.  1),  Tiberias 
was  founded  by  Herod  Antipas,  and  so  named  in  honor  of  the  emperor 
Tiberius.  After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans,  it  became 
the  chief  seat  of  the  Jews.  The  national  council,  which  was  at  first  trans 
ferred  to  Jamnia,  was  removed  hither,  and  here  was  for  several  centuries 
a  celebrated  Rabbinical  school ;  one  of  the  Gamaras,  that  is,  commenta 
ries  to  the  Talmud,  having  been  composed  here  in  the  third  century, 
which,  with  the  Mishnah,  or  text,  is  called  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,  in  dis 
tinction  from  the  Babylonian. 

At  the  southern  end  of  the  strip  of  land  on  which  Tiberias  is  built  are 
the  celebrated  warm  baths,  of  which  Robinson  has  given  an  elaborate 
description.  ''The  taste  of  the  water  is  excessively  salt  and  bitter,  like 
heated  sea- water,"  the  thermometer  indicating  144  degrees  of  Fahrenheit. 
See  in  Bib.  Res.,  2,  pp.  383-385. 

Magdala,  or,  as  the  best  manuscripts  read,  Magadan,  was  certainly  on 
the  west  side  of  the  lake,  not  on  the  east,  as  Eusebius  and  Jerome  place  it. 
For  the  Saviour  came  thither  by  ship  from  the  desert  on  the  east  where  he 
had  fed  the  multitudes,  and  after  an  encounter  with  the  Pharisees,  "he 
left  them,  and  entering  into  the  ship  again,  departed  to  the  other  side." 
Matt.  15  :  32—16  : 4  ;  Mark  8  : 1-13.  Travellers  recognize  this  Magdala  or 
Magadan  in  the  modern  Mejdel,  called  by  Robinson  "a  miserable  little 
Muslim  village. "  It  lies  about  three  miles  above  Tiberias,  on  the  e^dge  of 
the  water,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the  plain  of  Gennesaret.  See  Rob 
inson,  Bib.  Res. ,  2,  note  397  ;  Stanley,  Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  375,  376. 

Dalmanutlia  was  evidently  near  to  Magdala;  for  "the  coasts  of  Mag 
dala  (Matt.  15  :39)  are  equivalent  to  "the  parts  of  Dalmanutha  "  (Mark 
8  : 10).  The  site  of  this  place  is  only  conjectured.  Porter  would  place  it 
about  a  mile  south  of  Magdala,  in  a  narrow  glen,  at  the  mouth  of  which 
"are  some  cultivated  fields  and  gardens,  amid  which,  just  by  the  beach, 
are  several  copious  fountains,  surrounded  by  heavy  ancient  walls  and  the 
ruins  of  a  village." 

Respecting  the  site  of  Capernaum  there  is  much  controversy.  (1.)  Rob 
inson  places  it  at  Klian  Minyeh,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  plain  of 
Gennesaret,  near  which  is  a  fountain  called  Ain-et-Tin ;  and  he  defends 
this  view  at  length.  Bib.  Res. ,  3,  pp.  348-359.  Dr.  Robinson's  view  is 
adopted  by  Porter  (in  Alexander's  Kitto,  art.  Capernaum)  ;  and  Stanley 
(Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  376,  377).  (2.)  "Wilson  (Lands  of  the  Bible, 
2,  pp.  142-149),  Van  de  Velde  (Syria  and  Palestine,  2,  pp.  394-396), 
Thomson  (The  Land  and  the  Book,  2,  pp.  8,  9),  and  others  contend  for 


144  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Tdl  Hum,  three  miles  north  of  Khan  Minyeli,  whore  are  extensive  ruins 
of  walls  and  foundations  standing  on  a  point  of  the  shore  which  projects 
into  the  lake.  (3. )  Three  miles  south  of  Ain-et-Tin  there  is  another  largo 
and  beautiful  fountain  called  Ain-d-MudauvDarah,  that  is,  "  Round  Foun 
tain."  It  rises  immediately  at  the  foot  of  the  western  line  of  hills,  a  mile 
and  a  half  back  of  the  lake,  to  which  it  sends  a  considerable  stream,  inter 
secting  the  plain  of  Gennesaret  about  the  middle.  Of  this  Grove  says  cor 
rectly  (in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.),  that  it  answers  better  to  Josephus'  account 
than  a  spring  so  close  to  the  shore  and  so  near  one  end  of  the  district  as 
is  Aiii-et-Tin.  The  objection  raised  against  this  fountain  by  Robinson 
(Bib.  Res.,  3,  p.  3,51),  on  the  ground  that  the  fountain  of  Capernaum 
described  by  Josephus  "was  held  to  be  a  vein  of  the  Nile,  because  it  pro 
duces  a  fish  like  the  coracinus  of  that  river,"  while  this  fountain,  as  lie 
affirms,  "  could  neither  itself  have  in  it  fish  fit  for  use,  nor  could  fish  of  any 
size  pass  between  it  and  the  lake,"  is  turned  into  a  strong  argument  in  its 
favor  by  Tristram's  discovery  that  this  very  fish  "does  abound  to  a 
remarkable  degree  in  the  Round  Fountain  to  this  day.  As  I  mentioned 
above,  we  obtained  specimens  a  yard  long,  and  some  of  them  are  deposited 
in  the  British  Museum."  Land  of  Israel,  p.  442.  So  far  as  our  present 
information  extends,  the  Round  Fountain  has  the  strongest  claims  to  be 
considered  the  Fountain  of  Capharnaum  mentioned  by  Josephus. 

In  denouncing  woe  upon  Capernaum,  our  Saviour  named  also  CJiorazhi 
and  B<'t//*iii/,t.  Matt.  11  :  20-24  ;  Luke  10  : 13-15.  The  situation  of  those 
places  is  unknown  further  than  that  they  were  in  the  near  neighborhood 
of  Capernaum,  and  that  the  latter  (the  western  Bothsaida  ;  for  there  was 
another  east  of  the  Jordan)  was  in  the  plain  of  Gennesaret.  Mark  G  :  45, 
compared  with  53.  Robinson  places  this  Bothsaida  at  Ain-et-TtV>i(/lt(th,  a 
short  distance  north  of  Khan  Minyeli.  Bib.  Res.,  3,  p.  359.  Cborazin 
he  would  place  at  Tell  Hum.  The  woes  denounced  by  the  Saviour  on  Cho- 
raziu,  Bethsaida,  and  Capernaum  have  been  so  terribly  fulfilled  that,  as 
Grove  remarks  (in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  art.  Capernaum),  it  is  impossible 
to  say  which  of  these  ruins  represents  Capernaum,  which  Chorazin,  or 
which  Bethsaida. 

The  name  Bethsaida  signifies  j>Jnce  offish.  We  need  not  be  surprised, 
therefore,  to  find  that  there  was  another  Bethsaida  east  of  the  Jordan,  in 
lower  Gaulonitis,  called  also  Jiilins.  See  Josephus,  Jewish  War,  2.  9.  1 ; 
3.  10.  7.  It  is  this  Bethsaida  to  \vhicli  reference  is  made  Luke  9  : 10,  where 
it  is  said  that  the  Saviour  took  the  disciples  "aside  privately  into  a  dosort 
place  belonging  to  the  city  called  Bethsaida."  It  was  here  in  the  desert 
region  east  of  the  Jordan  and  <>fi  tho  north  side  of  the  lake  that  the  Sav 
iour  miraculously  fed  the  multitudes,  as  all  the  incidents  of  the  narrative 
show.  The  ruins  of  this  eastern  Bethsaida  lie  on  a  tell  or  hill  a  short  dis 
tance  north  of  the  sea  of  Galilee,  on  the  borders  of  the  Batihah,  as  the 


PALESTINE.  145 

plain  is  called  which  borders  the  Jordan  at  its  entrance  into  the  sea  of 
Galilee.     See  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  2,  pp.  410,  411. 

A  remarkable  incident  connected  with  the  sea  of  Galilee  is  the  healing 
of  the  demoniacs,  and  in  connection  with  this,  the  destruction  of  the  herd 
of  swine.  Matt.  8  :  28-34  ;  Mark  5  : 1-17  ;  Luke  8  :  26-37.  The  event 
occurred  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake,  but  the  name  of  the  place  con 
nected  with  it  is  uncertain,  the  manuscripts  varying,  as  is  well  known, 
between  Gadarenes  and  Gerasenes,  while  in  Matthew  some  copies  have 
Gergesenes.  If  Gadarenes  be  the  true  reading,  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
respect  to  the  place.  Gadara,  the  modern  Um  Keis,  was  a  strong  city  of 
Peraea,  standing,  according  to  Porter,  "on  the  northern  end  of  the  moun 
tains  of  Gilead,  five  miles  east  of  the  river  Jordan,  and  about  six  from  the 
sea  of  Galilee,"  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  and  it  may  well  have  given  its 
name  to  the  country  adjacent  to  the  lake.  If,  with  the  majority  of  mod 
ern  textual  critics,  we  adopt  the  reading  Gerasenes,  the  reference  cannot 
well  be  to  the  famous  city  Gerasa,  on  the  eastern  boundary  of  Peraea, 
some  thirty-five  miles  southeast  of  the  sea  of  Galilee.  More  probable  is 
the  hypothesis  of  another  Gerasa,  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  lake.  Thom 
son  (The  Land  and  the  Book,  2,  pp.  34,  35)  thinks  he  has  discovered  the 
remains  of  the  Gergesa  noticed  by  Origen  at  a  ruin  called  by  the  Arabs 
Kersa  or  Gersa,  east  of  the  lake,  only  a  few  rods  from  the  shore,  with  an 
immense  mountain  rising  above  it,  in  which  are  ancient  tombs. 

Before  leaving  the  sea  of  Galilee,  we  pause  a  few  moments  to  notice  a 
wild  and  romantic  glen  with  perpendicular  walls,  abounding  in  calcareous 
caverns,  which  runs  down  from  the  west  to  the  plain  of  Mejdel  on  the 
shore  of  the  lake.  The  valley  bears  the  name  of  Wady-el-Hamam,  that  is, 
Pigeon-glen,  from  the  immense  flocks  of  pigeons  that  nestle  among  its 
clefts,  furnishing  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  bridegroom's  words  (Cant. 
2  : 14):  "  O  my  dove,  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  in  the  hiding-places  of  the 
cliff."  The  caverns,  according  to  Burckhardt,  have  been  enlarged,  and 
united  by  artificial  passages  cut  in  the  rock,  and  protected  against  assault 
by  walls  built  across  the  natural  openings.  The  whole  might  afford  refuge 
to  about  six  hundred  men.  Robinson  has  satisfactorily  identified  this 
place  with  the  Arbela  of  Josephus,  a  famous  resort  of  robbers.  Situated 
in  the  midst  of  perpendicular  cliffs,  these  caverns  seemed  impregnable ; 
but  Herod  the  Great  caused  parties  of  soldiers  to  be  let  down  in  large 
boxes  suspended  by  chains  from  above,  and.  provided  with  long  hooks,  by 
means  of  which  they  dragged  out  the  robbers  and  dashed  them  down  the 
precipice.  This  Arbela,  as  Robinson  suggests,  may  well  be  regarded  as 
the  Beth-arbel  of  Hosea  (chap.  10  :14),  in  reference  to  which  the  prophet 
says:  "All  thy  fortresses  shall  be* spoiled,  as  Shalman  spoiled  Bcth-urbcl 


146  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

in  the  day  of  battle  :  the  mother  was  dashed  in  pieces  upon  her  children." 
See  in  Robinson's  Bib.  Res.,  2,  pp.  398,  399. 

12.  According  to  Robinson  (in  Phys.  Geog.,  pp.  73,  74)  the 
whole  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea,  from  the  southern 
base  of  Hermon  to  the  Scorpion  cliffs  (Akrabbim),  some  eight 
miles  south  of  the  Dead  sea,  is  called  d-  Ghor,  the  valley  •  the 
term  Ghor  being  applied  by  the  Arabs  to  "  a  long  valley  or  low 
plain  between  mountains."  Farther  south  this  valley,  which,  as 
already  remarked,  extends  to  the  Ked  sea,  retains  its  ancient 
Hebrew  name  Aralah,  waste,  or  desert  tract.  The  Greeks  and 
Romans  called  the  Ghor  by  the  similar  name  Aulon.  The  He 
brew  name  of  this  great  valley  in  its  whole  extent  is  Aralah, 
always  with  the  article.  In  the  Old  Testament,  the  Aralah  is  a 
definite  geographical  term,  but  it  is  unfortunately  confounded  in 
our  version  with  other  terms,  being  customarily  -rendered  by 
the  indefinite  words  the  plain. 

Besides  the  general  term  Aralah,  other  names  are  applied  to 
particular  parts  of  this  valley.  Of  these,  the  only  one  that 
needs  mention  in  the  present  connection  is  kikkar,  circuit,  and 
with  the  addition  of  the  river,  the  circuit  of  Jordan,  applied  to 
the  low  tract  or  plain  along  the  river,  and  which,  Robinson 
remarks  (Phys.  Geog.,  p.  80),  "would  seem  to  be  as  compre 
hensive  perhaps  as  the  Ghor  itself."  If,  as  is  commonly  assumed, 
the  cities  of  the  plain  occupied  the  site  of  the  southern  bay  of 
the  Dead  sea,  this  remark  is  correct.  See  below,  No.  35. 

The  word  kikkar  with  the  article  occurs  in  the  following  passages, 
in  all  of  which  it  is  rendered  in  our  version  the  plain,  viz.:  Gen.  13:10, 
11,  12  ;  19:17,  25,  28,  29  ;  Deut.  34:3  ;  2  Sam.  18:23  ;  Neh.  3:22  ;  1  Kings 
7:46 ;  2  Chron.  4:17.  In  the  last  two  of  the  above  passages  the  term  is 
applied  to  the  region  midway  between  the  sea  of  Galilee  and  the  Dead 
sea,  for  here  Succoth  was  situated.  See  below,  No.  22. 

13;  The  length  of  the  Ghor  or  general  valley  of  the  Jordan, 
from  the  sea  of  Galilee  to  the  Bead  sea,  is,  according  to  Robin 
son  (Phys.  Geog.,  p.  80),  about  sixty-five  English  miles.  The 
difference  of  level  between  the  two  lakes  is  given  by  Lynch  at 


PALESTINE.  147 

663.4  feet,  making  a  descent  of  over  ten  feet  for  every  English 
mile.  The  width  of  the  Ghor  varies  from  about  six  miles  at  its 
northern  end  to  ten  or  twelve  in  the  latitude  of  Jericho,  where 
the  mountains  retire,  especially  on  the  western  side.  Its  aver 
age  width  is  about  eight  miles.  It  is  shut  in  on  both  sides  by 
steep  and  rugged  ridges,  which  send  out  into  it  here  and  there 
rocky  spurs  terminating  in  bluffs.  According  to  Robinson,  on 
"  the  western  wall  is  a  series  of  irregular  and  precipitous  cliffs, 
ranging  from  eight  hundred  to  twelve  hundred  feet  in  height, 
everywhere  naked  and  desolate."  The  mountains  on  the  east 
ern  side  are  still  higher.  About  one-third  of  the  way  from  the 
Dead  sea  to  the  sea  of  Galilee  the  frowning  ridge  called  Kurn 
Surtabeh  stretches  in  a  southeasterly  direction  far  into  the  Ghor, 
dividing  it  into  two  parts,  the  upper  and  the  lower  Ghor.  There 
seems  to  be  here  a  sudden  depression  of  the  bed  of  the  Jordan — 
the  "break-down"  noticed  by- Lynch  (Official  Report,  p.  2'J), 
and  corresponding  apparently  to  the  similar  break-down  at  the 
Scorpion  cliffs,  south  of  the  Dead  sea,  which  constitutes  the 
dividing-line  between  the  GJtor  and  the  higher  level  of  the 
AmbaJi.  See  below,  No.  25.  Above  this  break-down  the  Ghor 
is  for  the  most  part  well  watered  and  fertile ;  below  it  becomes 
a  parched  desert. 

From  the  lake  of  Tiberias  to  Sakut,  regarded  by  him  as  the  ancient 
Succoth,  "the  long  low  plain  of  the  Ghor,"  says  Robinson  (Phys.  Geog., 
pp.  78,  79),  "besides  the  Jordan  meandering  through  it,  is  full  of  foun 
tains  and  rivulets,  and  bears  in  a  high  degree  the  character  of  a  well-wa 
tered  and  most  fertile  region."  Below  Sakut  to  the  promontory  el-Makh- 
rud  the  valley  is  more  or  less  contracted.  Then  follows,  at  the  opening  of 
wady  Faria,  a  luxuriant  and  fertile  tract  extending  to  the  base  of  Kurn 
Surtabeh.  Of  the  same  region  Porter  says  (in  Alexander's  Kitto) :  "Small 
portions  are  cultivated  around  fountains  and  along  the  banks  of  streamlets, 
where  irrigation  is  easy  ;  but  all  the  rest  is  a  wilderness,  in  spring  covered 
with  rank  grass  and  thistles,  but  in  summer  parched  and  bare. "  The  two 
accounts  are  not  contradictory,  but  supplementary  to  each  other  ;  the  one 
describing  the  natural  capabilities  of  the  soil,  the  other  its  actual  condition 
of  neglect.  Below  Kurn  Surtabeh  the  southern  section  known  as  the  plain 
of  Jericho  is  covered  with  a  white  nitrous  crust,  and  is,  except  at  the  oasis 
of  Jericho  and  along  the  margin  of  the  river,  entirely  desolate. 


148  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

14.  "Within  the  general  valley  of  the  Ghor  lies  the  inner  and 
lower  valley,  through  which  the  Jordan  pursues  its  winding 
course.     The  general  valley  is  in  fact  the  upper  terrace,  and 
this  inner  valley  the  lower.     The  breadth  of  this  lower  valley 
varies,  according  to  Kobinson,  "  from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or 
perhaps  less  in  some  parts,  to  half  a  mile  in  others."     The 
ascent  from  the  inner  to  the  outer  valley  varies  from  forty  feet 
to  a  hundred  and  fifty  or  more.     The  inner  valley,  like  the  outer, 
pursues  a  direct  course  from  north  to  south.     But  within  it  the 
Jordan  pursues  an  exceedingly  tortuous  course.     Although  the 
distance  from  the  sea  of  Galilee  to  the  Dead  sea  is  only  about 
sixty-five  English  miles,  in  a  straight  line,  Lynch  estimates  the 
length  of  the  river,  if  one  follow  its  windings  in  this  part  of  its 
course,  at  not  less  than  two  hundred  miles.     Owing  to  its  rapid 
descent,  it  is  broken  by  a  series  of  falls  and  rapids  which  make 
its  navigation  practically  impossible.     A  good  idea  of  this  won 
derful  river  will  be  gained  by  the  perusal  of  Lynch' s  account 
of  his  perilous  voyage  from  the. upper  to  the  lower  sea  "down 
seven  threatening  rapids,  besides  a  great  many  of  lesser  mag 
nitude." 

A  line  of  trees,  shrubs,  and  green  herbage  borders  the  Jor 
dan  on  each  bank,  the  breadth  of  which  is  regulated  by  the 
extent  to  which  the  water  penetrates  the  soil.  In  some  places 
it  becomes  a  dense  jungle  of  tamarisks,  willows,  and  other  trees, 
intermingled  with  cane-brakes. 

15.  The  annual  rise  of  the  Jordan  is  owing  to  the  melting  of 
the  snows  on  Hermon,  in  consequence  of  which  "  Jordan  over- 
floweth  all  his  banks  all  the  time  of  harvest"  (Josh.  3:15),  or, 
as  we  may  render  the  Hebrew,  "Jordan  is  full  upon  all  its 
banks;"  that  is,  fills  them  to  the  brim.     At  the  present  day  the 
river  does  not  overflow  even  the  inner  valley  after  the  manner 
of  the  Nile;  but  it  fills  up  its  banks  completely,  so  as  to  over 
flow  them  in  depressed  places,  but  not  so  as  to  inundate  its 
proper  valley.     In  the  judgment  of  Kobinson,  the  lakes  Huleh 
and  Gennesaret  operate  as  regulators  to  prevent  sudden  and 
violent  inundations. 


PALESTINE.  149 

"tflie  swelling  of  Jordan,"  spoken  of  in  our  version  (Jer.  12:5  ;  49:19; 
50:44),  may  be  better  rendered  the  pride  of  Jordan,  as  in  Zech.  11:3,  where 
the  Hebrew  words  are  the  same.  The  pride  of  Jordan  or  the  glory  of 
Jordan  is  its  luxuriant  thickets  and  cane-brakes,  in  olden  times  the  chosen 
lair  of  the  lion,  whence  he  came  up  (Jer.  49:19;  50:44)  in  search  of  prey, 
and  over  the  desolation  of  which  he  roared  (Zech.  11:3).  These  also  fur 
nish  an  image  of  imminent  danger  (Jer.  12:5):  "What  wilt  thou  do  in  the 
pride  of  Jordan  ?"  that  is,  entangled  in  its  mazes  among  beasts  of  prey. 

16.  About  six  miles  below  the  lake  is  a  Saracenic  bridge 
built  of  volcanic  rocks  called  Jisr  el-Mejdmia.     It  lies  on  an  old 
caravan  route  from  Damascus  to  Egypt.     About  half  a  mile 
below  the  lake  are  the  ruins  of  an  old  Roman  bridge.     No  other 
bridge  exists  between  the  sea  of  Galilee  and  the  Dead  sea,  nor 
any  boat  for  transportation.     During  summer,  when  the  river 
is  low,  it  is  fordable  in  many  places ;  but  in  high  water  the  fords 
are  few,  and  known  only  to  the  natives. 

There  is  a  ford  by  the  ruins  of  the  Roman  bridge,  a  short  distance 
below  the  sea  of  Galilee.  The  river  is  here  some  twenty- five  or  thirty 
yards  wide,  with  a  swift  current  and  many  rapids.  Opposite  to  Beisan, 
the  ancient  Beth-shean  or  Beth-shan,  are  three  fording-places  near  each 
other.  The  river  here  spreads  itself  to  the  width  of  about  forty-five  yards. 
Eobinson  says  that  in  May,  1852,  the  water  came  up  to  the  horses'  sides. 
Lowrer  down,  not  far  north  of  Sakut,  is  another  important  ford.  If  this 
be  the  ancient  Succoth,  it  is  the  place  where  Jacob,  on  his  return  from 
Padan-aram,  tarried  awhile,  and  where  he  crossed  the  river  with  his  flocks 
and  herds,  on  his  way  to  Shechem.  Gen.  33:17,  18.  Over  against  the 
mouth  of  Wady  Faria  is  another  ford,  and  just  above  it  are  the  remains  of 
another  Eoman  bridge  over  a  channel  now  dry.  Below  Kurn  Surtabeh 
are  three  or  four  fords ;  but  at  these,  when  the  river  is  f ull,  the  Arabs  are 
compelled  to  swim  their  horses.  The  so-called  ford  el-Helu,  three  miles 
above  the  Dead  sea,  is  never  passed  without  swimming.  Eobinson  describes 
the  stream  here,  at  the  time  of  high  water  in  May,  as  strong  and  swift, 
about  forty  yards  wide,  with  a  probable  depth  of  ten  or  twelve  feet.  The 
water  was  of  a  clayey  color,  but  sweet  and  pleasant  to  the  taste.  Opposite 
to  Jericho,  near  the  ruined  convent  of  St.  John,  is  the  place  where  the 
Latin  pilgrims  bathe.  The  bathing-place  of  the  Greek  pilgrims  is  two  or 
three  miles  below.  Each  party  believes  that  its  place  is  that  where  our 
Lord  was  baptized.  See  further  in  Eobinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  pp.  156-161. 

17.  The  Jordan  receives  its  largest  and  most  important  trib 
utaries  from  the  east.    Of  these  the  largest  is  the  Hieromax,  the 


150  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

modern  Yannu!?,  which  enters  the  Jordan  about  five  miles 
below  the  sea  of  Galilee.  In  its  lower  part  it  flows  through  a 
wild  glen,  the  sides  of  which  are  rugged  cliffs  of  basalt,  in  sonic 
places  more  than  a  hundred  feet  in  height.  The  next  perma 
nent  stream  is  the  Jabbok  of  Scripture,  the  modern  Nalir  ez- 
Zerka,  that  is,  the  river  Zerka.  It  enters  the  Jordan  about  mid 
way  between  the  upper  and  the  lower  lakes.  It  was  over  the 
ford  of  this  river  that  Jacob  passed  with  his  family  on  his  return 
from  Padan-aram,  and  here  he  wrestled  till  morning  dawn  with 
the  Angel  of  the  covenant.  Gen.  32  :  22-32.  The  only  peren 
nial  stream  on  the  west  is  the  Nalcr  d-Jalud,  which  flows  down 
the  valley  of  Jezreel  from  the  great  fountain  described  above 
(Chap.  2,  No.  5).  The  ravines  on  both  sides  send  down  copious 
torrents  during  the  rainy  season. 

18.  Owing  to  its  deep  depression,  the  Ghor  has  an  Egyptian 
climate,  excessively  hot,  and  in  the  summer  months  unhealthy, 
especially  for  strangers.  In  the  vicinity  of  Jericho  winter  is 
unknown.  The  wheat  harvest  here  is  completed  about  the  mid 
dle  of  May,  while  the  wheat-fields  in  the  mountainous  region 
are  still  green.  Here  also  flourished  in  ancient  times  the  palm, 
the  balsam-tree,  the  sugar-cane,  and  other  trees  and  plants 
peculiar  to  tropical  regions.  Wherever  there  is  water,  the  soil 
produces  the  most  abundant  harvests. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  May  Robinson  and  Smith  found  the  thermometer 
in  their  tent  standing  at  two  o'clock  at  one  hundred  and  two  degrees; 
while  another,  hanging  in  the  shade  of  a  fig-tree,  stood  at  ninety-one 
degrees.  In  the  southern  part  of  the  Ghor  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Dead 
sea  grows  the  osher  of  the  Arabs,  a  species  of  milkweed,  found  in  abun 
dance  in  Upper  Egypt,  Nubia,  Arabia  Felix,  and  other  tropical  countries. 
"The  fruit,"  says  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  523),  ''greatly  resembles 
externally  a  large  smooth  apple  or  orange,  hanging  in  clusters  of  three  or 
four  together,  and  when  ripe,  of  a  yellow  color.  It  was  now  fair  and  deli 
cious  to  the  eye,  and  soft  to  the  touch ;  but  on  being  pressed  or  struck,  it 
explodes  with  a  puff,  like  a  bladder  or  puff-ball,  leaving  in  the  hand  only 
the  shreds  of  the  thin  rind  and  a  few  fibres.  It  is  indeed  filled  chiefly 
with  air,  like  a  bladder,  which  gives  it  ite  round  form  ;  while  in  the  centre 
a  small  slender  pod  runs  through  it  from  the  stem,  and  is  connected  by 
thin  filaments  with  the  rind.  The  pod  contains  a  small  quantity  of  silk 


PALESTINE.  151 

•with  seeds,  precisely  like  the  pod  of  the  silk-weed,  though  very  much 
smaller,  being  indeed  scarcely  the  tenth  part  as  large.  The  Arabs  collect 
the  silk,  and  twist  it  into  matches  for  their  guns,  preferring  it  to  the  com 
mon  match,  because  it  requires  no  sulphur  to  render  it  combustible." 
Kobiuson  and  others  recognize  in  this  fruit  the  celebrated  apples  of-  Sodom, 
which  Josephus  (Jewish  War,  4.  8.  4)  describes  as  producing  ashes  within ; 
fruits  "which  have  a  color  like  that  of  edible  fruits,  but  when  plucked  with 
the  hands  are  dissolved  into  smoke  and  ashes."  Another  ^>lant  growing 
abundantly  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jericho  is  the  Leimun  Lut,  that  is,  Lot's 
lemon,  a  species  of  solanum,  which  attains  a  height  of  from  three  to  five 
feet,  and  bears  berries  an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter,  respect 
ing  which,  says  Hitter  (Geog.  Pal.,  3.  21),  there  is  a  tradition  that  they 
were  once  the  finest  of  lemons,  but  were  changed  by  the  curse  pronounced 
upon  them  by  Lot  to  this  bitter  fruit. 

19.  The  Jordan,  like  the  covenant  people  through  whose 
territory  it  flows,  is  alone  in  its  character  among  all  the  rivers 
of  the  world.  Bursting  at  once  out  of  the  base  of  Lebanon,  it 
pursues  its  impetuous  course  through  the  lakes  of  Huleh  and 
Tiberias,  down  the  sunken  valley  of  the  Ghor  far  below  the  level 
of  the  ocean,  shut  in  on  each  side  by  ranges  of  rugged  cliffs,  till 
its  sweet  waters  are  swallowed  up  in  the  deep  caldron  of  the 
Dead  sea,  where  no  living  thing  was  ever  found.  Throughout 
its  entire  course,  its  banks  are  enlivened  by  the  presence  of  no 
city.  In  solitude  it  pursues  its  winding  path,  foaming,  roaring, 
and  dashing  over  the  rapids  that  lie  in  its  way,  only  to  lose  itself 

in  the  awful  desolation  of  the  Dead  sea. 

• 

Unique  in  its  character,  it  is  unique  in  its  history  also.  With 
its  waters  are  connected  some  of  the  most  stupendous  events  in 
sacred  history.  "What  ailed  thee,"  asks  the  psalmist,  "thou 
Jordan,  that  thou  wast  driven  back?"  At  the  time  of  wheat 
harvest,  when  this  impetuous  stream  filled  up  all  its  banks  to 
the  brim,  its  waters,  arrested  by  the  invisible  hand  of  Jehovah, 
"  rose  up  upon  a  heap  very  far  from  the  city  of  Adam  that  is 
beside  Zaretan;  and  those  that  came  down  toward  the  sea  of 
the  plain,  even  the  salt  sea,  failed  and  were  cut  off;  and  the 
people  passed  over  right  against  Jericho."  Josh.  3  : 16.  The 
same  river  was  twice  miraculously  divided  at  a  later  day  to 
make  a  passage  for  the  prophets  Elijah  and  Elisha.  2  Kings 


152  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

2  : 8,  14.  Li  the  same  Jordan  Naaman  the  Syrian  was  sent  to 
bathe,  that  he  might  be  healed  of  his  leprosy ;  and  it  was  while 
the  sons  of  the  prophets  were  taking  every  man  a  beam  from 
the  trees  that  lined  its  banks  that  Elisha  caused  the  iron  to 
swim  in  its  waters.  2  Kings  6:5-7.  John  the  Baptist,  who 
came  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elijah,  baptized  in  the  same  river ; 
here  the  Saviour  himself  was  baptized,  and  announced  by  a 
voice  from  heaven  as  God's  beloved  Son  (Matt.  3  : 13-17;  Mark 
1 :  9-11 ;  Luke  3  : 21,  22) ;  and  in  the  adjacent  wilderness  lay  the 
scene  of  his  temptation. 

20.  Of  the  few  cities  belonging  to  the  Ghor,  the  most  cele 
brated  was  Jericho.  It  lay  on  the  western  border  of  the  Ghor, 
six  miles  from  the  Jordan,  under  the  brow  of  the  rugged  moun 
tain  called  Quarantana,  where  the  monkish  legends  place  the 
scene  of  the  Saviour's  temptation.  Its  modern  representative 
is  the  miserable  and  filthy  village  called  Rilia,  consisting  of  a 
collection  of  hovels, which  "are  merely  four  walls  of  stones  taken 
from  ancient  ruins,  and  loosely  thrown  together,  with  flat  roofs 
of  cornstalks  or  brushwood  spread  over  with  gravel.  Robinson, 
Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  552.  It  lies  on  the  northern  bank  of  Wady 
Kelt  (conjectured  to  be  the  brook  Cherith  of  the  Old  Testament, 
1  Kings  17  : 5,  7).  The  Jericho  of  Joshua's  day  is  supposed  to 
have  lain  about  a  mile  and  a  half  northwest  of  Riha,  near  the 
fountain  called  Ain-es-Sultdn,  Fountain  of  the  Sultan,  and  also 
Elisha  s  Fountain,  as  being  without  doubt  the  fountain  whose 
waters  were  healed  by  him.  2  Kings  2  : 19-22.  The  Jericho 
of  our  Saviour's  time,  which  had  been  beautified  and  adorned 
with  palaces  by  Herod  the  Great  (Josephus,  Antiq.,  16.  5.  .2 ; 
Jewish  War,  1.  21.  4),  seems  to  have  lain  about  the  same  dis 
tance  from  the  modern  Riha,  but  farther  south,  where  the  great 
Wady  Kelt  breaks  through  the  mountains  into  the  plain,  conse 
quently  on  the  road  from  this  part  of  the  plain  up  to  Jerusalem, 
which  runs,  and  must  always  have  run,  up  the  gorge  of  Wady 
Kelt,  that  it  may  reach  the  high  ground  above.  See  Robinson, 
Bib.  Res.,  1,  pp.  544-569;  Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto,  art. 
Jericho. 


PALESTINE.  153 

After  the  destruction  of  Jericho  in  Joshua's  day,  the  city 
lay  desolate  for  more. than  five  centuries,  when  the  curse  pro 
nounced  by  Joshua  was  fulfilled  on  Hiel  its  builder.  Josh. 
6  :  26  compared  with  1  Kings  16  :  34.  This  Jericho  was  hon 
ored  by  the  presence  of  the  prophets  Elijah  and  Elisha,  and 
here  was  a  school  of  the  prophets.  2  Kings  2:4,  5,  18-22 ; 
6  : 1-7.  Jericho  appears  again  in  the  New  Testament,  in  con 
nection  with  the  healing  of  the  two  blind  men  and  the  call  of 
Zaccheus.  Matt.  20:29-34;  Mark  10:46-52;  Luke  18:35— 
19 : 10.  The  distance  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho  is  given  by 
Josephus  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  stadia,  that  is,  eighteen  and 
three  quarters  Roman  miles,  or  about  seventeen  English  miles. 
Within  this  short  distance  there  is  the  immense  descent  of  more 
than  three  thousand  feet.  The  road,  moreover,  which  leads 
through  a  succession  of  naked  chalky  hills,  is  infested  now,  as  it 
was  in  ancient  days,  by  bands  of  robbers.  Here  therefore  the 
Saviour  places,  very  appropriately,  the  scene  of  the  parable  of 
the  good  Samaritan.  Luke  10  :  30-37. 

21.  The  oasis  of  Jericho  is  produced  by  the  abundant  foun 
tains  in  its  vicinity.  Of  these,  Ain-es- Sultan  lies  about  two  miles 
northwest  of  the  modern  Eiha ;  and,  as  remarked  above,  very- 
near  the  site  of  the  primitive  Jericho.  It  is  a  large  and  beauti 
ful  fountain  of  sweet  and  pleasant  water,  bursting  forth  at  the 
eastern  foot  of  a  high  double  mound  at  the  southeastern  end  of 
Mount  Quarantana.  "It  is,"  says  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  1,  p. 
554),  "the  only  one  near  Jericho,  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
regard  it  as  the  scene  of  Elisha's  miracle."  Following  up  the 
base  of  Quarantana  about  an  hour  in  a  north-northwesterly 
direction,  we  come  to  the  still  larger  fountain  of  Duk.  The 
water  of  these  fountains  was  formerly  distributed  over  the  plain 
by  means  of  aqueducts,  the  ruins  of  which  are  still  visible.  The 
tropical  heat  of  the  climate  and  the  exuberant  fertility  of  the 
soil  wherever  water  is  supplied  made  this  tract  very  celebrated 
in  ancient  days.  Josephus  is  lavish  in  the  praise  which  he 
bestows  on  this  oasis,  which  he  calls  "a  divine  region."  After 
describing  the  miracle  of  Elisha  in  healing  the  fountain,  he  says 

7* 


154  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

(Jewish  War,  4.  8.  3)  that  it  waters  a  space  of  seventy  stadia  in 
length  and  twenty  in  breadth  (in  English  measurement,  about 
eight  miles  by  two  miles  and  one-third)  abounding  in  very  pleas 
ant  gardens  and  many  kinds  of  palms  differing  in  their  names 
and  flavor.  Of  these  the  richest  kinds,  he  tells  us,  yield,  when 
their  fruit  is  pressed,  an  abundant  supply  of  honey,  not  much 
inferior  to  that  of  bees,  which  latter  also  abounds  in  the  region. 
Here,  moreover,  he  proceeds  to  say,  are  produced  the  opobal- 
samum,  cypros,  and  myrobalanum.  Of  these  the  opobalsamum 
is  the  true  balm  of  Gilead,  a  resinous  exudation  from  a  small 
tree  celebrated  for  its  healing  qualities;  the  cypros  is  the  el- 
Henna  of  the  Arabs  and  the  "  camphire"  of  our  version  (Cant. 
1 : 14;  4  : 13),  a  shrub  or  low  tree  with  fragrant  whitish  flowers 
growing  in  clusters  like  grapes;  and  the  myrobalanum  is  the 
zukkum  of  the  natives,  a  thorny  tree  with  large  olive-like  fruit, 
from  which  the  false  balm  of  Gilead,  a  sort  of  oil,  is  extracted, 
and  sold  to  the  pilgrims  as  the  genuine  article.  Tristram,  Land 
of  Israel,  pp.  202,  203;  Eobinson,  Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  560.  Such 
was  this  region  in  the  days  of  Josephus.  From  the  abundance 
of  palms  in  its  vicinity,  Jericho  was  called  "  the  city  of  palni- 
trees."  Deut.  34:  3;  Judg.  1 :16;  3  : 13;  2  Chron.  28:15.  Jose-, 
phus  describes  its  palms  as  many  and  beautiful,  and  speaks  of 
palm-plantations  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan  also,  which  he 
describes  as  more  flourishing  and  fruitful  than  those  at  a  dis 
tance  from  the  river.  Jewish  War,  4.  8.  2. 

But  the  double  curse  of  a  bad  government  and  an  indolent, 
sickly  population  has  turned  this  fruitful  tract  in  great  measure 
into  a  waste.  The  fountains  remain,  and  with  them  the  exu 
berant  fertility  of  the  soil.  "Maize  is  here,"  says  Robinson, 
"  a  biennial  plant,  yielding  a  crop  for  two  successive  years  from 
the  same  roots."  The  soil  yields  luxuriant  crops  of  grain ;  but 
the  inhabitants  are  too  indolent  to  cultivate  it  themselves,  leav 
ing  this  work  to  the  mountaineers,  who  sow  and  reap  upon 
shares.  The  groves  of  palm  have  disappeared,  one  solitary 
tree  alone  lingering  in  all  the  plain ;  the  true  balm  of  Gilead  is 
no  more  found  here;  the  el-Henna  also,  and  even  the  sycamore- 


PALESTINE.  155 

trees,  have  retired  from  Jericho ;  and  honey,  if  found  at  all,  is 
now  comparatively  rare.     See  Kobinson  as  above,  p.  559. 

Respecting  the  culture  of  the  sugar-cane  and  the  remnants  of  sugar- 
mills  in  this  region,  see  Robinson,  2,  pp.  561,  562. 

22.  We  add  a  brief  notice  of  some  other  places  in  the  Jor 
dan  valley. 

Gilgal,  the  place  where  the  Israelites  first  encamped  after  crossing  the 
Jordan  (Josh.  chap.  5),  is  described  by  Josephus  as  fifty  stadia  from  the 
Jordan  and  ten  from  Jericho,  which  latter  city  he  places,  as  we  have  seen, 
sixty  stadia  from  the  Jordan.  Antiq.,  5.  1.  4.  With  Josephus  Jerome's 
description  (Onomasticon,  art.  Galgala)  agrees.  It  must  then  have  been 
at  or  near  the  modern  village  of  Riha,  This  Gilgal  must  be  carefully  dis 
tinguished  from  the  Gilgal  in  the  mountains  whence  Elijah  and  Elisha 
went  doicn  to  Beth-el.  See  above,  Chap.  2,  No.  21. .  In  the  latter  days  of 
the  Israelitish  kingdom  idolatrous  rites  were  celebrated  here,  as  at  the 
other  holy  places  of  Canaan,  for  which  the  desolating  judgments  of  God 
were  denounced  upon  the  place.  Hosea  4 : 15  ;  Amos  4:4;  5:5. 

In  the  ruins  called  Fiisail,  where  the  wady  Fusail  breaks  through  the 
western  mountains  into  the  Ghor,"  some  ten  or  eleven  miles  north  of  Jeri 
cho,  we  recognize  the  site  of  Pliasaelis,  a  city  built  by  Herod  the  Great 
(Josephus,  Autiq.,  16.  5.  2),  where  are  foundations  of  houses,  and  of  walls 
perhaps  for  gardens,  with  remains  of  conduits.  See  Robinson,  3,  p.  293. 
Here  Van  de  Velde  (2,  p.  310)  places  the  brook  Cherith.  But  Porter  (in  Alex 
ander's  Kitto)  adopts  Robinson's  suggestion,  that  the  brook  Cherith  is  the 
modern  Wady  Kelt,  which  opens  from  the  mountains  directly  west  of  Jeri 
cho.  ' '  No  spot, "  he  says,  ' '  in  Palestine  is  better  fitted  to  afford  a  secure 
asylum  to  the  persecuted  than  Wady  el-Kelt."  "The  Kelt  is  one  of  the 
wildest  ravines  in  this  wild  region.  In  some  places  it  is  not  less  than  five 
hundred  feet  deep,  and  just  wide  enough  at  the  bottom  to  give  passage  to 
a  streamlet  (1  Kings  17 : 6)  like  a  silver  thread,  and  to  afford  space  for  its 
narrow  fringe  of  oleanders.  The  banks  are  almost  sheer  precipices  of 
naked  limestone,  and  here  and  there  pierced  with  the  dark  openings  of 
caves  and  grottoes,  in  some  one  of  which  probably  Elijah  lay  hid."  "To 
any  one  passing  down  from  Jerusalem  or  Samaria  towards  Jericho  "  (the 
road  leading  through  this  pass),  "the  appropriateness  of  the  words  in 
1  Kings  17:3  would  be  at  once  apparent — 'the  brook  Cherith,  that  is 
before  Jordan.'  "  The  same  wild  and  desolate  wady  is  regarded  by  Porter 
as  "unquestionably  the  valley  of  Achor,  in  which  the  Israelites  stoned 
Achan  (Josh.  7:26),  and  which  served  to  mark  the  northern  border  of 


l.r>(>  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Judali."     Josh.  15;  7.     Indeed  the  whole  geography  of  the  region  points 
to  "VVady  Kelt  as  the  scene  of  this  solemn  transaction. 

Beisan,  the  modern  representative  of  the  ancient  Beth-shean  or  Betli- 
shan  (that  is,  house  of  quiet] ,  is  magnificently  situated  in  a  strong  position 
at  the  mouth  of  the  valley  of  Jezreel,  where  it  breaks  down  by  an  abrupt 
descent  of  some  three  hundred  feet  to  the  valley  of  the  Jordan.  It  is 
about  four  miles  from  the  Jordan,  and  eighteen  south  of  the  southern  end 
of  the  sea  of  Galilee.  The  ruins  of  Beth-shean  cover  a  space  of  about 
three  miles  in  circuit.  The  site  is  well  watered,  no  less  than  four  streams 
flowing  through  it.  For  the  origin  of  the  Greek  name  Scythopolis,  cil>/  of 
the  Scythians,  which  the  place  received  after  the  exile,  see  Robinson's  Bib. 
Res. ,  3,  p.  330.  Scythopolis  abounded  in  temples  built  of  black  basaltic 
stone,  except  the  columns.  It  was,  according  to  Josephus  (Jewish 
War,  3.  9.  7),  the  largest  city  of  the  Decapolis,  and  the  only  city  of  that 
district  lying  west  of  the  Jordan.  In  the  time  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome  it 
was  still  an  important  city  of  Palestine  ;  but  it  is  now  reduced  to  a  misera 
ble  village  of  about  five  hundred  souls.  See  farther  in  Robinson,  3,  pp. 
326-332. 

A  sad  interest  attaches  to  the  history  of  Beth-shean.  It  was  in  the 
adjacent  mountains  of  Gilboa  that  Saul's  army  was  defeated  by  the  Philis 
tines,  and  he  and  his  three  sons  perished.  The  Philistines,  finding  the  next 
day  his  body  and  those  of  his  sons,  cut  off  their  heads,  and  fastened  them  to 
the  wall  of  Beth-shan.  The  men  of  Jabesh-Gilead,  a  city  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Jordan,  a  few  miles  farther  down,  crossing  at  one  of  the  ford- 
ing-places  leading  to  Beisan  (Robinson,  3,  p.  325),  came  by  night,  and 
removing  the  bodies  from  the  wall  "came  to  Jabesh,  and  burned  them 
there.  And  they  took  their  bones,  and  buried  them  under  a  tree  in 
Jabesh,  and  fasted  seven  days."  1  Sam.  31:8-13. 

The  site  of  Succoth  is  uncertain.  Burckhardt  (Travels  in  Syria,  p.  345) 
mentions  the  ruins  of  a  place  called  Sukkot,  six  miles  or  more  below  Beisan, 
but  without  stating  clearly  on  which  bank  of  the  river  they  lay.  Robinson 
discovered  another  ruin  called  Sakut  on  the  west  side  of  Jordan,  about  ten 
miles  below  Beisan,  which  he  would  identify  with  the  Succoth  of  the  Old 
Testament.  But  that  place,  notwithstanding  Robinson's  arguments  to 
the  contrary  (Bib.  Res.,  3,  pp.  310-312),  certainly  lay  east  of  the  Jordan. 
It  was  allotted  to  the  tribe  of  Gad,  whose  possessions  were  on  that  side  of 
the  river  (Josh.  13:27);  and  it  was  after  Gideon  had  passed  over  the  Jor 
dan,  in  pursuing  the  Midianites,  that  he  asked  the  men  of  Succoth  for 
bread.  Judg.  8:4,  5.  The  same  position  is  assigned  to  it  by  Jerome, 
according  to  the  fair  interpretation  of  his  words  (Quest,  on  Gen.  33:16): 
"There  is  at  this  day  a  city  of  this  name  beyond  Jordan,  in  the  region  of 
Scythopolis."  "But  it  is  just  possible,"  says  Porter  (in  Alexander's  Kitto), 


PALESTINE.  157 

"that  the  miine  may  have  been  transferred  from  the  ancient  town  on  the 
east  side  to  a  more  modern  village  on  the  west."  Hitter  is  inclined  to 
assume  two  places  of  this  name,  one  on  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan,  the 
other  on  the  west.  His  argument  for  a  western  Succoth,  from  the  fact 
that  Solomon  had  his  foundery  "in  the  clay-ground  between  Succoth  and 
Zarthau"  (1  Kings  7:46),  deserves  consideration.  It  is  in  the  highest 
degree  improbable  that  the  brazen  sea,  the  brazen  oxen,  and  the  other 
heavy  articles  mentioned  in  the  context  should  have  been  cast  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Jordan.  As  to  the  position  in  latitude,  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
respect  to  either  the  Sukkot  of  Burckhardt  or  the  Sakut  of  Robinson. 
Jacob  had  declined  Esau's  offer  to  accompany  him,  preferring  to  proceed 
at  his  leisure.  ' '  So  Esau  returned  that  day  " — from  the  ford  of  the  Jabbok — 
"on  his  way  unto  Seir,  and  Jacob  journeyed  to  Succoth,  and  built  him  a 
house,  and  made  booths  for  his  cattle  :  therefore  the  name  of  the  place  is 
called  Succoth,"  that  is,  bootlis.  Gen.  33:16,  17.  The  fact,  therefore,  that 
the  places  in  question  lie  north  of  the  direct  road  from  the  Jabbok  to 
Shechem,  the  next  place  to  which  Jacob  removed,  constitutes  no  difficulty. 

The  ford  of  Beth-barah,  that  is,  place  of  crossing  ( Judg.  7 : 24  compared 
with  8:4),  was  undoubtedly  in  this  vicinity.  The  "  Betliabara  beyond 
Jordan,  where  John  was  baptizing,  according  to  the  received  text  of  John 
1:28,  would  naturally  be  the  same  place.  But  if  we  adopt  the  more 
approved  reading  Belhania,  the  site  is  unknown. 

"Where  "^Enon  near  to  Salim"  (John  3:23)  lay  can  be  only  conjectured. 
It  is  not  certain  that  it  was  in  the  Jordan  valley,  ^non  is  an  Aramaic 
plural  signifying  springs.  The  places  claimed  for  it  are,  (1)  some  ancient 
ruins  with  a  copious  fountain  in  the  plain  of  the  Jordan  eight  miles  south 
of  Scythopolis.  This  seems  to  be  the  Salim  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome 
(Onomasticon,  art.  ^Enon);  (2)  tlje  Salim  in  the  plain  of  Mukhna  east  of 
Nabulus,  where  are  also  fountains ;  (3)  a  large  fountain  in  Wady  Suleim, 
about  six  miles  northeast  of  Jerusalem.  So  Barclay  (City  of  the  Great 
King,  pp.  558,  seq.),  according  to  whose  description  it  is  indeed  a  place  of 
"much  water." 

The  precise  place  of  our  Lord's  baptism  is  unknown.  The  two  places 
claimed  by  the  Greek  and  Latin  pilgrims  respectively  have  been  already 
noticed.  See  above,  No.  16. 

IV.     THE   DEAD   SEA  AND  ITS  VICINITY. 

23.  The  place  of  the  Dead  sea,  in  the  long  deep  chasm 
extending  from  the  Bed  sea  to  the  base  of  Herrnon,  and  con 
tinued  thence  to  Antioch  (No.  1  above),  is  determined  by  its 


158  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

greatest  depression.  It  lies  in  the  lowest  part  of  this  valley,  its 
surface  being  at  the  astonishing  depth  of  one  thousand  three 
hundred  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean.  Its  greatest 
depth,  according  to  the  soundings  of  Lieutenant  Lynch,  is  one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  eight  feet;  the  eastern  brow  of 
the  overhanging  mountain  on  the  western  side  Kojoinson  gives 
at  one  thousand  three  hundred  feet,  or  almost  precisely  the  level 
of  the  Mediterranean,  while  Jerusalem  is  one  thousand  three 
hundred  feet  higher,  or  two  thousand  six  hundred  feet  above 
the  Mediterranean.  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  35.  Hence  we  have  the 
f ollowing  remarkable  gradation : 

Descent  from  Jerusalem  to  the  brow  of  the  overhanging 
mountain  on  the  west  side        .     ...    ,.    ...     .     1,300  feet. 
Descent  from  the  brow  to  the  surface  of  the  sea     1,300     " 
Greatest  depth  of  the  sea 1,300     " 

Total  descent  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  .  .  .  3,900  " 
No  open  chasm  of  like  depression  is  known  to  exist  elsewhere 
on  the  globe.  The  small  lake  Assal,  on  the  eastern  coast  of 
Africa,  nearly  southwest  of  the  straits  of  BabelmandeL,  which  is 
of  an  oval  form,  and  about  thirty-two  miles  in  circumference,  is 
said  to  be  seven  hundred  feet  below  the  level  of  the  sea. 
According  to  the  survey  of  the  Russian  government,  the  surface 
of  the  Caspian  sea  is  but  eighty-four  feet  below  the  level  of  the 
ocean. 

Lynch's  soundings  give  the  depth  of  the  sea  at  the  time  of  his  survey. 
It  is,  well  known  that  this  varies  to  the  extent  of  ten  or  fifteen  feet.  See 
below.  The  survey  in  1865  made  the  depression  of  the  surface  at  that 
time  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety-two  feet,  which  is  twenty-five 
feet  less  than  that  given  by  Lynch,  and  twenty  feet  less  than  the  same 
depression  according  to  Synionds.  The  greatest  depth  of  sea  in  the  lake 
is  that  opposite  to  the  eastern  mountains  between  the  wadys  Zurka  Main 
and  Mojib.  Lynch's  soundings  show  that  the  slope  of  the  bottom  of  the 
west  side  is  comparatively  moderate,  while  on  the  east  it  is  very  steep. 
See  in  his  Expedition  to  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Jordan  the  chart  opposite 
to  p.  268.  The  axis  of  greatest  depth  lies  in  a  line  drawn  from  the  north 
end  to  near  the  southern  peninsula  somewhat  east  of  the  middle  ;  and  this 
constitutes  a  real,  though  not  perfectly  straight  continuation  of  the  inner 


PALESTINE.  159 

valley  of  the  Ghor,  through  which  the  Jordan  flows.     South  of  the  penin 
sula  the  depth  nowhere  much  exceeds  two  fathoms. 

% 

24.  The  extent  of  the  Dead  sea,  as  to  both  surface  and  depth, 
is  determined,  on  the  one  hand,  by  the  quantity  of  water  con 
veyed  to  it  by  the  Jordan,  and  on  the  other  by  the  amount 
of  evaporation  from  its  surface,  these  two  opposite  factors  always 
balancing  each  other  in  the  long  run.     But  since  both  vary  with 
the  different  seasons  of  the  year,  and  the  quantity  of  water  with 
different  years  also,  it  follows  that  the  amount  of  water  in  the 
sea  must  vary  also ;  its  depth  some  ten  or  fifteen  feet,  and  its 
length  on  the  flats  at  its  southern  end  two  or  three  miles.     Its 
length,  as  determined  by  Lynch  and  his  party,  is  forty  geo 
graphical  miles,  and  its  breadth  from  nine  to  nine  and  three- 
fourths  geographical  miles. 

About  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet  above  the  present  level  of  the  sea 
there  are,  according  to  Tristram  (Land  of  Israel,  p.  256  and  elsewhere), 
traces  of  an  ancient  shore-line,  showing  that  the  water  once  stood  at  that 
level.  This,  however,  seems  to  have  been  long  before  the  historic  period. 
Tristram  also  speaks  (p.  278)  of  "no  less  than  eight  low  gravel  terraces, 
the  ledges  of  comparatively  recent  beaches  distinctly  marked  above  the 
present  high-water  mark.  The  highest  of  these  was  forty-four  feet  above 
the  present  level  of  the  sea."  As  to  the  terraces  of  which  he  speaks  in  the 
old  secondary  limestone,  about  the  present  level  of  the  Mediterranean 
(p.  247),  these  belong  to  a  remote  geological  era,  and  need  not  be  here 
discussed. 

25.  In  the  vast  deep  cliasm  above  described  lies  the  Dead 
sea,  "shut  in,"  says  Robinson  (Phys.  Geog.,  p.  211),  "on  both 
sides  by  ranges  of  precipitous  mountains,  their  bases  sometimes 
jutting  out  into  the  water,  and  again  retreating  so  as  to  leave 
a  narrow  strip  of  shore  below."     The  same  author  estimates  the 
general  height  of  the  overhanging  brow  on  the  western  side  at 
one  thousand  three  hundred  feet,  with  cliffs  rising  still  higher. 
The  brow  on  the  eastern  side  is  higher  and  steeper,  the  ridges 
and  precipices  which  slope  down  from  the  mountainous  crest 
on  the  east  "  in  wild  confusion  to  the  shore  of  "the  Dead  sea, 
some  five  thousand  feet  below,"  terminating  "in  a  series  of  per- 


160  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

pendicular  cliffs  from  twelve  hundred  to  two  thousand  feet  above 
the  water."  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  61.  These  mighty  walls  are  cleft, 
sometimes  to  their  bases,  by  the  deep  valleys  and  gorges  that 
issue  from  the  mountains,  and,  except  in  the  vicinity  of  the  few 
fountains  or  streams  of  fresh  water,  present  a  scene  of  utter 
sterility  and  deathlike  solitude.  "All  is  irregular  and  wild," 
says  Eobinson  (ubi  supra),  "  presenting  scenes  of  savage  grand 
eur."  The  mountains  on  the  western  side  are  mainly  lime 
stone,  passing  at  the  southern  end  into  naked  chalk-hills  and 
indurated  marl.  On  the  east  appears  with  the  limestone  a 
1  sandstone  undercliff,"  as  Anderson  calls  it  (Official  Report  of 
Lynch's  Expedition,  p.  190),  particularly  around  Wady  Mojib 
(the  Arnon  of  the  Old  Testament),  and  along  the  shore  farther 
north.  On  the  northeast  coast  of  the  lake  igneous  rocks  also 
make  their  appearance. 

The  low  belt  of  shore  noticed  above  is  of  varying  width, 
from  a  mere  strip  to  a  mile  and  more.  It  extends  around  the 
southern  end  of  the  lake  and  along  the  western  side,  inter 
rupted,  however,  by  the  two  cliffs  called  Eas  Mersed  and  Eas 
el-Feshkhah  (see  the  map),  which  project  their  bases  into  the 
water,  and  entirely  cut  off  the  road  along  the  shore.  For  this 
reason  the  marauding  parties  which  come  from  the  east  around 
the  south  end  of  the  lake  ascend  now,  as  in  ancient  days,  by 
the  pass  of  En-gedi.  See  Eobinson,  Bib.  Res.,  1,  pp.  508,  509, 
530.  The  contour  of  this  strip  of  shore  is  not  regular,  but  has 
indentations  and  shoal-like  points  running  out  into  the  lake, 
especially  in  the  southern  part. 

A  striking  feature  of  the  Dead  sea  is,  the  peninsula  in  the 
southern  part,  which  sets  out  on  the  eastern  side  opposite  to 
Kerak.  The  Arabs  call  it  Lisan,  the  tongue.  It  bears  a  general 
resemblance  to  the  human  foot,  the  toe  projecting  north  and 
the  ankle  forming  the  connection  with  the  main  land.  Its 
length  from  heel  to  toe  is  about  nine  miles.  The  main  body  is 
composed  of  layers  of  marl,  gypsum,  and  sandy  conglomerate. 
The  top  is  a  table-land  broad  towards  the  south,  but  narrowing 
to  a  serried  edge  at  the  northern  extremity.  It  is  connected 


PALESTINE.  161 

with  the  main  land  by  a  strip  of  low  bare  sand  measuring  five 
miles  across.  See  farther,  Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto;  Eobin- 
son,  Bib.  Ees.,  1,  pp.  518,  519. 

On  the  south  of  the  sea  is  "  a  naked  miry  plain  called 
Sabkhah,  ten  miles  long  from  north  to  south  by  about  six  wide. 
It  is  in  summer  coated  with  a  saline  crust,  but  is  so  low  that 
when  the  water  is  high  a  large  section  of  it  is  flooded.  Numer 
ous  torrent-beds  from  the  salt  range  on  the  west"  (see  below, 
No.  27),  "and  from  the  higher  ground  of  the  Arabah.on  the 
south,  run  across  it,  converting  large  portions  into  impassable 
swamps.  On  its  southern  border  the  old  diluvium  terrace  rises 
like  a  white  wall  to  the  height  of  more  than  tvvo  hundred  feet."  • 
Porter  as  above.  This  chalky  wall  constitutes  the  cliffs  of 
Akrabbiin  already  noticed.  To  the  Arabs  it  is  the  line  of  divis 
ion  between  that  part  of  this  long  valley  on  the  north  called  the 
Ghor  and  that  on  the  south  called  the  Arabali.  At  the  northern 
end  of  the  lake,  where  the  Jordan  enters  it  and  farther  west,  is 
a  plain  of  less  extent,  covered  with  a  nitrous  crust,  through 
which  the  feet  of  men  and  horses  sink,  as  in  ashes,  up  to  the 
ankles.  Eobinson,  •  Bib.  Ees.,  1,  p.  535.  Just  west  of  the 
Jordan  it  projects  into  the  lake  a  mile  or  more,  and  is  partly 
covered  at  high  water.  To  these  miry  salt  flats  and  swamps, 
particularly  those  at  the  southern  end  of  the  sea,  the  prophet 
Ezekiel  refers,  when  speaking  of  the  river  which  he  saw  in 
vision  flowing  out  of  the  sanctuary,  and  which  gave  life  wher 
ever  it  went  (chap.  47:1-10).  "But  the  miry  places  thereof" 
(he  adds,  ver.  11)  "  and  the  marshes  thereof  shall  not  be  healed ; 
they  shall  be  given  to  salt."  They  are  not  healed,  because  the 
water  of  the  river  does  not  reach  them;  and  they  represent, 
symbolically,  those  nations  that  do  not  receive  the  life-giving 
waters  of  salvation  which  flow  out  to  the  world  from  God  as 
their  source  through  Christ  and  the  ordinances  of  his  church. 

26.  The  extraordinary  depression  of  the  Dead  sea,  sunk  as 
it  is  in  its  deep  caldron  between  enormous  walls  of  naked  rock, 
and  exposed  for  seven  or  eight  months  in  the  year  to  the  bla 
zing  beams  of  the  sun  poured  down  from  an  unclouded  sky,  fur- 


162  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

nislies  a  sufficient  explanation  of  its  excessive  heat  and  the  trop 
ical  plants  that  appear  on  its  borders  wherever  there  is  fresh 
water.  In  April  Lieutenant  Lynch  found  the  thermometer 
ranging  between  seventy  and  ninety  degrees.  Under  the  influ 
ence  of  a  sirocco  it  rose,  April  26,  at  eight  o'clock  p.  M.,  to 
one  hundred  and  six  degrees.  The  next  day  it  stood  with  a 
west  wind  at  ninety-six  degrees.  The  heat  of  summer  is  unen 
durable  to  all  Qxcept  the  native  Arabs.  Aside  from  the  intense 
heat,  it  does  not  appear  that  the  air  of  the  Dead  sea  is  more 
noxious  than  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Ghor. 

Tacitus  (Hist.,  5.  7)  relates  the  story  respecting  the  production  of 
ashes  in  the  fruits  that  grow  on  the  border  of  this  sea  :  "  All  things  that 
grow  spontaneously  or  are  sown  by  man,  whether  slender  herbs  or  flow 
ers,  as  soon  as  they  have  attained  to  their  customary  form,  become  black 
and  empty,  and  vanish  into  the  appearance  of  ashes."  And  he  gives  cre 
dence  to  the  report  of  pestilential  vapors  arising  from  its  waters,  which 
corrupt  the  circumambient  air  and  cause  the  fruits  and  crops  to  perish. 
Robinson  adds  (Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  511)  the  legends  reported  by  Brocardus 
and  Quaresniius,  that  this  sea  "continually  sends  up  a  smoke  and  cloud 
like  an  infernal  furnace.  Wherever  the  vapor  arising  from  that  sea  is 
driven,  there  the  products  of  the  earth  perish,  as  if  touched  by  frost;  and 
that  it  is  "a  most  fetid  pool  of  infernal  blackness,  having  a  horrible  odor." 
Dense  vapors  do  indeed  arise  from  the  lake,  but  they  are  neither  offensive 
nor  pestilential.  The  offensive  odors  perceived  at  certain  points  are  due 
to  hot  sulphureous  springs,  several  of  which  are  described  by  Tristram,  on 
the  western  shore,  having  a  strong  smell  of  sulphur  and  rotten  eggs  (Land 
of  Israel,  pp.  279,  301) ;  but  these  phenomena  are  local,  and  not  peculiar 
to  the  shores  of  the  Dead  sea.  As  to  the  legend  of  pestilential  vapors,  it 
is  sufficient  to  say  that  wherever  fresh  water  is  found  there  is  a  profusion 
of  vegetable  and  animal  life — jungles  of  tall  canes,  with  acacias,  oleanders, 
tamarisks,  fig-trees,  and  other  tropical  plants,  and  multitudes  of  birds 
which  fly  with  impunity  over  the  surface  of  the  waters. 

27.  The  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  southern  shore  is 
the  line  of  hills  called  by  the  Arabs  KJtasJtm  Usdum,  Ridge  of 
Sodom,  first  described  in  modern  times  by  Seetzen,  and  after 
wards  more  fully  explored  by  Robinson  and  other  travellers. 
It  is  a  ridge  running  from  northwest  to  southeast  along  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  southern  bay  for  the  distance  of  seven 


PALESTINE.  1G3 

miles  with  an  average  elevation,  according  to  Porter,  of  three 
hundred  feet,  and  composed  of  solid  rock-salt,  the  top  and  sides 
being  overlaid  with  "a  loose  crust  of  gravel,  rolled  flints,  and 
gypsum,  but  chiefly  with  a  chalky  marl."  Tristram,  p.  322. 
"The  declivities  of  the  range  are  steep  and  rugged,  pierced 
with  huge  caverns,  and  the  summit  shows  a  sarried  line  of  sharp 
peaks.  The  salt  is  of  a  greenish  white  color,  with  lines  of  cleav 
age  as  if  stratified,  and  its  base  reaches  far  beneath  the  present 
surface."  Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto.  "In  several  places," 
says  Tristram  (p.  322),  "  we  found  the  ground  hollow,  and  ech 
oing  under  our  feet  as  we  walked  along  the  shore ;  and  in  some 
the  crust  has  given  way,  and  a  laden  camel  has  suddenly  disap 
peared  from  the  file  of  a  caravan,  and  been  salted  to  death 
below.  The  layers  of  rock-salt  are  frequently  contorted  con 
formably  with  the  overlying  marl  and  gypsum."  Journeying 
along  the  shore  between  this  salt  ridge  and  the  sea,  Robinson 
passed  over  a  naked  tract  full  of  salt-drains,  sluggish  and  dead. 
Lumps  of  nitre  were  scattered  along  the  base,  of  which  his  com 
pany  picked  up  one  as  large  as  the  fist.  Farther  south  they 
passed  two  purling  rills,  beautifully  limpid,  coming  down  from 
near  the  base  of  the  mountain,  "  as  salt  as  the  saltest  brine." 
Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  115.  In  this  salt  mountain  we  have  an  abun 
dant  explanation  of  the  intense  saltness  of  the  water  of  the  Dead 
sea.  Without  any  outlet,  it  has  been  for  scores  of  centuries 
drinking  in  the  briny  streams  from  Khashm  Usdum.  There  are 
also  hidden  deposits  of  salt,  apparently  subterranean  branches 
of  this  mountain ;  for  Tristram  speaks  of  "  a  marsh  fed  by  innu 
merable  salt  springs  oozing  out  through  the  mud,"  at  the  mouth 
of  Wady  Zuweirah,  some  two  miles  north  of  the  ridge  (p.  319). 

In  some  valley  (Heb.  Ge)  adjacent  to  this  salt  mountain  we 
must,  in  all  probability,  place  the  valley  of  salt  (2  Sam.  8  : 13  ; 
1  Chron.  18  : 12 ;  Psa.  60,  title) ;  also  the  city  of  salt,  Josh.  15 : 62. 

28.  Although  the  traces  of  volcanic  action  in  the  form  of 
craters  and  recently  ejected  lava  are  not  very  marked  around 
the  Dead  sea,  yet  the  volcanic  character  of  the  region  must  be 
admitted.  This  appears  especially  from  the  hot  springs  around 


164  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

the  border  of  the  lake,  and  from  the  fact  that  the  valley  in  which 
it  lies  belongs  to  a  district  subject  to  earthquakes. 

Lyell's  definition  of  volcanic  action  is,  "the  influence  exerted  by  tlie 
heated  interior  of  the  earth  on  its  external  covering."  Principles  of  Geol 
ogy,  chap.  22.  Of  such  influence  the  region  around  the  Dead  sea  presents 
distinct  traces.  Tristram  describes  a  sulphur  hot  spring  north  of  Ras 
Horsed  on  the  western  shore,  ther.  ninety-five  degrees  Fahrenheit;  another 
south  of  En-gedi,  ther.  eighty-eight  degrees.  Land  of  Israel,  pp.  279, 
301.  Then  there  are  on  the  eastern  side  the  celebrated  hot  springs  of 
Callirrhoe,  in  the  Wady  Zurka  Main,  near  its  mouth,  which  send  down  a 
copious  stream  of  hot  sulphureous  water  to  the  sea  amid  thickets  of  canes, 
palms,  and  tamarisks.  Lynch  found  the  temperature  of  the  stream  one 
mile  up  the  chasm  ninety-five  degrees  Fahrenheit  (Expedition,  p.  370); 
and  the  springs  themselves  are  much  hotter.  See  below,  No.  32.  Accord 
ing  to  Seetzen,  another  large  brook  of  hot  water  enters  the  Dead  sea  a  lit 
tle  farther  south,  coming  from  another  cluster  of  hot  springs.  De  Saulcy 
also  found  a  copious  hot  spring  at  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  sea ; 
and  there  is  another  at  its  southeastern  angle. 

The  presence  of  sulphur  around  the  Dead  sea  has  also  been  adduced  in 
proof  of  the  volcanic  character  of  the  region  ;  but  Lartet  thinks  it  is  formed 
by  the  reduction  of  the  gypsum  beds,  according  to  a  well-known  action 
often  observed  elsewhere.  We  add,  however,  an  interesting  extract  from 
Tristram  (pp.  354,  355),  in  which  he  describes  a  formation  in  Wady 
Mahauwat,  just  north  of  the  salt  mountain.  Here  are  "large  masses  of 
bitumen  mingled  with  gravel.  These  overlie  a  thin  stratum  of -sulphur, 
which  again  overlies  a  thicker  stratum  of  sand,  so  strongly  impregnated 
with  sulphur  that  it  yields  powerful  fumes  on  being  sprinkled  over  hot 
coals.  Many  great  blocks  of  bitumen  have  been  washed  down  the  gorge, 
and  lie  scattered  over  the  plain  below,  along  with  large  boulders,  and  other 
traces  of  tremendous  floods."  Respecting  this  appearance,  Tristram  sug 
gests  the  following  explanation,  which  we  give  without  comment:  "The 
whole  appearance  points  to  a  shower  of  hot  sulphur  and  an  irruption  of 
bitumen  upon  it,  which  would  naturally  be  calcined  and  impregnated  by 
its  fumes,  and  this  at  a  geological  period  quite  subsequent  to  all  the  dilu 
vial  and  alluvial  action  of  which  we  have  such  abundant  evidence." 

As  to  earthquakes,  Lyell  remarks  that  ' '  the  violent  shock  which  devas 
tated  Syria  in  1837  was  felt  on  a  line  five  hundred  miles  in  length  by  ninety 
in  breadth;  more  than  six  thousand  persons  perished;  deep  rents  were 
caused  in  solid  rocks,  and  new  hot  springs  burst  out  at  Tabereah. "  Prin 
ciples  of  Geology,  chap.  27.  The  same  author  notices  the  periodical  alter 
nation  of  earthquakes  in  Syria  and  Southern  Italy,  and  says,  "We  may 
suppose  Southern  Italy  and  Syria  to  be  connected,  at  a  much  greater  depth, 


PALESTINE.  165 

•with  a  lower  part  of  the  very  same  system  of  fissures;  in  which  case,  any 
obstruction  occurring  in  one  duct  may  have  the  effect  of  causing  almost  all 
the  vapor  and  melted  matter  to  be  forced  up  the  other  ;  and  if  they  can 
not  get  vent,  they  may  be  the  cause  of  violent  earthquakes  "  (chap.  22). 

As  to  the  existence  of  ancient  coulees — lava-streams — terminating  in  the 
lake  on  the  eastern  side,  see  Lartet  in  Bitter's  Geog.  of  Palestine,  3,  pp. 
367,  368. 


29.  That  bitumen  exists  in  vast  masses,  at  the  bottom  of  the 
southern  bay  at  least,  is  manifest  from  the  fact  of  its  being 
thrown  up  after  earthquakes.     Josephus  says  (Jewish  War,  4. 
8.  4)  that  it  "  throws  up  in  many  places  masses  of  black  asphal- 
tum,  which  float  upon  the  surface  in  form  and  size  resembling 
headless  oxen."     Diodorus  Siculus,  as  quoted  by  Eobinson,  rep 
resents  the  masses  as  covering  sometimes  two  or  three  plethra 
(the  Greek  plethron  was  about  a  quarter  of  an  acre),  and  having 
the  appearance  of  islands.     After  the  earthquake  of  January, 
1837,  a  large  mass  of  bitumen,  described  by  the  Arabs  as  an 
island  or  as  a  house,  wras  thrown  up  and  driven  aground  on  the 
west  side,  not  far  from  Usduni.     Eobinson,  Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  518. 
That  the  bitumen  is  not  confined  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea 
appears  from  the  statements  of  Tristram  quoted  above.     Tris 
tram  also  speaks  of  a  large  vein  of  the  bituminous  stone  called 
"stink-stone"  at  the  northwestern  part  of  the  lake,  mixed  with 
flints  and  pebbles,  and  forming  the  matrix  of  a  very  hard  con 
glomerate  of  gravel  and  flints.     "."When  thrown  into  the  fire,  it 
burnt  with  a  sulphureous  smell,  but  would  not  ignite  at  the 
flame  of  a  lamp"  (p.  254). 

30.  The  water  of  the  Dead  sea  "has  a  slightly  greenish  hue, 
and  is  not  entirely  transparent;   but  objects  seen  through  it 
appear  as  if  seen  through  oil.     It  is  most  intensely  and  intoler 
ably  salt,  and  leaves  behind  a- nauseous  bitter  taste,  like  Glau 
ber's  salts."     Eobinson,  1,  p.  507.     The  statements  of  the  an 
cients  as  to  its  buoyancy  are  fully  confirmed  by  modern  obser 
vation.      "Although,"   says   Eobinson,   "I  could   never   swim 
before,  either  in  fresh  or  salt  water,  yet  here  I  could  sit,  stand, 
lie,  or  swim  in  the  water  without  difficulty."     Wherever  the 


166  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

skin  is  broken  its  waters  have  an  irritating  effect.  The  shore  is 
lined  with  drift-wood  brought  down  from  the  Jordan  and  the  val 
leys  that  open  into  it  from  the  mountains. 

We  add  a  single  analysis  of  its  waters  made  by  Prof.  Booth  of  Phila 
delphia  with  water  from  the  depth  of  1,110  feet,  by  which  it  appears  that 
more  than  a  quarter  consists  of  various  salts  held  in  solution.  Specific 
gravity  at  sixty  degrees,  1.22742. 

Chloride  of  magnesium 145.8971 

"  calcium .     .       31.0746 

"  sodium  (common  salt) 78.5537 

"         "  potassium ,     .     .     .         6.5860 

Bromide  of  potassium 1.3741 

Sulphate  of  lime ,.-....         0.7012 

264.1867 
Water  735.8133 


1000.0000 

In  water  of  such  a  character  it  -is  obvious  that  no  living  thing  can  exist. 
The  fishes  brought  down  into  it  from  the  Jordan  inevitably  perish. 

31.  In  the  above  description,  the  various  names  applied  to 
this  extraordinary  lake  find  a  ready  explanation. 

The  salt  sea.  Gen.  14 : 3 ;  Numb.  34  : 3, 12 ;  Deut.  3:17;  Josh. 
3:16;  15:2,5;  18:19. 

"  The  sea  of  the  Arabah;  in  our  version,  sea  of  the  plain.    Deut. 
3:17;  4:49;  2  Kings  14:25. 

The  east  sea,  in  distinction  from  the  Mediterranean,  which  is 
called  the  ivestern  sea.  Ezek?  47  : 18 ;  Joel  2  : 20. 

The  above  are  the  only  scriptural  names  applied  to  it.  Jose- 
phus  calls  it  the  asphaltic  lake,  from  the  asphaltum  or  bitumen 
above  described ;  and  in  the  Talmud  it  is  called  the  sea  of  Sodom. 
The  modern  Arabic  name,  Bahr  Lut,  sea  of  Lot,  is  suggested  by 
the  history  of  Lot.  The  name  Dead  sea  is  most  appropriate  to 
a  lake  in  which  no  living  thing  is  found,  and  on  whose  shores, 
moreover,  desolation  reigns,  broken  only  by  a  few  small  oases. 

32.  The  geographer  finds  no  cities  or  villages  to  be  described 
on  the  shores  of  the  Dead  sea.     There  are,  however,  some  points 
of  interest  on  or  near  its  shores  which  may  detain  us  a  few  mo 
ments. 


PALESTINE.  167 

The  pass  of  En-gedi  has  already  been  alluded  to.  It  lies  on  the  western 
shore,  about  midway  between  the  northern  and  the  southern  end.  Here, 
at  the  elevation  of  more  than  four  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
the  beautiful  fountain  of  Ain  Jidy — the  Arabic  equivalent  of  En-gedi — 
bursts  forth  upon  a  sort  of  narrow  terrace  or  shelf  of  the  mountain.  The 
fountain  is  limpid  and  sparkling,  with  a  copious  stream  of  sweet  water  of 
the  temperature  of  eighty-one  degrees,  which  rushes  down  the  steep 
descent,  its  course  being  hidden  by  a  luxuriant  thicket  of  canebrake,  with 
trees  and  shrubs  belonging  to  a  more  southern  clime.  Among  the  latter 
Robinson  notices  the  Seyal,  which  produces  gum-arabic,  the  lote-tree  of 
Egypt,  the  Osher  or  apple  of  Sodom  described  above,  the  el-Henna  or 
"camphire,"  the  egg-plant  nightshade,  or  mad-apple.  At  the  fountain 
are  the  remains  of  several  buildings  apparently  ancient,  though  the  main 
site  of  the  ancient  town  seems  to  have  been  farther  below.  The  right  dis 
tribution  of  water,  with  skilful  culture,  would  make  it  now,  as  anciently,  a 
delightsome  place.  Josephus  says  (Antiq.,  9.  1.  2)  that  here  were  pro 
duced  the  choicest  palms  and  opobalsam.  No  wonder  that  Solomon,  who 
delighted  in  every  thing  rare,  had  here  his  pleasure-grounds  (Cant.  1:14), 
for  in  this  tropical  clime  flourished  plants  unknown  to  the  mountains  and 
even  the  Mediterranean  plain. 

Robinson  describes  the  pass  of  En-gedi  as  frightful,  the  path  descending 
by  zigzags  along  ledges  or  shelves  on  the  perpendicular  face  of  the  cliff. 
Yet,  as  already  remarked,  the  great  Arab  road  ascends  this  pass,  and  it 
was  by  this  pass  that  the  Moabites  and  Ammonites  came  up  against  King 
Jehoshaphat.  2  Chron.  20:1,  2.  The  more  ancient  name  Hazezon-tamar 
(Gen.  14:7;  2  Chron.  20:2)  means,  according  to  Gesenius,^>r?w  ing  of  palms; 
acccording  to  Fiirst,  row  of  palm-trees.  The  Ascent  of  Ziz  (2  Chron.  20: 16) 
seems  to  have  been  this  very  pass.  Josephus  defines  the  word  Ziz  to  mean 
prominence.  Antiq.,  9.  1.  2.  "The  wilderness  of  Eu-gedi"  (1  Sam.  24:1) 
was  the  wilderness  behind  this  pass.  Now,  as  anciently,  it  has  innumera 
ble  caverns,  in  any  one  of  which  David  and  his  men  could  find  refuge. 
1  Sam.  24:3. 

No  perennial  stream  breaks  through  the  mountains  on  the  western  side. 
On  the  eastern  side  is  the  Zurka  Mam,  entering  the  sea  through  a  deep 
chasm  of  red  and  yellow  sandstone.  .The  stream  at  the  mouth  is  a  copious 
brook,  descending  with  great  velocity.  Above  in  the  valley  are  the  hot 
springs  called  by  the  ancients  Callirrhoe,  the  water  of  which  is  quite  hot, 
but  not  boiling.  The  hand  cannot  be  held  in  it  for  half  a  minute.  See 
the  authorities  in  Robinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  179.  Seetzen  relates  that 
half  an  hour  south  another  large  brook  of  hot  water  enters,  the  sea. 

Farther  south  is  the  Arnon  of  the  Old  Testament,  naw  called  Wady 
Mojib,  flowing  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  chasm  formed  by  perpendicular 
cliffs  of  red,  brown,  and  yellow  sandstone,  looking  as  if  "formed  by  some 


168  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

tremendous  convulsion  of  the  earth."  Robinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  181. 
Its  stream  flows  over  a  rocky  bed  ;  and  when  Lynch  saw  it,  May  3,  1848, 
it  was  eighty-two  feet  wide  and  four  feet  deep.  In  summer  it  is  nearly  or 
quite  dry,  but  very  large  and  powerful  during  the  rainy  season.  Still  far 
ther  south,  opposite  to  the  peninsula,  is  the  Wculy  Kerak,  in  many  places 
a  wild  chasm  of  great  depth.  In  winter  it  sends  down  a  powerful  stream, 
which  flows,  however,  only  in  the  rainy  season.  Lynch's  Expedition,  pp. 
352-354. 

Two  or  three  permanent  streams  enter  the  southern  bay  on  the  eastern 
jSide.  Here,  at  the  mouth  of  Wady-es-Safieh,  is  a  well-watered  oasis  like 
that  about  Jericho,  only  with  a  more  tropical  climate.  Farther  north, 
where  Wady  Kerak  opens,  is  another.  The  plain  at  the  northeastern  end, 
also,  is  in  general  well  watered,  and  covered  with  a  luxuriant  vegetation. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  sea,  towards  the  south,  just  beyond  Wady 
Seyal,  and  opposite  to  the  peninsula,  is  seen  the  ruin  called  by  the  Arabs 
Sebbeh,  and  which  has  been  satisfactorily  identified  as  the  renowned  for 
tress  of  Masada,  the  last  refuge  of  the  Jewish  zealots  after  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem.  ' '  Here  occurred  the  last  horrible  act  of  the  great  Jewish 
tragedy.  The  whole  garrison,  at  the  persuasion  of  their  leader,  Eleazer, 
devoted  themselves  to  self-destruction,  and  chose  out  ten  men  to  massacre 
all  the  rest.  This  was  done,  and  nine  hundred  and  sixty  persons,  including 
women  and  children,  perished.  Two  females  and  five  boys  alone  escaped." 
Robinson,  from  Josephus  (Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  526).  The  ruins  are  of  great  ex 
tent,  occupying  the  truncated  summit  of  a  lofty  isolated  rock,  described  by 
Robinson  as  "apparently  inaccessible  ;"  but  which  has  been  since  his  visit 
to  the  Dead  sea  repeatedly  climbed  and  described.  Tristram,  who,  in  Janu 
ary,  1864,  climbed  to  the  summit,  has  given  a  description  of  the  stupen 
dous  fortifications  of  Masada  with  various  drawings.  Land  of  Israel,  pp. 
303-313. 

We  may  notice  here,  as  often  visited  in  connection  with  the  Jordan  and 
Dead  sea,  the  ancient  convent  of  Mar  Saba,  founded  in  the  sixth  century, 
and  once  an  institution  of  great  eminence.  It  lies  about  three  hours  from 
the  sea.  on  the  border  of  the  Wady  Nar,  a  continuation  of  the  Kidron,  in 
a  wild  and  romantic  situation,  and  in  the  heart  of  a  frightful  wilderness. 
Of  this  convent,  with  its  history  and  appointments,  the  reader  may  find 
an  account  in  Ritter's  Geog.  of  Palestine,  3,  pp.  86-91.  See  also  Tristram's 
Land  of  Israel,  pp.  259-270. 

V.     DESTKUCTION  OF   SODOM   AND   THE   NEIGHBORING 

CITIES. 

33.  The  belief  once  prevalent  that  the  Dead  sea  was  formed 
in  its  whole  extent  at  the  time  when  Sodom  and  the  neighboring 


PALESTINE.  169 

cities  were  destroyed  is  found  to  be  untenable,  and  is  abandoned 
by  common  consent.  The  Jordan  can  never  have  flowed  into 
the  Red  sea  within  the  historic  period ;  consequently  there-  must 
always  have  been  a  lake  in  the  lowest  part  of  this  long  valley. 
Nor  is  this  inconsistent  with  the  scriptural  narrative,  which 
requires  only  that  "the  vale  of  Siddirn"  be  now  covered  with 
its  waters.  Gen.  14  : 3. 

According  to  Bertou,  the  summit  of  the  water-shed  in  the  Arabah  south 
of  the  Dead  sea  is  about  the  latitude  of  Petra,  and  i»  five  hundred  and 
twenty-five  feet  above  the  ocean ;  but  M.  Vigues  gives  from  his  baromet 
rical  observations  a  much  greater  elevation — 787.44  feet.  See  Hitter's 
Geog.  of  Palestine,  3,  p.  360. 

34.  The  question  respecting  the  mode  in  which  the  enormous 
chasm  of  the  Dead  sea  and  the  valley  north  and  south  of  it  was 
formed  belongs  to  geology.     We  simply  remark  that,  upon  any 
theory,  there  must  have  been  an  enormous  subsidence,  occupy 
ing  perhaps  a  vast  period  of  time;  for  the  whole  valley  from 
the  sea  of  Galilee  to  a  point  considerably  south  of  the  Dead  sea 
lies  below  the  level  of  the  ocean — the  surface  of  the  sea  about 
one  thousand  three  hundred  feet  and  its  bottom  two  thousand 
six  hundred  feet.     The  simplest  hypothesis  would  seem  to  be 
that  proposed  by  Dr.  Edward  Hitchcock  in  1850,  and  advocated 
at  length  by  Lartet  in  the  Appendix  to  the  third  volume  of  Kit- 
ter's  Geography  of  Palestine.     This  hypothesis  assumes  a  vast 
line  of  fracture  in  the  direction  of  north  and  south,  with  a  down 
ward  movement  along  the  line  of  dislocation  on  the  western 
side,  producing  the  depressed  trench  which  separates  Palestine 
proper  from  the  high  lands  on  the  eastern  side. 

35.  It  has  been  generally  assumed,  in  accordance  with  the 
statements  of  Josephus  (Jewish  War,  4.  8.  2,  4),  that  Zoar,  and 
consequently  the  cities  of  the  plain,  lay  at  the  southern  end  of 
the  Dead  sea.     Mr.  Grove  (in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.)  maintains 
that  they  were  at  the  northern  end.     His  chief  argument  is  drawn 
from  the  fact  that  Sodom  and  the  neighboring  cities  lay  in  the 
circuit  (kikkar)  of  the  Jordan,  a  name  naturally  belonging  to  the 
valley  through  which  the  Jordan  flows. 

•  8 


170  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Beyond  contradiction,  the  region  surveyed  by  Lot  from  his  position 
"between  Beth-el  and  Hai "  (Gen.  13  :  3),  when  "he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and 
beheld  the  whole  circuit  of  the  Jordan  "  (ver  10),  lay  at  the  north  end  of 
the  sea.  We  need  not  press  the  words,  "the  whole  circuit  of  the  Jordan," 
as  if  Lot  actually  surveyed  it  in  its  entire  extent.  The  circuit  extended 
north  as  far  as  Succoth  (1  Kings  7:46),  consequently  far  beyond  the  scope 
of  Lot's  vision.  What  he  saw  represented  the  general  character  of  the 
circuit.  It  is,  however,  somewhat  difficult  to  suppose  that  the  term  circuit 
(Jcikfcar)  of  the  Jordan  was  extended  to  the  then  fertile  plain  south  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  as  it  must  have  been  if  Sodom  lay  there.  The  other  arguments 
adduced  by  Mr.  Grove  are  of  subordinate  value. 

Against  the  hypothesis  of  Mr.  Grove,  and  in  favor  of  the  common  belief, 
may  be  alleged,  (1)  the  situation  of  Zoar,  which  Josephus,  Eusebius,  and 
Jerome  place  at  the  southern  end  of  the  Dead  sea.  Their  statements  Mr. 
Grove  admits,  but  suggests  that  the  Zoar  of  the  Pentateuch  was  a  different 
place.  This  assumption  of  two  places  yarned  Zoar  should  not  be  admitted 
without  stronger  proof  than  exists  at  present;  (2)  the  scriptural  state 
ments  respecting  the  vale  of  Siddim,  which  we  naturally  seek  to  find  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  cities  of  the  plain.  It  was  "full  of  slime-pits,"  and  was, 
moreover,  w  hen  the  book  of  Genesis  "was  written,  a  part  of  the  Salt  sea. 
Gen.  14:3,  10.  Both  these  statements  are  satisfied  by  the  assumption  that 
this  vale  is  now  covered  by  the  shallow  southern  bay  of  the  Dead  sea. 
That  the  bottom  of  this  bay  contains  deposits  of  bitumen  is  evident  from 
the  masses  that  are  thrown  up  after  earthquakes  (see  abore,  No.  29);  and 
that  a  slight  subsidence  of  this  part  of  the  valley  may  have  taken  place  in 
connection  with  the  catastrophe  of  Sodom  or  soon  afterwards  is  surely  not 
incredible  in  a  valley  like  this,  formed  apparently  by  a  series  of  enormous 
subsidences.  We  do  not  attach  any  weight  to  the  argument  from  the  name 
Usdum  applied  to  the  salt  ridge  above  described,  as  indicating  the  exact 
site  of  Sodom.  The  Zoar  of  Josephus  lay  on  the  other  side  of  the  Arabah, 
too  far  removed  from  Usdum  to  allow  of  Lot's  flight  thither.  The  reader 
will  find  the  question  of  the  site  of  Sodom  discussed  at  length  by  Dr.  Sam 
uel  Wolcott  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra  for  1868,  p.  112,  seq. 

36.  All  that  is  known  respecting  the  manner  in  which  the 
cities  of  the  plain  were  destroyed  can  be  stated  in  few  words. 
It  is  not  said  that  the  bituminous  soil  on  which  they  stood  was 
set  on  fire  and  consumed  by  lightnings  from  heaven,  though 
this  may  be  true ;  nor  that  the  sea  rushing  into  the  void  thus 
created  converted  the  plain  into  a  part  of  itself,  though  this 
also  may  have  happened.  The  scriptural  statement  is,  that 
"  the  Lord  rained  upon  Sodom  and  upon  Gomorrah  brimstone 


PALESTINE.  171 

and  fire  from  the  Lord  out  of  heaven."  It  was  then  by  a  shower 
of  "brimstone  and  fire"  from  heaven  that  Sodom  and  Gomor 
rah  were  destroyed.  There  is  no  reason  for  departing  from  the 
literal  meaning  of  the  narrative.  The  words  "brimstone  and 
fire"  naturally  mean  either  burning  brimstone,  or  masses  of 
brimstone  not  ignited  (perhaps  a  mixture  of  sulphur  and  bitu 
men),  mingled  with  burning  lumps  of  the  same.  Such  a  shower 
would  be  sufficient  to  overthrow  "  those  cities,  and  ah1  the  cir 
cuit  (kikkar),  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities,  and  that  which 
grew  upon  the  ground,"  and  to  cause  the  smoke  of  the  land  to 
go  up  as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace.  It  is  not  necessary  to  sup 
pose  that  the  brimstone  and  fire  were  created  in  heaven.  It  is 
more  in  accordance  with  the  general  method  of  God's  providen 
tial  dealings,  even  where  he  brings  in  the  element  of  the  mirac 
ulous,  to  suppose  that  he  made  use  of  stores  ready  at  hand; 
that  the  brimstone  and  fire  were  ejected  from  a  fissure  opened 
in  the  plain,  and  then  fell  in  a  burning  shower  upon  the  devo 
ted  cities.  The  submersion  of  the  vale  of  Siddim,  at  the  time 
of  this  catastrophe  or  afterwards,  we  infer  from  the  words  of  the 
inspired  narrative  :  "  The  vale  of  Siddim,  which  is  the  Salt  sea." 
Gen.  14  :  3.  Whether  the  site  of-  the  cities  was  also  submerged 
is  a  question  which  we  may  well  leave  undecided.  Nor  need 
we  feel  bound  to  determine  the  manner  of  the  submergence. 
It  is,  however,  a  fair  inference  from  the  scriptural  account  (Gen. 
13  : 10)  that  the  desolation  produced  by  this  catastrophe  was  of 
wide  extent  and  permanent  in  character. 

How  great  were  the  changes  produced  in  the  Arabali  by  this  catastro 
phe  we  have  no  means  of  knowing,  nor  what  were  its  relations  to  the  ridge 
of  salt  described  above.  An  eruption  of  brimstone  and  fire  might  well  be 
connected  with  a  disturbance  of  the  previously  existing  fountains  of  the 
plain,  perhaps  with  a  considerable  subsidence — the  sinking  down,  it  may 
be,  of  the  vale  of  Siddim  into  a  cavity  previously  existing  or  produced  at 
the  time.  Some  have  assumed  an  elevation  of  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  by 
which  means  the  vale  was  overflowed.  On  this  point  we  need  make  no  affir 
mation,  since  the  credibility  of  the  inspired  narrative  does  not  depend  on 
our  ability  to  determine  the  manner  in  which  the  vale  of  Siddim  became 
the  Salt  sea. 


172  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

An  authentic  account  of  some  remarkable  elevations  and  depressions  of 
the  earth's  surface,  several  of  them  of  vast  extent,  may  be  found  in  Lyoll's 
Principles  of  Geology,  chaps.  27-29.  These  changes  were,  it  is  true,  con 
nected  with  earthquakes,  but  they  give  evidence  of  the  existence  in  some 
regions  of  subterranean  cavities  of  vast  dimensions.  Such  cavities,  we 
know,  are  especially  common  in  limestone  regions. 


PALESTINE.  173 


CHAPTEK  V. 

THE   REGION   EAST   OF  THE    JORDAN   VALLEY. 

1.  THE  eastern  region  occupied  by  the  Israelites  is  described 
by  Joshua  as  the  land  "  on  the  other  side  of  Jordan,  towards  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  from  the  river  Arnon  unto  Mount  Hermon, 
and  all  the  Arabah  eastward."     Josh.  12 : 1.     "  The  Arabah 
eastward,"  that  is,  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan  valley,  has 
already  been  sufficiently  described.     The  high  land  from  Arnon 
to  the  base  of  Hermon  the  sacred  writers  comprehend  under 
the  two  divisions  of  Baslian  and  Gilead.     We  follow  this  division. 

I.  BASHAN. 

2.  Under  the  name  Baslian  the  sacred  writers  comprehend 
the  region  extending  from  the  base  of  Hermon  southward  to 
the  Hieromax,  the  modern  Tarmuk;  and  on  the  southeast  to 
Salcah,  the  Sulkhad  of  the  Arabs.     Dent.  3':  10;  Josh.  12:2 
4,   5.      This  country,  with   the  exception  apparently  of  "  the 
Hagarites,  with  Jetur  and  Nephish  and  Nodab  "  (in  all  proba 
bility  the  Iturcea  of  the  Romans,  a  small  province  on  the  north 
west  under  the  roots  of  Hermon,  subsequently  added  by  con 
quest  to  the  Hebrew  territory,  1  Chron.  5  : 18-23),  constituted, 
along  with  the  northern  part  of  Gilead,  the  dominion  of  "  Og 
the  king  of  Bashan."     After  his  destruction,  the  territory  of  Og 
was  all  given  to  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh.    Dent.  3  : 13.    The 
Baslian  of  the  Old  Testament  comprised,  accordingly,  the  region 
afterwards  constituting  the  four  Roman  provinces,  Gaiilonitis, 
AuranitiSj  Batancea,  and  Trachonitis  ;  to  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  region  afterwards  constituting  the  Eoman  Iturcea  was  added 
by  later  conquest.     Of  these  four  provinces  Gaulonitis,  the  mod 
ern  Jaulan,  lay  on  the  western  flank  of  Bashan,  and  Batannea  on 


174  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

its  extreme  eastern  border.  Between  these  provinces,  in  the 
middle  belt  of  Bashan,  lay,  on  the  northern  border,  Traclionitis, 
the  Lejali  of  the  modern  Arabs,  and  south  of  this  Auranitis,  the 
Hauran  of  Scripture  (Ezek.  47  : 16, 18),  a  name  which  the  Arabs 
have  retained  without  change  to  the  present  day.  Ituraea  lay 
northeast  of  Gaulonitis  towards  the  territory  of  Damascus. 

3.  Hermon  throws  off  from  its  southeastern  base  a  range  of 
low,  round-topped,  picturesque  hills  called  Jebel  HeisJi.  These 
extend  south  for  nearly  twenty  miles,  covered  in  part  with  for 
ests  of  oak  and  terebinths.  As  the  ridge  runs  south,  it  declines 
in  height,  until  it  is  lost  in  the  table-land  of  Gaulonitis  east  of 
the  sea  of  Galilee.  Seen  from  the  west,  this  region  appears  as 
a  continuous  range  of  purple-tinted  mountains  rising  up  ab 
ruptly  from  the  chasm  of  the  Jordan  (Porter,  Handbook  of 
Syria  and  Damascus.,  p.  278),  and  intersected  by  deep  ravines ; 
but  seen  from  the'  east,  it  is  found  to  be  an  elevated  plateau 
upwards  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  feet  in  height.  The 
greater  part  of  Gaulonitis  and  Auranitis  is  a  level  plain,  dotted, 
however,  here  and  there  with  conical  hills,  on  the  tops  of  which 
are  seen  the  remains  of  ancient  fortresses  and  villages.  The 
soil  is  very  rich  and  well  watered,  clothed  with  luxuriant  herb 
age,  and  adorned  with  groups  of  oak-trees  and  clumps  of  shrub 
bery.  Batansea,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  mountainous  region  of 
the  most  picturesque  character.  The  Druze  mountain  (Jebd- 
ed-Deruz),  running  from  north-northeast  to  south-southwest 
some  forty  or  fifty  miles,  occupies  a  large  part  of  this  division. 
It  is  mostly  volcanic  in  character,  and  has  several  lofty  peaks, 
having  an  elevation  of  between  five  and  six  thousand  feet.  The 
scenery  of  this  mountain  is  described  as  most  picturesque,  and 
its  soil  is  extremely  rich,  abounding  with  forests  of  evergreen 
oak. 

Balanaea  is  only  the  Greek  form  for  Bashan,  and  it  is  retained  in  the 
modern  Bailianyeli,  a  name  applied  to  the  region  and  to  a  small  town  on 
the  northern  declivity  of  the  mountain.  Hence  it  has  been  conjectured, 
not  without  reason,  that  Batancoa  was  the  original  Bashan,  the  name  hav 
ing  been  afterwards  extended  to  the  whole  country  north  of  the  Hieromax, 


PALESTINE.  175 

as  far  as  the  territory  of  Damascus.  In  like  manner  the  term  Hauran  is 
applied  in  a  wider  sense  to  a  large  district  of  plain  and  mountain  bounded 
on  the  west  by  the  Haj  road  (the  pilgrim  caravan  road),  on  the  north  by 
the  territory  of  Damascus,  and  on  the  east  by  the  desert ;  and  in  a  stricter 
sense,  to  the  plain  south  of  the  Lejah,  and  east  and  southeast  of  Batana?a. 
It  is  in  accordance  with  the  wider  sense  of  the  term  that  the  mountainoiis 
ridge  of  Batansea  is  often  called  by  the  Franks  Jebel  Hauran,  mountain  of 
Hauran. 

The  question  has  been  raised  whether  this  mountain  is  named  in  the 
Old  Testament.  In  Psa.  68  : 15,  16  we  read,  according  to  the  most  ap 
proved  rendering,  "  a  mount  of  God  is  the  mount  of  Bashan  ;  a  mount  of 
peaks  is  the  mount  of  Bashau.  Why  do  ye  envy,  ye  mounts,  ye  peaks, 
the  mountain  God  hath  desired  for  his  habitation  ?"  Kobinson  thinks 
that  the  force  of  the  antithesis  between  Mount  Zion  and  the  mount  of 
Bashan  requires  that  the  latter  be  the  loftiest  of  the  mountains  of  Pales 
tine,  and  therefore  Hermon,  ' '  which  may  be  said  to  cast  its  shadow  over 
the  whole  land  of  Bashan."  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  57.  This  reasoning  is  not 
conclusive.  If  the  sacred  writer  had  Herinon  in  mind,  no  reason  can  be 
assigned  why  he  should  not  have  called  it  Hermon.  The  description  of 
the  mount  of  Bashan  as  a  mount  of  peaks  applies  preeminently,  according 
to  Robinson's  own  description,  to  this  ridge  with  its  "many  isolated  higher 
hills  or  tells."  But  the  question  seems  to  be  settled  by  a  following  verse: 
"The  Lord  said,  I  will  bring  again  from  Bashan  ;  I  will  bring  my  people 
again  from  the  depths  of  the  sea. "  The  poet  is  evidently  at  home  in  the 
scenery  of  Bashan  ;  and  here  he  contrasts  the  fastnesses  and  hiding-places 
of  Mount  Bashau  on  the  eastern  border  of  Palestine  with  the  depths  of  the 
sea  on  the  western  border. 

4.  North  of  the  plain  of  Hauran  lies  the  singularly  wild 
region  called  by  tbe  Arabs  el-Lejah,  the  Asylum,  as  furnishing  a 
safe  retreat  to  persecuted  persons  and  outlaws.  This  is  the 
Trachonitis,  rough  country,  of  the  Greeks  and  Eomans;  and 
Porter  has  shown  by  satisfactory  arguments  that  it  is  the  Argob, 
stony  region,  of  the  Old  Testament,  at  least  the  nucleus  of  that 
region.  Five  Years  in  Damascus,  2,  pp.  268-272.  The  Lejah 
is  of  an  oval  shape,  about  twenty-two  miles  long  by  fourteen 
wide.  The  general  surface  is  elevated  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet 
above  the  surrounding  plain.  It  is  wholly  composed  of  black 
basalt  rock,  which  appears  to  have  issued  in  past  ages  from 
innumerable  pores  in  the  earth  in  a  liquid  state,  and  to  have 
flowed  out  on  every  side  until  the  plain  was  almost  covered.  It 


17(5  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

was  afterwards  rent  aiid  shattered  by  internal  convulsions.  It 
has  a  wavy  surface,  broken  by  deep  fissures  and  yawning  gulfs 
with  jagged  edges.  The  rock  is  filled  with  little  pits  and  pro 
tuberances,  like  air-bubbles,  is  as  hard  as  flint,  and  emits  when 
struck  a  sharp  metallic  sound.  The  border  is  almost  every 
where  as  clearly  defined  as  the  line  of  a  rocky  coast,  which 
indeed  it  very  much  resembles,  with  its  inlets,  bays,  and  prom 
ontories.  Its  borders  are  studded  with  ancient  towns,  some  of 
them  in  a  wonderful  state  of  preservation.  The  interior  con 
tains  towns  also  ;  one  of  them,  named  Dama,  having,  according 
to  Burckhardt,  about  three  hundred  houses,  most  of  them  still 
in  good  preservation.  Travels  in  Syria,  p.  110. 

In  the  days  of  Roman  rule  Trachonitis  was,  as  it  is  now,  the  retreat  of 
desperate  men  who  lived  by  robbery,  and  plundered  the  neighboring 
regions.  Josephus  describes  with  minuteness  their  abodes  in  caves  and 
houses  with  a  single  narrow  entrance,  but  within  of  incredible  magnitude. 
Their  houses,  he  tells  us,  were  all  built  of  stone,  with  low  stone  roofs  ;  and 
the  access  to  their  retreats  was  by  winding  paths,  which  only  a  guide  could 
know.  Autiq.,  15.  10.  1. 

5.  The  few  travellers  who  have  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  ex 
amining  the  region  of  Bashan  are  profuse  in  its  praises.  Por 
ter  says  of  its  wooded  hills  and  grassy  plains,  that  no  part  of 
Palestine  can  be  compared  with  them  in  fertility.  It  has  a 
deep,  black,  loamy  soil  of  wonderful  productiveness,  as  is  attested 
by  the  luxuriance  of  its  grass  and  its  teeming  crops  of  grain. 
Giant  Cities  of  Bashan,  p.  GO.  Beautiful  undulations  of  the 
richest  herbage,  varied  with  long  belts  of  dense  oak  forests, 
shrubberies  of  hawthorn  and  ilex,  and  a  profusion  of  bright 
wild  flowers,  offer  themselves  to  the  traveller's  gaze.  With  these 
descriptions  accord  the  scriptural  notices  of  Bashan.  The 
"  oaks  of  Bashan,"  the  "  bulls  of  Bashan,"  and  the  "  rams  of 
the  breed  of  Bashan"  are  familiar  to  all  readers  of  the  Old  Tes 
tament.  When  the  prophets  would  describe  the  desolation  of 
the  promised  land  they  say,  "  Lebanon  is  ashamed;  it  languish- 
eth;  Sharon  is  like  the  wilderness  (Arabalt)',  and  Bashan  and 
Carrael  cast  their  leaves"  (Isa.,  33:9);  "Bashan  languisheth, 


PALESTINE.  177 

anil  Carmel;  and  the  blooin  of  Lebanon  languisheth."  Nalmm 
1 : 4.  When  they  speak  of  the  restoration  of  Israel  in  the  latter 
day,  they  say :  "  I  will  bring  Israel  again  to  his  habitation,  and 
he  shall  feed  on  Carmel  and  Bashan :  and  his  soul  shall  be  sat 
isfied  on  Mount  Ephraim  and  Gilead"  (Jer.  50 : 19) ;  "  Feed  thy 
people  with  thy  rod,  the  flock  of  thine  heritage,  dwelling  solita 
rily  in  the  wood  in  the  midst  of  Carmel :  let  them  feed  on  Bashan 
and  Gilead,  as  in  the  days  of  old."  Micah  7 : 14.  Thus  Bashan 
comes  in  as  one  among  the  noble  parts  of  Palestine. 

6.  This  region  is  capable  of  sustaining,  and  it  did  once  sus 
tain,  an  immense  population,  as  is  evident  from  the  remains  of 
ancient  cities  and  villages  scattered  over  it ;  some  of  them  in  ruins, 
but  many  of  them  in  a  remarkable  state  of  preservation.  All 
that  is  needed  to  restore  the  ancient  prosperity  of  the  region  is 
a  strong  and  just  government,  which  should  protect  the  inhab 
itant  from  the  incursions  of  the  Arab  tribes  that  swarm  in  the 
eastern  desert,  and  secure  to  each  inhabitant  the  fruits  of  his 
industry.  But  the  feeble  sway  of  the  Turk  fulfils  neither  of 
these  conditions.  The  merciless  exactions  of  the  rulers  and  the 
ravages  of  the  Bedouins,  who  come  from  the  east  "like  grass 
hoppers  for  multitude,  and  their  camels  without  number,  as  the 
sand  by  the  seaside  for  multitude"  (Judg.  7  : 12),  have  converted 
the  greater  part  of  this  fertile  region  into  a  desolate  wilderness. 
Porter,  who  was  taken  captive  by  a  band  of  Arabs,  says :  "  Far 
as  the  eye  could  see,  the  plain  was  covered  with  countless  droves 
of  camels  and  flocks  of  sheep  and  horsemen  and  dromedaries 
laden  with  tents,  and  all  manner  of  furniture  and  utensils." 

Speaking  of  the  conquest  of  Og  the  king  of  Bashan,  Moses  says  :  "We 
took  all  his  cities  at  that  time,  there  was  not  a  city  that  we  took  not  from 
them,  three-score  cities,  all  the  region  of  Argob,  the  kingdom  of  Og  in 
Bashan.  All  these  cities  were  fenced  with  high  walls,  gates,  and  bars  ; 
besides  unwalled  towns  a  great  many"  (Deut.  3:4,  5);  and  again  (ver.  14), 
"Jail"  the  son  of  Manasseh  took  all  the  line  of  Argob  unto  the  boundary  <>{ 
the  Jeslmrite  and  the  Maachathitc  ;  and  called  them  after  his  own  name, 
Bashan-havoth-Jair  "  (that  is,  Basltan,  the  villages  of  Jair]  "unto  this  day." 
The  discoveries  of  modern  travellers  show  that  the  foregoing  statement 
of  three-score  cities  "fenced  with  high  walls,  gates,  and  bars;  besides 

8* 


178  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

unwalled  towns  a  great  many,"  is  no  ex:iirircratioii.  Van  de  Veldc'.s  map 
gives  the  names  of  more  than  thirty  deserted  towns  lying  around  the  bor 
der  of  the  Lejah  alone,  and  there  are  others  in  its  interior.  Such  towns 
appear  also  on  the  conical  hills  that  are  scattered  over  the  plain,  as  well  as 
in  the  mountains  of  Batansea.  The  styles  of  architecture  which  they 
exhibit  belong  to  different  and  distant  ages.  The  massive  structures  of 
the  primitive  inhabitants,  distinguished  for  simplicity  and  strength,  and 
many  of  them  remaining  perfect  to  the  present  day;  the  magnificent  ruins 
of  Greek  and  Roman  architecture  ;  the  "miserable  little  shops  and  quaint 
irregular  houses  "  of  the  Saracens — all  these  offer  themselves  to  the  travel 
ler's  notice. 

By  far  the  most  interesting  are  the  simple,  massive  stone  houses,  with 
stone  doors  and  low  stone  roofs,  which  are  believed  by  Porter  to  be  the 
remains  of  the  Rephaim  (giants  of  our  version),  a  gigantic  race  inhabiting 
this  region  at  the  time  of  the  conquest  by  Israel.  ' '  Many  of  the  houses 
in  the  ancient  cities  of  Bashan,"  says  Porter,  speaking  of  these  aboriginal 
dwellings  (Giant  Cities  of  Bashan,  pp.  19,  20),  "are  perfect,  as  if  only  fin 
ished  yesterday.  The  walls  are  sound,  the  roofs  unbroken,  the  doors,  and 
even  the  window-shutters  in  their  place."  "The  houses  of  Bashan  are 
not'  ordinary  houses.  Their  walls  are  from  five  to  eight  feet  thick,  built  of 
large  squared  blocks  of  basalt;  the  roofs  are  formed  of  slabs  of  the  same 
material,  hewn  like  planks,  and  reaching  from  wall  to  wall ;  the  very  doors 
and  wdndow-shutters  are  of  stone,  hung  upon  pivots  projecting  above  and 
below.  Some  of  these  ancient  cities  have  from  two  to  five  hundred  houses 
still  perfect,  but  not  a  man  to  dwell  in  them.  On  one  occasion,  from  the 
battlements  of  the  castle  of  Salcah,  I  counted  some  thirty  towns  and  villa 
ges,  dotting  the  surface  of  the  vast  plain,  many  of  them  almost  as  perfect 
as  when  they  were  built,  and  yet  for  more  than  five  centuries  there  has 
not  been  a  single  inhabitant  in  one  of  them."  In  describing  one  of  these 
houses  in  which  he  passed  the  night,  the  same  author  says:  "The  walls 
were  perfect,  nearly  five  feet  thick,  built  of  large  blocks  of  hewn  stones, 
without  lime  or  cement  of  any  kind.  The  roof  was  formed  of  large  slabs 
of  the  same  black  basalt,  lying  as  regularly  and  jointed  as  closely  .as  if  the 
workmen  had  only  just  completed  them.  They  measured  twelve  feet  in 
length,  eighteen  inches  in  breadth,  and  six  inches  in  thickness.  The  ends 
rested  on  a  plain  stone  cornice,  projecting  about  a  foot  from  each  side- 
wall.  The  chamber  was  twenty  feet  long,  twelve  wide,  and  ten  high. 
The  outer  door  was  a  slab  of  stone  four  and  a  half  feet  high,  four  Avide, 
and  eight  inches  thick.  It  hung  upon  pivots  formed  of  projecting  parts 
of  the  slab,  working  in  sockets  in  the  lintel  and  threshold;  and  though  so 
massive,  I  was  able  to  open  and  shut  it  with  ease.  At  one  end  of  the  room 
was  a  small  window  with  a  stone  shutter."  An  inner  door  of  stone  led  to 
another  chamber  of  the  same  size  and  appearance.  From  it  a  much  largor 


PALESTINE.  171' 

door  led  to  a  third  chamber,  to  which  tlinv  was  a  descent  by  a  flight  of 
stone  steps.  This  last  chamber  was  a  spacious  hall  twenty-four  feet  by 
twenty-five,  and  twenty  feet  high.  From  it  a  camel's  gate  opened  to  the 
street.  Ib.,  p.  26.  While  these  simple  massive  structures,  which  have  all 
the  marks  of  high  antiquity,  remain  many  of  them  uninjured,  the  magnifi 
cent  temples  and  theatres  of  the  Roman  age  have  fallen  into  ruin. 

7.  Of  the  ancient  towns  of  Bashaii  we  have  room  to  give 
only  a  cursory  notice  of  the  following : 

Bozrah,  that  is,  fortress,  stronghold,  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  rich  plain 
on  the  southern  boundary  of  Hanraii.  It  is  the  Bostra  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  and  the  Busrah  of  the  modern  Arabs.  It  was  a  strong  city  in  the 
time  of  the  Maccabees  across  the  Jordan,  "three  days'  journey  in  the  wil 
derness"  (1  Mac.  5:24,  seq.),  and  became  the  capital  city  of  the  region 
under  Roman  sway.  "It  was,"  says  Porter,  "one  of  the  largest  and  most 
splendid  cities  east  of  the  Jordan.  Its  walls  are  four  miles  in  circuit,  and 
they  do  not  include  the  suburbs."  On  the  southern  side  is  the  celebrated 
citadel,  of  great  size  and  strength,  and  still  nearly  perfect.  Some  parts  of 
the  city  walls  are  still  standing,  a  massive  rampart  of  solid  masonry,  fifteen 
feet  thick,  and  nearly  thirty  high,  with  great  square  towers  at  intervals. 
The  streets  are  blocked  up  with  fallen  buildings  and  heaps  of  rubbish — 
the  r.uins  of  theatres,  temples,  churches,  palaces,  baths,  fountains,  aque 
ducts,  triumphal  arches,  and  other  structures,  mingled  with  Saracenic 
remains.  "Bozrah,"  says  Porter,  "had  once  a  population  of  a  hundred 
thousand  souls  or  more  ;  when  I  was  there  its  whole  inhabitants  comprised 
just  twenty  families.  These  live  huddled  together  in  the  lower  stories  of 
some  very  ancient  houses  near  the  castle." 

This  Bozrah  must  be  carefully  distinguished  from  the  Bozrah  of  Edom, 
southeast  of  the  Dead  sea.  The  question  has  been  raised  whether  it  is 
mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament.  Porter  thinks  that  it  is  once  named  as 
a  city  of  Moab,  in  connection  with  Kiriathaim,  Beth-gamul,  Beth-Meou, 
and  Keriotli  (Jer.  48:23,  24)  ;  of  which  places  Beth-gamul  certainly  be 
longs  to  the  plain  of  Hauran.  This  was  at  a  time  when  the  Moabites  had 
repossessed  themselves  of  this  whole  region.  See  below,  No.  13.  For  a 
full  account  of  Bozrah,  see  Porter's  Five  Years  in  Damascus,  2,  pp.  142- 
169  ;  Giant  Cities  of  Bashau,  pp.  64-73. 

Salcah,  the  modern  Sitlkhacl,  in  the  southeastern  extremity  of  Bashau, 
has  been  long  deserted ;  yet  Porter  says  (Giant  Cities  of  Bashan,  p.  75) 
that  "five  hundred  of  its  houses  are  still  standing,  and  from  three  to  four 
hundred  families  might  settle  in  it  at  any  moment  Avithout  laying  a  stone 
or  expending  an  hour's  labor  on  repairs.  The  circumference  of  the  town 
and  castle  together  is  about  three  miles." 


180  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

In  Um  t'l-f/nniil,  mother  of  conn-lx,  some  eight  or  ten  miles  southwest  of 
Bozrah,  we  may  recognize  the  Beth-yamnl,  place  of  camels,  of  Jeremiah 
cited  above.  It  is  another  of  the  deserted  cities  of  Hauran,  surrounded 
by  high  walls,  with  massive  houses  of  black  basalt,  "  in  as  perfect  preserva 
tion  as  if  the  city  had  been  inhabited  until  within  the  last  few  years." 
Porter  as  above,  p.  69. 

Og  the  king  of  Bashan  is  represented  as  dwelling  at  Ashtaroth,  and  twice 
at  Ashtaroth  and  Edrei,  at  which  latter  place  he  was  overthrown  by  the  Isra 
elite^.  Numb.  21  : 33-35  ;  Deut.  1  : 4;  Josh.  9  : 10  ;  12  :4;  13  : 12,  31.  Edrei 
is  probably  the  modern  Edhra,  in  a  very  strong  position  at  the  south  western 
angle  of  the  Lejah ;  not  Dera,  some  fourteen  miles  south  of  Edhra,  in  the 
open  plain.  Its  ruins  are  among  the  most  extensive  in  Hauran.  See  far 
ther  Porter  in  Alexander's  Kitto  ;  Five  Years  in  Damascus,  2,  pp.  219--228. 
The  site  of  Ashtaroth  is  unknown.  It  was  probably  identical  with  Ashta- 
rotli  Karnaim  ( Tiro-horned  Aslartes,  probably  so  named  from  the  numerous 
images  there  found  of  Astarte,  with  crescent-like  horns,  one  of  which  is 
described  by  Porter,  Giant  Cities  of  Bashan,  p.  41  and  elsewhere),  a  city 
mentioned  in  Gen.  14  :  5  ;  and  also  with  the  Karnain  of  1  Maccabees  5  :  43. 
Eusebius  places  it  six  Roman  miles  from  Edrei. 

KunawcU,  the  Kanatha  or  Kanotlia  of  the  Greeks,  is  undoubtedly  the 
Kenath  of  the  Old  Testament.  Numb.  32  : 42  ;  1  Chron.  2  :  23.  It  stands 
in  the  mountainous  region  of  Batanaea,  in  a  beautiful  and  romantic  posi 
tion.  Its  magnificent  ruins  cover  a  space  of  one  mile  long  by  half  a  mile 
wide. 

For  fuller  notices  of  the  deserted  cities  scattered  over  this  most  inter 
esting  region  the  reader  must  be  referred  to  the  three  works  of  Porter  so 
often  referred  to  above,  and  from  which  most  of  our  notices  have  been 
drawn. 

II.  GILEAD. 

.  8.  The  whole  region  east  of  the  Jordan,  from  the  Arnon, 
which  bounded  the  kingdom  of  Sihon  on  the  south  (Numb. 
21 : 26),  to  Bashan,  is  variously  described — as  "  the  land  of 
Jazer  and  the  land  of  Gilead  "  (Numb.  32  : 1) ;  as  "  all  the  cities 
of  the  plain  (Heb.  Misltor)  and  all  Gilead "  (Deut.  3 : 10) ;  as 
"  all  the  plain  of  Medeba  unto  Dibon,  and  all  the  cities  of  Sihon 
king  of  the  Amorites,  who  reigned  in  Heshbon,  imto  the  border 
of  the  children  of  Ammon,  and  Gilead."  Josh.  13  :  9-11.  Com 
pare  also  ver.  25 ;  20  :  8 ;  Deut.  2  :  36.  Gilead,  again,  is  repre 
sented  as  divided  by  the  Jabbok,  which  separated  the  kingdom 


PALESTINE.  181 

of  Silion  from  that  of  Og,  into  two  parts,  each  called  "  half  Gil- 
ead."  Josh.  12  :  2,  5.  It  would  seem,  then,  that  originally  Gil- 
ead  consisted  of  two  divisions  lying  north  and  south  of  the  Jab- 
bok;  while  farther  south  lay  the  region  variously  designated 
"the  land  of  Jazer,"  "  Jazer  and  the  villages  thereof"  (Numb. 
21 :32),  "the  plain  of  Medeba,"  "the  land  of  the  plain."  Deut. 
4 : 43.  But  the  term  Gilead  came  to  be  used  in  a  wider  sense 
of  the  whole  tract  between  the  Arnon  and  Bashan,  and  so  we 
employ  it  here. 

The  northern  boundary  of  Gilead  is  nowhere  expressly  given.  The 
mountain  range  of  Gilead,  however,  terminates  with  the  Hierornax,  which 
enters  the  Jordan  a  little  south  of  the  sea  of  Galilee,  while  north  of  this 
river  the  plain  of  Bashan  is  spread  out.  Here,  then,  is  the  natural  division 
between  Bashan  and  Gilead.  By  a  looseness  of  expression  the  term  Gil 
ead  seems  to  have  been  sometimes  applied  to  the  whole  region  beyond  tho 
Jordan.  Deut,  34  : 1 ;  Josh.  22  : 9  ;  Judg.  20  : 1. 

The  term  Mislior,  plain,  table-land,  is  applied,  as  a  geographical  term, 
to  the  highlands  of  southern  Gilead  (Deut.  3  : 10  ;  4  : 43  ;  Josh.  13  :  9,  16, 
17,  21  ;  20  : 8  ;  Jer.  48  : 21),  and  should  not  be  confounded,  as  is  done  in 
our  version,  with  the  ShepJielah,  or  lowland  of.  the  Mediterranean  coast ;  nor 
with  the  Arabali,  waste,  and  kikkar,  circuit,  of  the  Jordan  valley. 

9.  South  of  the  Hierornax  the  mountains  that  had  disap 
peared  rise  again,  rather  suddenly,  along  the  valley  of  the  Jor 
dan,  constituting  the  northern  part  of  Gilead  between  the  Hie- 
romax  and  the  Jabbok.  The  western  side  of  these  mountains 
presents  steep  slopes  or  steps,  with  intervening  terraces  and 
fertile  tracts.  The  summit,  in  the  northern  parts,  forms  a  broad 
ridge  of  uneven  table-land.  Robinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  58. 
This  region  called  Jebel  Ajlun,  Ajlun  mountain,  is  populous  and 
well  cultivated.  The  Rev.  Eli  Smith,  who  travelled  through  it 
in  1834,  says :  "  Jebel  Ajlun  presents  the  most  charming  rural 
scenery  that  I  have  seen  in  Syria.  A  continued  forest  of  noble 
trees,  chiefly  the  evergreen  oak  (Sindian),  covers  a  large  part  of 
it,  while  the  ground  beneath  is  clothed  with  luxuriant  grass, 
which  we  found  a  foot  or  more  in  height,  and  decked  with  a 
rich  variety  of  wild  flowers.  As  we  went  from  el-Husn  to  Ajlun, 
our  path  lay. along  the  very  summit  of  the  mountain,  and  we 


182  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

often  overlooked  a  large  part  of  Palestine  011  one  side,  and  the 
whole  of  Hauran  on  the  other."  Second  Appendix  to  Robin- 
son's  Bib.  Res.,  3,  p.  162,  edit.  1841. 

10.  "  South  of  the  Jabbok,  and  extending  from  it  to  the 
deep  chasm  of  the  Arnon,  is  the  range  of  mountains  forming 
the  southern  part  of  Gilead."  "  From  the  Jabbok  and  from  the 
Jordan  valley  the  mountain  rises  steeply  to  a  high  uneven 
tract,  on  which,  after  an  interval  of  two  hours,  lies  the  still 
higher  ridge  of  Jebel  Jelad  (Gilead),  so  called  from  a  ruined 
town  upon  it."  Robinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  59.  The  elevation 
of  this  mountain  is  given  at  three  thousand  six  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  above  the  Mediterranean.  From  its  summit  there  is  a 
very  wide  and  splendid  prospect.  The  slopes  are  clothed  with 
forests  of  oak  and  other  trees.  Es-Salt,  the  ancient  Ramotli 
Gi/rdd,  that  is,  Heights  of  Gilead,  lies  near  the  southern  foot  of 
Jebel  Jelad.  "  For  six  or  eight  miles  south  of  es-Salt  the  coun 
try  continues  hilly,  richly  wooded,  and  picturesque.  Farther 
south  it  spreads  out  into  a  high  and  wide  plain,  apparently  on 
a  level  with  the  eastern  desert,  and  bordered  towards  it  by  a 
chain  of  hills."  Robinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  60.  This  is  the 
J//'.s//o/',  jift  i  in.  or  table-land,  described  above,  which  Robinson 
thinks  to  be  not  less  than  three  thousand  feet  above  the  Medi 
terranean,  or  four  thousand  three  hundred  above  the  Dead  sea. 
Ib.,  p.  61. 

The  whole  of  Gilead  south  of  the  Jabbok  constitutes  the 
modern  district  el-Belka,  the  Belka.  The  ridge  of  the  Belka 
rises  more  gradually  from  the  Jordan  valley,  but  along  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  Dead  sea,  all  becomes  wild  and  pre 
cipitous —  a  bare  gray  ridge,  deeply  furrowed  by  mountain- 
torrents,  which  cut  through  it  from  the  high  plateau  above. 
After  ascending  some  three  thousand  feet,  we  come  upon  an 
irregular  table-land,  diversified  with  undulating  downs,  low 
ridges,  and  stony  tells.  It  is  partially  covered  with  grass  such 
as  is  rarely  met  with  in  Western  Palestine,  except  among  the 
hills  of  Galilee  and  on  the  ridge  of  Carmel.  These  are  the  pas 
ture-lands  of  Reuben  and  Gad.  The  whole  district  is  well 


PALESTINE.  183 

described  as  "  a  land  for  cattle"  (Numb.  32  : 1,  4);  and  Stanley 
(Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  318,  319)  well  remarks  on  the  impor 
tant  results  which  followed  from  the  fact  that  it  was  on  the 
western,  not  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan  valley,  that  the 
.great  body  of  the  Israelites  settled.  Thus  they  were  made  an 
agricultural  instead  of  a  nomadic  people,  and  brought  into  con 
nection  with  the  western  world  in  the  way  of  both  giving  and 
receiving. 

It  was  from  one  of  the  mountains  of  the  Belka  that  Moses  surveyed  the 
promised  land  :  "Get thee  up  into  this  mountain  of  Abarim*  Mount  Nebo, 
which  is  in  the  -land  of  Moab,  that  is  over  against  Jericho  "  (Deut.  32  :  49) ; 
"And  Moses  went  up  from  the  plains  of  Moab  unto  Mount  Nebo,  the  top 
of  Pisgah,  which  is  over  against  Jericho."  Deut.  34  : 1.  "  The  plains  of 
Moab  "  and  "the  land  of  Moab  "  are  so  called  from  the  fact  that  this  whole 
region  had  belonged  to  the  territory  of  Moab,  and  had  been  but  recently 
wrested  from  the  Moabites  by  Sihon  king  of  the  Amorites.  Numb.  21 ;  26. 
Abarim  signifies  regions  beyond,  that  is,  east  of  the  Jordan  valley.  "This 
mountain  of  Abarim  "  is  simply  the  mountain  range  on  the  eastern  side, 
opposite  to  Jericho.  The  scriptural  notices  of  Pisgah  (division)  indicate 
that  it  was  a  ridge  divided  into  summits,  of  which  the  field  of  Zopliim  (Numb. 
23  : 14),  Pew  (Numb.  23:28),  and  Nebo  (Deut.  32  :49  ;  34  :1)  were  parts. 
"  Under  the  springs  of  Pisgah  "  (Deut.  3  : 17  ;  4  : 49  ;  Josh.  12  : 3)  might  be 
better  rendered,  under  the  ravines  of  Pisgah ;  that  is,  under  its  western 
brow,  which  is  cut  up  with  ravines  ;  but  either  way,  the  expression  is  more 
appropriate  to  a  ridge  than  to  a  particular  summit.  "The  mountain  of 
Nebo,  the  top  of  Pisgah"  (as  we  may  literally  render  the  words),  is  then 
the  summit  called  Nebo  on  the  ridge  of  Pisgali.  As  this  ridge  lies  "over 
against  Jericho,"  we  can  have  no  difficulty  in  identifying  it  with  the  high 
mountain  brow  overlooking  the  mouth  of  the  Jordan.  But  which  partic 
ular  summit  Moses  ascended  we  cannot  determine.  Tristram  (Land  of 
Israel,  pp.  535-538)  describes  the  "glorious  panorama"  from  these  heights, 
extending  south  "to  Mount  Hor  and  Seir,  and  the  rosy  granite  peaks  of 
Arabia  ;"  southwest  and  west  to  the  ridge  of  Hebron  as  far  as  Bethlehem 
and  Jerusalem;  northwest  to  Gerizim,  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  and  "the 
utmost  sea"  beyond  ;  north  to  Tabor  and  Hermon  ;  northeast  to  the  vast 
Hauran  and  the  tall  range  of  Jebel  Hauran,  behind  Bozrah  ;  eastward  and 
southeastward  over  the  "boundless  plain,  stretching  far  into  Arabia,  till 
lost  in  the  horizon — one  waving  ocean  of  corn  and  grass." 

It  was  from  the  same  heights  that  Balaam,  with  Balak  and  the  princes 
of  Moab,  surveyed  the  Israeli tish  camp  lying  below  on  "the  plains  of 
Moab. "  They  ar£  called  ' '  the  high  places  of  Baal "  (Numb.  22  : 41)  because 


184  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Baal  was  worshipped  there,  apparently  on  the  top  of  Peor,  whence  his 
name  Baal-peor.  Numb.  25  : 3,  5.  From  "  the  field  of  Zophim  on  the  top 
of  Pisgah  (Numb.  23  : 14)  Balaam  could  see  only  ' '  the  utmost  part  of  the 
people "(ver.  13);  but  from  "the  top  of  Peor  that  looketh  toward  Jeshi- 
nion  "  (the  wilderness)  "he  saw  Israel  abiding  in  his  tents  according  t<> 
their  tribes,"  and  exclaimed:  ' ;  How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  O  Jacob,  and 
thy  tabernacles,  O  Israel !  As  the  valleys  are  they  spread  forth,  as  gar 
dens  by  the  river's  side,  as  the  trees  of  lign-aloes  which  the  Lord  hath 
planted,  and  as  cedar-trees  beside  the  waters."  Numb.  24  :2,  5,  6. 

Tristram  estimates  the  height  of  this  brow  at  not  less  than  four  thou 
sand  five  hundred  feet.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that,  with  such  rims 
opportunities  for  surveying  this  region,  he  had  neither  compass  nor 
barometer. 

11.  The  three  principal  rivers  of  Gilead  are  the  Yarmuk,  the 
Jahbok,  and  the  Arnon. 

The  Yarmuk  is  the  Hieromax  of  the  ancients.  It  flows  along  the 
northern  border  of  Gilead,  having  its  remote  fountains  in  the  ravines  on 
the  western  slope  of  Jebel  Hauran,  and  receiving  also  some  tributaries 
from  Jebel  Heish  and  Gaulonitis.  It  exists  as  a  permanent  stream  only  in 
the  lower  part  of  its  course.  Here  it  flows  through  a  deep  and  wild  ravine, 
the  sides  of  which  are  rugged  cliffs  of  basalt.  North  of  Um  Keis  are  the 
hot  springs  of  Amatha,  rising  up  in  the  bottom  of  the  chasm.  The  water 
is  beautifully  clear,  but  has  a  strong  smell  of  sulphur,  and  deposits  a  yel 
low  sulphureous  crust  upon  the  stones.  They  are  much  resorted  to  for 
medicinal  purposes. 

The  Jabbok,  now  the  Nyhr  ez-Ze?'ka  (river  Zei-ka),  enters  the  Jordan 
nearly  opposite  Nabulus,  and  about  halfway  between  the  sea  of  Galilee 
and  the  Dead  sea.  It  has  its  remotest  sources  in  the  plateau  east  of  the 
mountains,  through  which  it  breaks  down  by  a  deep  chasm  to  the  Jordan. 
In  summer  the  upper  branches  become  dry,  and  it  dwindles  to  a  small 
stream  ;  but  in  winter  the  river  is  often  swollen  and  impassable.  Travel 
lers  describe  its  banks  as  fringed  throughout  nearly  its  whole  course  with 
thickets  of  cane  and  oleander.  It  separates,  as  stated  above,  the  province 
of  Jebel  Ajlun  from  the  Belka. 

The  Zurka  Main  and  the  Arnon,  now  the  Wady  el-Mojib,  which  flows 
into  the  Dead  sea,  have  been  already  noticed  (Chap.  4,  No.  32).  The 
Arnon  forms  the  southern  boundary  of  Gilead,  separating  it  from  the 
proper  territory  of  Moab. 

12.  This  region,  now  in  great  part  desolate  through  the 
exactions  of  the  Turkish  officials  and  the  ravages  of  the  fierce 


PALESTINE.  185 

Arab  tribes,  is  capable  of  supporting  a  numerous  population, 
and  it  contains  the  ruins  of  many  ancient  cities. 

Gadura,  the  Um  Keis  of  the  Arabs,  stood  on  a  partially  isolated  hill  at 
the  north  western  extremity  of  the  mountains  of  Gilead,  three  miles  south 
of  the  Hieromax.  Its  site  is  five  miles  east  of  the  Jordan,  and  about  six 
southeast  of  the  sea  of  Galilee.  It  was  a  large  and  splendid  city,  and  at 
one  time  the  capital  of  Perasa.  Its  ruins  occupy  a  space  of  about  two 
miles  in  circuit,  and  there  are  traces  of  the  ancient  wall  all  round.  At  the 
base  of  the  mountain,  by  the  Hieromax,  as  already  remarked,  are  the  cele 
brated  warm  springs  called  Amatha  by  the  ancients.  From  Gadara  the 
adjacent  district  is  called  "the  country  of  the  Gadarenes."  Mark  5:1; 
Luke  8  : 26.  The  northeastern  declivity  is  full  of  tombs  excavated  in 
the  limestone  rock,  and  consisting  of  chambers  of  various  sizes,  some 
above  twenty  feet  square,  with  deep  recesses  in  the  sides  for  bodies.  In 
such  tombs  the  demoniacs  whom  our  Lord  healed  had  their  abode.  Matt. 
8  :  28  ;  Mark  5  :  2,  3,  5 ;  Luke  8  : 27^  For  fuller  notices  of  this  place,  see 
Porter's  Handbook,  pp.  319,  320,  and  his  articles  in  Smith's  Bib.  Diet, 
and  Alexander's  Kitto. 

Gerasa,  the  modern  Jerclsli,  lay  on  the  eastern  border  of  Pera?a,  some 
twenty  miles  east  of  the  Jordan,  and  more  than  that  distance  southeast  of 
Gadara.  Porter  says  that  its  ruins  are  by  far  the  most  beautiful  and  exten 
sive  east  of  the  Jordan.  The  form  of  the  city  was  an  irregular  square, 
each  side  measuring  a  mile.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  strong  wall,  with 
towers  at  intervals,  much  of  which  is  still  in  a  good  state  of  preservation. 
Three  gateways  are  still  perfect ;  and  within  the  city  upwards  of  two  hun~ 
dred  and  thirty  columns  remain  on  their  pedestals.  See  Porter's  Handbook, 
pp.  311-316  ;  also  Burckhardt's  Travels  in  Syria,  and  Tristram's  Land  of 
Israel,  pp.  560,  581. 

A  few  miles  below  Beth-shean,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley,  there 
comes  down  from  the  mountains  of  Gilead  a  wady  called  Y&bis,  the  exact 
Arabic  representative  of  the  Hebrew  Jabesh.  On  the  south  side  of  the 
wady  are  the  ruins  called  Maklub,  with  no  hewn  stones  distinguishable  ; 
and  farther  down  on  the  same  side  the  more  extensive  ruins  known  as  ed- 
Deir,  which  Dr.  Robinson  conjectures  to  be  the  site  of  the  ancient  Jabesh- 
Gilead.  To  this  Tristram,  who  visited  both  ruins  in  1864,  gives  his  assent. 
The  position  answers  well  to  the  scriptural  notices  of  Jabesh-Gilead,  and 
is,  moreover,  six  miles  from  Pella,  the  distance  specified  by  Eusebius  and 
Jerome  in  their  Onomasticon,  art,.  Jabis-Gctlaad. 

Jabesh-Gilead  first  appears  in  the  Old  Testament  in  connection  with 
the  terrible  vengeance  visited  upon  it  by  the  Israelitish  tribes  because  its 


186  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

inhabitants  had  neglected  to  aid  them  in  punishing  the  Benjamites  (Judg. 
21  :8-12);  then  again  as  besieged  by  the  Ammonites  and  delivered  by  Saul 
(1  Sam.,  chap.  11),  an  act  which  they  afterwards  remembered  and  requited 
when  they  secretly  removed  the  headless  bodies  of  Saul  and  his  sons  from 
the  wall  of  Beth-shean,  burned  them,  and  interred  their  ashes  ''under  a 
tree  at  Jabesh,  and  fasted  seven  days."  1  Sam.  31  : 11-13. 

Pella  is  not  named  in  the  Bible,  but  has  become  celebrated  throughout 
Christendom  as  the  place  to  which  the  Christians  of  Jerusalem  withdrew 
for  safety  before  the  siege  and  overthrow  of  the  city  by  Titus.  Eusebius 
(Hist.  Eccl.,  3.  5)  says  that  they  did  this  in  accordance  with  a  revelation 
made  to  the  approved  among  them  before  the  war.  Robinson  has  satis 
factorily  identified  the  site  of  Pella  in  the  ruins  upon  a  low  flat  tell  or 
mound  standing  upon  a  narrow  plain  called  by  the  Arabs  Tubakat  F< '/«'/, 
Terrace  of  Ftthil.  It  is  about  six  miles  from  Pella  to  Jabcsh-Gilead,  on 
the  road  across  the  mountain  to  Gerasa,  as  given  by  Eusebius  and  Jerome. 
See  farther  in  Robinson's  Bib.  Res.,  3,  pp.  321-325. 

The  site  of  Eamoth-  Gilead,  that  is,  Heights  of  Gilead,  has  already  been 
mentioned  as  probably  that  of  the  village  es-Satt,  about  two  miles  south 
east  of  the  highest  peak  of  Mount  Gilead.  It  lay  in  the  territory  of  Gad. 
Josh.  20  :  8.  ' :  The  situation  is  strong  and  picturesque.  The  hill  on  which 
it  stands  is  separated  by  deep  ravines  from  the  higher  mountains  that 
encompass  it ;  and  its  lower  slopes  are  covered  with  terraced  vineyards, 
while  the  neighboring  hillsides  and  valleys  abound  with  olive  groves.  On 
the  summit  stands  the  castle,  a  rectangular  building  with  towers  at  the 
corners,  and  defended  by  a  deep  moat  hewn  in  the  rock."  Porter  in  Alex 
ander's  Eitto.  It  was  one  of  the  three  cities  of  refuge  east  of  the  Jordan. 
Deut.  4:43. 

The  scriptural  history  of  RamotJi-Gilead  is  well  known.  In  the  reign 
of  Ahab  it  was  held  by  the  Syrians.  This  monarch,  with  Jehoshaphat 
king  of  Judah,  marched  against  it  contrary  to  the  prophetic  warning  of 
Micaiah,  and  was  mortally  wounded  in  the  assault.  1  Kings,  chap.  22. 
The  struggle  was  renewed  by  Jorain,  the  grandson  of  Ahab  (2  Kings  8  : 28, 
29),  and  apparently  with  success;  for  we  find  Jehu,  one  of  his  captains, 
at  Ramoth-Gilead.  There  he  was  anointed  as  king  in.Joram's  stead,  and 
thence  he  rode  in  a  chariot  to  Jezreel,  and  executed  vengeance  upon  the 
house  of  Ahab.  2  Kings,  chap.  9. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  the  site  of  MaJtanaim,  where  the  angels 
of  God  met  Jacob  (Gen.  32  :  2),  and  in  later  times  an  important  walled  town. 
Here  Abner  made  Ishbosheth,  Saul's  son,  king  after  the  death  of  that 
monarch  (2  Sam.  2:8,  9) ;  here  David  also  had  his  headquarters  when  he 
fled  from  Absalom  (2  Sam.  17  : 24,  27) ;  and  to  the  same  place  apparently 
tidings  of  Joab's  victory  over  Absalom  and  Absalom's  death  were  brought 


PALESTINE.  187 

to  David  (2  Sam.  18  : 3  compared  with  verses  24,  33).  The  search  for  the 
site  of  this  place  has  hitherto  proved  fruitless.  Mahanaim  lay  on  the  bor 
der  between  the  tribes  of  Gad  and  Manasseh  (Josh.  13  : 26,  30),  and  also 
on  the  western  border  of  the  highland  of  Gilead  adjacent  to  the  Jordan 
valley;  for  when  Ahimaaz  ran  from  the  field  of  battle  to  Mahanaim  he 
"ran  by  the  way  of  the  circuit  (kikkar),  and  overran  Cushi"  (2  Sam. 
18  :  23),  who  seems  to  have  taken  a  more  direct  but  rougher  route  over  the 
highland.  The  coast  of  Gad,  again,  extended  evidently  in  a  northern 
direction,  "  from  Heshbon  unto  Ramath-Mizpah  and  Betonim  ;"  and  then, 
apparently  in  an  easterly  course,  "from  Mahanaim  unto  the  border  of 
Debir."  Josh.  13  :  26.  We  are  to  look  then  for  the  site  of  Mahanaim  in 
the  northwestern  corner  of  the  highland  of  Gilead  near  to  the  Jabbok ; 
the  battle  being,  as  we  may  suppose,  in  the  heavily-wooded  and  rough 
region  farther  south  (2  Sam.  18  : 6-9),  where  oak  forests  abound  to  the 
present  day.  See  above,  No.  9. 

13.  The  southern  part  of  the  Belka  east  of  the  Dead  sea 
contains  the  ruins  of  many  ancient  cities,  some  of  which  have 
preserved  more  or  less  perfectly  their  ancient  names,  by  means 
of  which  they  can  be  identified.  At  the  time  of  the  conquest  of 
Canaan  by  the  Israelites  these  belonged  to  the  territory  of  Sihon 
king  of  the  Amorites,  "  who  had  fought  against  the  former  king 
of  Moab,  and  taken  all  his  land  out  of  his  hand,  even  unto 
Arnon."  Numb.  21 :  26.  But  upon  the  decline  and  fall  of  the 
kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes,  which  included  all  the  region  east  of 
the  Jordan,  the  Moabites  repossessed  themselves  of  this  region  ;  and 
hence  its  cities  are  named  by  the  prophets  as  belonging  to 
Moab.  See  Isa.  chaps..  15,  16 ;  Jer.  chap.  48 ;  Ezek.  25 : 8-11. 
Among  these  cities  may  be  named  Heshbon,  Elealeh,  Baal- 
raeon,  Medeba,  Kiriathaiin,  Dibon,  and  Aroer. 

Heshbon  is  the  modern  Hesbdn.  It  stood  twenty-one  miles  east  of 
the  northern  end  of  the  Dead  sea.  The  ruins  of  the  town  cover  the 
sides  of  an  insulated  hill,  but  not  a  single  edifice  is  left  entire.  Hesh 
bon  was  the  residence  of  Sihon.  Numb.  21 : 26  ;  Dent.  4  :  46.  The  ruins 
of  Elealeh,  the  modern  el-dl  (the  height),  lie  a  mile  northeast  of  Hesh 
bon,  on  the  summit  of  a  conical  hill  commanding  a  wide  extent  of 
country.  In  the  vicinity  of  Heshbon  was  a  place  called  Beth-baal-meon 
(Josh.  13  : 17),  and  in  shorter  forms  Beth-meon  (Jer.  48  :23)  and  Baal-meon 
(Numb.  32:38;  1  Chron.  5:8).  At  the  distance  of  two  miles  southeast 
of  Heshbon  Burckhardt  found  ruins  called  Myoun  (or,  as  Dr.  Eli  Smith 


188  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

corrects  it,  M<im},  which  arc  supposed  to  be  those  of  the  old  Moabitish 
town.  Medeba  is  the  Madeba  of  the  Arabs.  The  ruins  lie  about  four 
miles  southeast  of  Heshbon,  with  which  they  are  connected  by  an  ancient 
paved  road.  They  occupy  a  low  hill  a  mile  and  a  half  in  circumference, 
but  not  a  solitary  building  remains  standing.  Kiriathaim  is  supposed  by 
Porter  to  be  the  modern  Kureiydi  which  lies  on  the  southwestern  slope  of 
Jebel  Attarus;  but  Grove  (in  Smith's  Bib.  Diet.)  dissents.  The  ruins  of 
Dibon,  still  retaining  the  name  in  the  modern  Dltiban,  lie  some  four  miles 
north  of  the  Arnon.  In  Isa.  15  : 9  it  is  called  Dimon  for  the  sake  of  an 
alliteration  with  the  following  noun:  "The  waters  of  Dimon  are  full  of 
blood  (Heb.  dam}.  Aroer  stood  south  of  Dibon  on  the  brow  of  the. 
precipice  overhanging  the  Arnon.  Its  ruins  bear  the  modern  name^nw-. 
It  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Aroer  farther  north,  before  Rabbah, 
which  belonged  to  the  Gadites  (Josh.  13  : 25).  Aroer  was  in  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  Israelitish  territory  east  of  the  Jordan  valley  and  Dead 
sea.  It  extended  from  Aroer,  which  is  by  the  bank  of  the  river  Arnon, 
even  unto  Mount  Sion,  which  is  Hermon"  (Deut.  4:48);  just  as  on  the 
western  side  it  reached  from  Beersheba  on  the  border  of  the  southern 
wilderness  to  Dan  at  the  base  of  Hermon.  See  farther  in  the  Handbook 
of  Porter  and  his  articles  in  Alexander's  Kit  to,  also  Grove's  articles  in 
Smith's  Bible  Dictionary. 

14.  The  present  condition  of  the  land  of  promise,  which  has 
now  been  surveyed  in  its  whole  extent,  is  a  solemn  commentary 
on  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament;  prophecies  written 
centuries  before  the  advent  of  Christ,  and  the  fulfilment  of  which 
depended,  under  God's  all-comprehending  providence,  upon 
trains  of  events  which  no  human  sagacity  could  foresee.  More 
terribly  than  in  the  Babylonish  captivity  are  fulfilled  the  words 
of  inspiration  in  answer  to  the  prophet's  inquiry  how  long  the 
blindness  of  the  covenant  people  should  continue:  "Until  the 
cities  be  wasted  without  inhabitant,  and  the  houses  without 
man,  and  the  land  be  made  desolate  with  desolation ;  and  the 
Lord  have  removed  man  far  away,  and  the  forsaking  be  great 
in  the  midst  of  the  land.  Isa.  6:11,  12.  The  land  of  promise 
is,  indeed,  not  utterly  without  inhabitant ;  for  it,  as  well  as  the 
holy  city,  is  "trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of 
the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled."  But  the  covenant  people  are,  and 
have  been  for  many  dreary  centuries,  "  wanderers  among  the 
nations."  Only  a  feeble  and  oppressed  remnant  is  found  in  the 


PALESTIM:.  181) 

holy  land ;  forbidden  under  penalty  of  death  to  tread  upon  the 
site  of  their  ancient  "holy  and  beautiful  temple"  where  their 
fathers  worshipped  God,  and  permitted  only  to  kiss  the  stones 
of  its  enclosure  in  a  single  place  and  bathe  them  with  their 
tears,  while  they  exclaim :  "  O  God,  the  heathen  are  come  into 
thine  inheritance ;  thy  holy  temple  have  they  defiled ;  they  have 
laid  Jerusalem  on  heaps."  "We  are  become  a  reproach  to  our 
neighbors,  a  scorn  and  derision  to  them  that  are  round  about 
us."  Psa.  79 : 1-4.  Centuries  of  misrule  have  reduced  to  deso 
lation  large  regions  of  Palestine.  Only  enough  of  culture  re 
mains  to  show  what  this  land  once  was,  and  what  it  might  be 
again  under  a  good  Christian  government.  On  the  territory 
east  of  the  Jordan  valley  the  curse  has  fallen,  as  we  have  seen, 
in  double  measure.  Here  are  awfully  fulfilled  the  words  of 
prophecy :  "  Your  land  shall  be  desolate,  and  your  cities  waste. 
Then  shall  the  land  enjoy  her  Sabbaths,  as  long  as  it  lieth  des 
olate"  (Lev.  26:33,  34);  "Behold  the  Lord  maketh  the  earth 
empty,  and  maketh  it  waste,  and  tumeth  it  upside  down,  and 
scattereth  abroad  the  inhabitants  thereof;"  "In  the  city  is  left 
desolation,  and  the  gate  is  smitten  with  destruction"  (Isa. 
24 : 1, 12);  "  I  beheld,  and  lo,  the  fruitful  place  was  a  wilderness, 
and  all  the  cities  thereof  were  broken  down  at  the  presence  of 
the  Lord,  and  by  his  fierce  anger.  For  thus  hath  the  Lord 
said,  The  whole  land  shah1  be  desolate;  yet  will  I  not  make  a 
full  end."  Jer.  4:26,  27. 

The  Lord  will  "not  make  a  full  end."  With  the  pouring  out 
of  his  Spirit  and  the  repentance  of  his  covenant  people  shall 
come  the  full  restoration  of  the  former  prosperity  of  the  land; 
yea,  more  than  all  its  former  prosperity.  "  Upon  the  land  of 
my  people,"  says  the  sure  word  of  prophecy  (Isa.  32:13-18), 
"  shall  come  up  thorns  and  briers ;  yea,  upon  all  the  houses  of 
joy  in  the  joyous  city  :  because  the  palaces  shall  be  forsaken  ; 
the  multitude  of  the  city  shall  be  left;  the  forts  and  towers 
shall  be  for  dens  forever,  a  joy  of  wild  asses,  a  pasture  of  flocks; 
until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  us  from  on  high,  and  the  wil 
derness  be  a  fruitful  field,  and  the  fruitful  field  be  counted  for 


190  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

a  forest.  Then  judgment  shall  dwell  in  the  wilderness,  and 
righteousness  remain  in  the  fruitful  field.  And  the  work  of 
righteousness  shall  be  peace;  and  the  effect  of  righteousness, 
quietness  and  assurance  for  ever.  And  my  people  shall  dwell  in 
a  peaceable  habitation,  and  in  sure  dwellings,  and  in  quiet  rest 
ing  places."  Then,  in  both  the  natural  and  the  spiritual  world, 
"  the  mountains  shall  drop  down  new  wine,  and  the  hills  shall 
flow  with  milk,  and  all  the  rivers  of  Judah  shall  flow  with 
water"  (Joel  3:18);  "and  they  shall  say,  This  land  that  was 
desolate  is  become  like  the  garden  of  Eden ;  and  'the  waste  and 
desolate  and  ruined  cities  are  become  fenced,  and  are  inhab 
ited."  Ezek.  36:35. 


PALESTINE.  191 


CHAPTEK    VI. 

ANCIENT    DIVISIONS    OF    THE    JSRAELITISH    LAND. 

1.  THE  present  chapter  will  be  devoted  mainly  to  the  and'  nt 
civil  divisions  of  the  land  of  Israel.  For  clearness  of  apprehen 
sion,  however,  it  seems  proper  to  prefix  a  recapitulation  of  the 
natural  divisions  of  the  land,  as  they  have  been  considered  in 
the  preceding  chapters.  Of  these  divisions  west  of  the  Jordan 
valley  we  have  three  enumerations  in  the  book  of  Joshua ;  one 
partial,  being  that  of  the  southern  part  (Josh.  10:40,  41),  and 
two  of  the  whole  region  (Josh.  11: 16,  17;  12:7,  8).  We  begin 
with  the  third  and  final  enumeration :  "And  these  are  the  kings 
of  the  land  whom  Joshua  and  the  children  of  Israel  smote  on 
the  side  of  the  Jordan  westward,  from  Baal-gad  in  the  valley  of 
Lebanon  even  unto  the  mount  Halak  (Bald  mountain)  that 
ascendeth  towards  Seir:  and  Joshua  gave  it  to  the  tribes  of 
Israel  for  a  possession,  according  to  their  divisions;  in  the 
mountain  (har,  mountain,  here  taken  collectively),  and  in  the 
loidand  (Shephelah,  the  low  plain  of  the  Mediterranean  coast), 
and  in  the  desert  (Arabah,  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  and  Dead 
sea),  and  in  the  slopes  (Ashcdhoth,  see  below),  and  in  the  wilder 
ness  (Midhbar,  the  desert  part  of  the  mountainous  region 
bordering  on  the  Jordan  valley  and  the  Dead  sea),  and  in  the 
south  (Negebh,  here  a  geographical  division  of  the  country,  see 
below),  the  Hittite,  the  Amorite,  and  the  Canaanite,  the  Periz- 
zite,  the  H^vite,  and  the  Jebusite." 

In  the  above  description  the  Bald  mountain  (Halak)  is  proba 
bly,  as  suggested  by  Porter  and  others,  the  Scorpion  cliffs 
(Chap.  1,  No.  4)  south  of  the  Dead  sea,  which  constitute  the 
beginning  of  the  ascent  to  the  mountains  of  Edom. 

The   mountain,  the  loidand,  to  wit,  of  the  Mediterranean 


192  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

• 

coast,  and  the  Aralah,  the  desert  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead 
sea,  need  no  further  explanation. 

The  word  Ashedhoth,  rendered  in  our  version  springs,  properly 
denotes  outpourings;  and  is  commonly  understood  as  denoting 
the  mountain  slopes,  which  pour  out  torrents  of  water  through 
their  ravines  in  the  rainy  season.  "We  may  render  it  torrent-slopes, 
or  simply  slopes.  Here  it  naturally  denotes  the  intervening  belt 
of  hills  between  the  mountains  and  the  Mediterranean  plain, 
which  constitute  so  striking  a  feature  of  their  western  side. 
Chap.  1,  No.  7. 

The  icilderness  belongs  here  to  the  land  of  Canaan.  It  is, 
then,  the  desert  tract  along  the  shores  of  the  Dead  sea,  called 
also  "the  wilderness  of  Judah."  Chap.  2,  No.  24. 

The  south  is  the  term  applied  to  that  part  of  the  territory  of 
Judah  which  lay  south  of  a  line  drawn  from  about  the  latitude 
of  Gaza  eastward  to  Maon,  and  thence  southeast  to  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  Dead  sea.  It  differs  strikingly  in  its  physical 
character  from  the  rest  of  Palestine.  Chap.  2,  No.  24. 

In  Josh.  10 : 40,  41,  we  have  a  partial  enumeration  of  the 
same  divisions  south  of  Gibeon — the  mountain,  the  south,  the 
lowland,  the  slopes.  The  luilderness  and  the  Aralah  are  omitted, 
as  not  coming  within  the  territory  of  the  kings  mentioned  in  the 
chapter.  The  land  of  Goshen,  on  the  other  hand,  is  added,  the 
situation  of  which  is  unknown.  It  may  have  been  the  continua 
tion  of  the  slopes  on  the  south. 

In  Josh.  11 : 16,  appended  to  an  account  of  the  conquest  of 
the  northern  part  of  Palestine,  we  have  an  enumeration  of  the 
natural  divisions  of  the  land  under  two  heads;  first,  those  of 
the  southern  part— the  mountain,  and  all  the  south,  and  all  the 
land  of  Goshoi,  and  the  lowland,  and  the  Aralah;  secondly,  the 
two  main  divisions  of  the  northern  part,  the  conquest  of  which 
had  just  been  described — the  mountain  of  Israel  and  its  low 
land  (Shephdah).  In  this  enumeration  the  two  divisions  of 
the  slopes  and  the  n'ilderncss,  that  is,  the  western  and  eastern 
borders  of  the  mountain,  are  omitted,  perhaps  as  being  included 
in  it. 


PALESTINE.  193 

The  natural  divisions  of  the  Israelitish  territory  cast  of  tJte 
Jordan  valley  and  Dead  sea  are  the  following  : 

(1.)  The  Aralah  eastward,  that  is,  that  part  of  the  Arabah 
which  lies  east  of  the  Jordan.  Deut.  3:17;  4:49. 

(2.)  All  Bashan,  the  rocky  part  of  which  towards  the  east  is 
called  Argob.  Deut.  3 : 4-10. 

(3.)  The  two  halves  of  Mount  Gilead  divided  by  the  Jabbok, 
Deut.  3:12,  13. 

(4.)  The  Plain  (Mishor,  plateau,  table-land,  Deut.  3 : 10 ;  4 : 43 ; 
Josh.  13:9;  etc.  "  As  a  special  appellative,  it  w^as  given  only 
to  the  great^plateau  of  Moab,  even  as  distinguished  from  that 
of  Bashan,  Deut.  3 : 10.  This  plateau  of  Moab  commences  at 
the  summit  of  that  range  of  hills,  or  rather  lofty  banks  which 
bound  the  Jordan  valley,  and  extends  in  a  smooth,  gently  undu 
lating  surface,  far  out  into  the  desert  of  Arabia."  Porter  in 
Alexander's  Kitto.  Using  the  term  Gilead  in  its  wider  accepta 
tion,  we  may  say  that  the  Plain  is  a  part  of  it.  The  various 
Hebrew  terms  Shephelah,  Aralah,  Kikkar,  Mishor,  which  are 
confounded  in  our  version,  represent,  as  we  have  seen,  when 
ever  they  are  used  in  a  geographical  sense,  each  its  specific 
division  of  the  promised  land. 

I.     HEBREW    DIVISION  BY  TRIBES. 

2.  The  primitive  division  of  the  land  of  Israel  was,  as  all 
know,  fa/  tribes.     We  are  not  able  in  all  cases  to  determine  the 
exact  boundaries  of  the  several  tribes,  owing  to  our  ignorance 
of  so  many  of  the  places  by  which  then-  borders  are  designated. 
An  approximation  to  the  true  form  and  extent  of  the  territory 
allotted  to  each  of  the  tribes  is  all  that  can  reasonably  be  de 
manded.      See  the  map  of  Palestine  under  the  judges   and 
kings. 

3.  The  territory  east  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea,  embracing 
"the  kingdom  of  Sihon  king  of  the  Amorites,  and  the  kingdom 
of  Og  king  of  Bashan,"  was  given  by  Moses  to  the  tribes  of 
Eeuben  and  Gad  and  half  the  tribe  of  Manasseh.  Numb.  32 : 33. 
Of  these  two  kingdoms  that  of  Sihon  extended  on  the  hiah  land 


194  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

from  the  Arnon  to  the  Jabbok,  and  along  "Jordan  and  his  bor 
der"  to  the  sea  of  Galilee  (Numb.  21:24;  Deut.  3 : 16, 17 ;  Josh. 
13 : 15-28) ;  that  of  Og  included  the  highland  of  Gilead  north  of 
the  Jabbok  and  all  Bashan  with  Argob  (Deut.  3 : 13-15 ;  Josh. 
13 : 29-31).  The  whole  kingdom  of  Og  was  given  to  the  half 
tribe  of  Manasseh,  and  that  of  Sihon  was  divided  between  the 
tribes  of  Gad  and  Reuben ;  Reuben  having  the  southern  part, 
and  Gad  the  northern.  Since  the  coast  of  Gad  extended  on 
the  high  land  "  from  Heshbon  unto  Ramath-mizpeh  and  Be- 
tonim"  (Josh.  13:26),  evidently  in  a  northern  direction,  while 
Heshbon  itself  with  the  neighboring  places  belonge^d  to  Reuben 
(ver.  17),  we  infer  that  the  boundary  of  Reuben  extended 
on  the  north  just  far  enough  to  include  Heshbon  and  the 
adjacent  towns ;  that  is,  in  all  probability,  as  suggested  by  Por 
ter  in  Alexander's  Kitto,  to  the  Wady  HeMn  that  enters  the 
Jordan  just  north  of  the  Dead  sea.  This  would  give  to  Reuben 
the  slopes  of  Pisgah,  Beth-peor,  and  Beth-jeshiinoth  (ver.  20), 
with  a  small  part  of  "  the  Jordan  and  the  border  thereof" 
(ver.  23). 

The  territories,  then,  of  the  two  tribes  and  a  half  beyond 
the  Jordan  were  as  follows : 

That  of  Reuben,  the  region  extending  from  the  Arnon  north 
ward  to  the  Wady  Hesban  and  eastward  to  the  Arabian  desert, 
and  probably  in  part  also  to  the  territory  of  Ammon.  Josh. 
13:10. 

That  of  Gad,  the  region  extending  from  the  border  of  Reuben 
northward  on  the  highland  to  the  Jabbok,  and  along  the  Jordan 
valley  to  the  sea  of  Galilee ;  the  eastern  border  being  the  coun 
try  of  Ammon.  From  a  comparison  of  Deut.  2 : 19,  where  the 
Israelites  are  forbidden  to  appropriate  to  themselves  any  part 
of  the  land  of  Ammon,  with  Josh.  13  :25,  where  "half  the  land 
of  the  children  of  Ainnion"  is  allotted  to  the  tribe  of  Gad,  we 
infer  with  certainty  that  the  Israelites  found  this  half  of  the 
Ammonitish  territory  in  the  possession  of  Sihon,  who  had 
wrested  it  from  the  Ammonites,  as  he  had  from  the  Moabites 
their  territory  north  of  the  Arnon.  This  fact  explains  perfectly 


PALESTINE.  195 

the  charge  brought  three  hundred  years  afterwards  against  the 
Israelites  by  the  king  of  Ainmon,  that  they  had  taken  away  his 
land,  and  Jephthah's  answer.  Jud.  11 : 12-28.  Upon  the  de 
cline  and  fall  of  the  Israelitish  kingdom,  the  Ammonites  repos 
sessed  themselves  of  the  territory  of  Gad.  Jer.  49 : 1. 

That  of  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh,  the  half  of  Gilead  which 
lay  north  of  the  Jabbok,  and  all  Bashan  with  Argob.  Its 
boundaries  were  on  the  west  the  valley  of  the  upper  Jordan  and 
the  sea  of  Galilee ;  on  the  north,  Mount  Herinon  and  the  terri 
tory  of  Damascus  (Itunea  having  been  added  by  subsequent 
conquest.  1  Chron.  5 : 18-22) ;  and  on  the  east  the  Arabian 
desert.  "  The  country  occupied  by  the  Manassites  east  of  the 
Jordan,"  says  Porter  (in  Alexander's  Kitto),  "was  the  richest  in 
all  Palestine.  It  is  to  this  day  the  granary  of  a  great  part  of 
Syria." 

4.  The  above  named  tribes  had,  on  their  eastern  frontier  the 
warlike  and  predatory  Arabs  of  the  desert.  A  notable  expedi 
tion  made  against  these  by  their  combined  forces" in  the  days  of 
Saul  is  described  in  1  Chron.  5 : 18-22.  On  this  occasion  they 
took  from  the  Hagarites  and  their  allies  "  of  their  camels  fifty 
thousand,  and  of  sheep  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  and  of 
asses  two  thousand,  and  of  men  a  hundred  thousand  ;"  thus 
preparing  the  way  for  the  extension  of  the  Israelitish  territory 
under  Solomon  to  the  Euphrates  (1  Kings  4 : 24),  according  to 
the  original  grant  made  to  Abraham  (Gen.  15 : 18).  It  would 
seem>  also,  that  the  territory  of  Gad  at  one  time  overlapped  that 
of  Manasseh ;  for  we  read  (1  Chron.  5 : 11, 16)  that  the  children 
of  Gad  dwelt  "  in  the  land  of  Bashan  unto  Sale  ah." 

The  warlike  valor  of  the  Gadites  is  commended  by  Jacob  and  Moses, 
(Gen.  49:19  ;  Dent,  33:20,  21),  and  by  the  author  of  the  books  of  Chron 
icles  (1  Chron.  12:8-15).  It  was  signally  manifested  in  the  expedition 
against  the  Hagarites  and  their  allies  noticed  above.  Then  was  fulfilled 
the  prediction  of  Jacob:  "  Gad"  (meaning  in  Hebrew  troop),  "a  troop  shall 
assail  him,  but  he  shall  assail  it  at  the  end  :"  or,  "he  shall  assail  its  heel," 
that  is,  its  rear  when  routed  ;  and  also  the  prediction  of  Moses:  "Blessed 
be  he  that  enlargeth  Gad:  he  dwelleth  as  a  lion,  and  teareth  the  arm  and 
also  the  crown  of  the  head." 


196  SACKED   GEOGRAPHY. 

5.  When  the  work  of  distributing  the  land  west  of  the  Jordan 
and  the  Dead  sea  to  the  several  tribes  had  been  commenced, 
and  had  advanced  so  far  that  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Ephraim, 
and  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh  had  received  their  inheritance, 
it  was  for  some  reason  interrupted,  and  not  resumed  again  till 
the  tabernacle  and  camp  of  the  Israelites  had  been  transferred 
to  Shiloh.     Josh,  chaps.  15-17  and  chap.  18 : 1-9.     Respecting 
the  first  attempt  at  distribution,  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  it  was 
begun  on  too  liberal  a  scale,  the  tribe  of  Judah  receiving  about 
one-third  of  this  whole  tract,  or  double  its  due  proportion  ac 
cording  to  the  census  of  the  tribes  recorded  in  the  twenty-sixth 
chapter  of  the  book  of  Numbers.     The  expectation  at  that  time 
seems  to  have  been  that  not  only  Philistia  but  the  whole  of 
Lebanon  with  its  valleys  as  far  as  "the  entrance  of  Hamath" 
would  come  into  the  possession  of  the  tribes,  according  to  the 
boundaries  marked  out  in  the  thirty-fourth  chapter  of  Numbers. 
But  this   expectation  was  never  realized,  except  in  a  certain 
measure  during  the  reigns  of  David  and  Solomon.     The  perma 
nent  northern  boundary  was  Dan  at  the  base  of  Mount  Hermon, 
and  on  the  southwest  the  Philistines  retained  possession  of  the 
Mediterranean  plain.     Thus  the  western  border  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah  was  greatly  abridged ;  and  its  territory  was  still  further 
reduced,  as  we  shall  see,  by  the  allotment  of  its  southwestern 
section  to  the  tribe  of  Simeon.     Some  of  its  cities  in  the  north 
west  were  also  given  to  the  tribe  of  Dan. 

6.  The   territory  originally  assigned  to  Judah  was  in  the 
southern  part  of  Palestine,  extending  across  the  whole  breadth 
of  the  land.     It  is  sufficient,  therefore,  to  give   its  northern 
boundary   as   marked   out   in   Josh.  15:5-11.     Here,  passing 
from  east  to  west,  we  have  several  well-known  landmarks — the 
bay  of  the  sea,  at  the  uttermost  part  of  Jordan  (that  is,  the  bay 
at  the  northwestern  extremity  of  the  Dead  sea  where  the  Jor 
dan  ends),  En-rogel,  the  valley  of  Hinnom  south  of  Jerusalem, 
Kirjath-jearim,   Beth-shemesh,    Timnath,   the   side   of  Ekron 
northward,  Jabneel,  the  Mediterranean.     The  general  course, 
then,  was  from  the  northern  extremity  of  the  Dead  sea  west- 


PALF.ST1NE.  197 

ward  to  the  Mediterranean ;  so  that  it  struck  the  Kidron  appa 
rently  a  little  southeast  of  Jerusalem,  passed  up  that  valley  into 
the  valley  of  Hinnoni,  and  curved  a  little  to  the  north  between 
Hinnoni  and  Tinmath. 

7.  The  inheritance  of  Simeon  fell  "  within  the  inheritance  of 
the  children  of  Judah;"  "for  the  part  of  the  children  of  Judah 
was  too  much  for  them."     Josh.  19:1,9.     Their  territory  is 
described  only  by  its  cities;  among  which  are  named  Beer- 
sheba,  Hormah,  and  Ziklag.     Hence  we  infer  that  it  lay  in  the 
southwest  and  south  of  Judah. 

If  Robinson  is  right  in  identifying  Hormah,  else  called  Zeplmtli,  with 
es-Sufah  on  the  road  from  Petra  to  Hebron  (Bib.  Res.,  2.  181),  the  terri 
tory  of  Simeon  must  have  trended  on  the  south  of  Judah  far  towards  the 
Arabah.  The  so-called  blessing  pronounced  by  Jacob  upon  Simeon  and 
Levi  began  with  a  denunciation  of  their  cruelty  towards  the  Shechernites, 
and  ended  with  the  words,  "I  will  divide  them  in  Jacob,  and  scatter  them 
in  Israel."  Gen.  49:5-7.  How  these  memorable  words  were  fulfilled 
in  the  case  of  Levi,  is  well  understood.  How  they  were  accomplished 
in  the  case  of  Simeon  is  not  so  clear.  We  have,  perhaps,  a  part  of  their 
fulfilment  in  the  record  of  the  settlement  of  one  part  of  the  tribe  at 
"  the  entrance  of  Gedor,"  and  another  on  "Mount  Seir."  1  Chron.  4:39- 
43.  In  the  blessings  pronounced  by  Moses  (Dent.,  chap.  33),  Simeon  is 
not  named.  The  remarkable  decrease  of  the  tribe,  between  the  first  and 
second  census  recorded  in  the  book  of  Numbers,  from  59,300  to  22,200,  is 
worthy  of  notice.  In  the  matter  of  Beth-peor,  the  tribe  of  Simeon  had  a  bad 
preeminence  ;  for  it  was  "Zhnri  the  son  of  Salu,  prince  of  a  father's  house 
among  the  Simeonites,"  that  brought  the  Midianitish  woman  into  the 
camp  in  the  presence  of  Moses  and  the  whole  congregation  of  Israel. 
Numb.,  chap.  25.  Perhaps  a  double  share  of  the  plague  and  slaughter  on 
that  occasion  fell  upon  this  tribe.  But  another  reason  for  the  smallness  of 
this  tribe  is  assigned  (1  Chron.  4  :27),  which  began  to  operate,  as  it  would 
seem,  upon  the  departure  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt,  at  which  time  the 
tribe  of  Simeon  was  surpassed  in  number  only  by  those  of  Judah  and  Dan. 
Shimei,  a  descendant  from  Simeon  iti  the  fifth  generation,  "  had,"  says  the 
record,  "sixteen  sons  and  six  daughters  :  but  his  brethren  had  not  many 
children,  neither  did  all  their  family  multiply  like  the  children  of  Judah." 

8.  The  territory  of  Benjamin  was  bounded  on  the  south  by 
that  of  Judah,  and  on  the  east  by  the  Jordan.     Its  northern 
boundary  passed  up  by  the  side  of  Jericho  on  the  north  to  the 


198  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

highland,  and  so  westward  on  the  south  side  of  Beth-el  to  "the 
hill  which  is  south  of  the  nether  Beth-horon."  Thence  it  turned 
south  to  Kirjath-jearim,  where  it  met  the  border  of  Judah.  Josh. 
18 : 11-15.  As  it  included  Ophrah  (ver.  23),  the  line  seems  to 
have  run  in  a  northwesterly  direction  past  Jericho,  and  to  have 
afterwards  curved  towards  the  south. 

The  boundary  excludes  Beth-el  (ver.  13);  yet  this  city  is  afterwards 
named  as  one  of  the  cities  of  Benjamin  (ver.  22).  Some  have  assumed 
here  a  corruption  of  the  text ;  but,  as  Keil  remarks  (Commentary  on  Josh 
ua),  "  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  town  of  Beth-el  may  have  been  assigned 
to  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  although  the  boundary  of  their  territory  ran 
along  the  southern  side  of  that  city."  Thomson  (The  Land  and  the  Book, 
2,  pp.  546,  547)  conjectures  that  "the  sea,"  mtrned  in  ver.  14,  is  "a  little 
lake  near  el- Jib"  (Gibeon),  that  exists  there  in  the  wet  season,  and  that  it 
is  the  same  as  "the  great  waters  that  are  in  Gibeon."  Jer.  41  : 12. 

Jerusalem  lay  within  the  territory  of  Benjamin,  in  accordance  with  the 
prophetic  words  of  Moses  :  "  The  beloved  of  the  Lord  shall  dwell  in  safety 
by  Him  :  He  covereth  him  all  the  day  long,  and  he  dwelleth  between  His 
shoulders  "  (Deut.  33  : 12) — a  double  figure  of  covering  with  the  wings  as 
a  bird  and  bearing  on  the  shoulders  as  a  father. 

9.  The  district  assigned  to  the  tribe  of  Dan,  as  may  be  gath 
ered  from  the  enumeration  of  the  border  cities  belonging  to  it 
(Josh.  19:40-46),  lay  west  of  Benjamin  and  partly  of  Judah, 
extending  northwesterly  so  as  to  include  the  Mediterranean 
coast  from  Japho,  that  is,  Joppa,  as  far  south  as  the  latitude  of 
Ekron.  Thus  it  included  a  part  of  the  Philistine  plain;  of 
which,  however,  the  Danites  were  not  able  to  gain  possession. 
Judg.  1:34,35. 

The  lot  of  the  children  of  Dan  came  out  last ;  and  the  territory  left  for 
them  was  very  small  in  consideration  of  their  number,  which  was  inferior 
only  to  that  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Josh.  19  : 47.  Their  country  was  fur 
ther  limited  by  their  inability  to  drive  out  the  Amorites  of  the  plain. 
This  evil  they  remedied  by  taking  forcible  possession  of  a  very  fertile 
region  at  the  base  of  Hermon,  as  is  described  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of 
the  book  of  Judges,  thus  fulfilling  the  declaration  of  Moses  (Deut.  33:22), 
"Dan  is  a  lion's  whelp  :  he  shall  leap  from  Bashan  ;"  that  is,  as  a  lion  from 
Bashan  leaps  upon  his  prey. 


PALESTINK.  199 

10.  The  account  of  the  boundaries  of  £};///•////>/  mid  Hancut- 
seh  (Josh.,  chaps.  16,  17)  is  very  obscure,  owing  to  our  ignor 
ance  of  most  of  the  landmarks  named.  It  is  plain,  however, 
that  the  territory  of  Ephraim  stretched  across  the  whole  land 
from  the  Jordan  to  the  Mediterranean,  having  on  the  south  the 
tribes  of  Benjamin  and  Dan.  On  the  Mediterranean  coast  it 
extended  north  to  the  torrent  of  Kanah  (reeds),  the  identifica 
tion  of  which  is  difficult.  The  suggestion  of  Porter  (in  Alexan 
der's  Kitto),  that  the  Kanah  of  Joshua  is  the  modern  Na/tr  </- 
Akltdar,  which  enters  the  Mediterranean  about  two  miles  south 
of  CaBsarea,  is  worthy  of  favorable  consideration:  "Its  banks 
are  low,  marshy,  and  covered  with  jungles  qf  reeds." 

The  coast  of  the  lialf  tribe  of  Manasseh,  as  originally  denned, 
began  on  the  north  at  Asher  (Josh.  17:7,  10),  while  that  of 
Asher  reached  to  Carrael  westward  (chap.  19 : 26),  with  a  strip 
of  the  seacoast  extending  south  so  as  to  include  Dor  (chap. 
17:11).  The  ridge  of  Carrnel,  then,  was  its  boundary  on  the 
northeast,  the  territory  of  Ephraim  on  the  south,  and  it  touched 
upon  Issachar  on  the  east.  It  was  thus  nearly  triangular  in 
form.  With  this  agrees  the  statement  of  Josh.  17:10,  which 
may  be  literally  translated :  "  On  the  south  [of  the  torrent 
Kanah]  it  [the  coast]  belonged  to  Ephraim,  and  on  the  north 
to  Manasseh,  and  the  sea  was  its  border :  and  they  [the  Manas- 
sites]  touched  upon  Asher  on  the  north,  and  upon  Issachar  on 
the  east."  They  further  received  a  liberal  grant  out  of  the  ter 
ritory  of  Asher  and  Issachar  (ver.  11),  so  that  their  coast  ex 
tended  on  the  sea  to  the  promontory  of  Carrnel,  and  included 
the  towns  on  the  northeastern  slope  of  Carniel,  with  some  impor 
tant  places  farther  east. 

We  have  seen  that  the  portion  of  Manasseh  east  of  the  Jordan  was  the 
richest  part  of  Palestine.  That  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  west  of  the  Jor 
dan  was  worthy  also  of  the  prophetic  encomiums  pronounced  on  it  by  both 
Jacob  and  Moses.  Gen.  49  :  22-26  ;  Deut,  33  : 13-17.  They  had  the  first 
choice  after  Judah,  and  they  selected  a  portion  blessed  of  the  Lord  "with 
the  precious  things  of  heaven,  with  dew  and  with  the  deep  that  croucheth 
beneath  ;  and  with  the  precious  things  of  the  increase  of  the  sun,  and  with 


200  SACKED   GEOGRAPHY. 

the  precious  things  of  the  produce  of  the  moon  ;  and  with  the  choicest 
things  of  the  ancient  mountains,  and  with  the  precious  things  of  the  ever 
lasting  hills ;  and  with  the  precious  things  of  the  earth  and  her  fulness  ; 
and  with  the  favor  of  Him  who  dwelleth  in  the  bush." 

11.  The  boundaries  of  the  four  remaining  Galilean  tribes 
cannot  be  given  with  any  degree  of  accuracy.     The  following  is 
a  general  statement  of  their  position  and  relation  to  each  other. 

Issachar' s  territory  lay  along  the  Jordan,  having  Ephraim 
on  the  south  and  Manasseh  on  the  southwest,  and  it  extended 
to  Tabor.  Josh.  19  : 17-23.  In  the  words  of  Joseplius  (Antiq., 
5.  1.  22),  it  had  "  for  its  boundaries  in  length,  Mount  Carmel 
and  the  river  [Jordan] ;  and  in  breadth,  Mount  Tabor;"  that  is, 
it  extended  in  breaclth  from  Ephraim  north  to  Mount  Tabor. 
Thus  it  included,  in  great  part  at  least,  the  large  and  fertile 
plain  of  Esdraelon,  the  battle-field  of  nations,  through  which 
lay  the  route  from  Egypt  on  the  south  to  Damascus  and  the 
eastern  empires. 

"Issachar,"  says  Jacob's  prophetic  blessing,  "is  a  strong-boned  ass, 
crouching  among  the  folds"  (so  the  Hebrew  is  rightly  rendered,  Judg. 
5  : 16).  ;'And  he  saw  rest,  that  it  was  good;  and  the  land  that  it  was 
pleasant ;  and  he  bowed  his  back  to  bear,  and  became  subject  to  tribute  " 
(Gen.  49  : 14,  15) ;  the  tribute,  apparently,  imposed  on  him  by  the  chief 
tains  who  passed  through  and  ravaged  his  fair  inheritance,  as  is  done  by 
the  marauding  Arabs  at  the  present  day.  Yet  the  men  of  Issachar  are 
commended  for  their  valor  and  alacrity  in  war  (Judg.  5  : 15),  and  for  their 
practical  wisdom  (1  Chron.  12  :32),  as  men  "that  had  understanding  of 
the  times  to  know  what  Israel  ought  to  do." 

12.  Next  above  the  tribe  of  Issachar  was  the  territory  of 
Zeltduu.     Josh.  19 : 10-16.     It  seems  to  have  lain  along  the 
Jordan  on  the  east  from  Issachar  to  the  sea  of  Galilee.     How 
far  it  extended  westward  towards  the  Mediterranean  is  uncer 
tain.     One  of  its  landmarks  was  Jokneant,  which  has  been,  with 
a  reasonable  degree  of  probability,  identified  with  the  modern 
Tell  Kaiinon,  under  Carmel,  near  the  northwestern  angle  of  the 
plain  of  Esdraelon  (Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  3,  p.  115,  note),  so 
that  it  seems  to  have  included  the  northern  rim  of  the  plain  of 
Esdraelon. 


I'ALKSTINE.  201 

According  to  Joseplms  (Antiq. ,  5.  1.  22),  "the  Zebulonites  obtaimd 
by  lot  the  land  as  far  as  the  lake  of  Gennesareth,  and  extending  by  Carmel 
and  the  sea"  (the  Mediterranean).  According  to  the  division  given  in  the 
book  of  Joshua,  it  could  not  have  reached  to  the  sea ;  for  Asher  reached 
to  Carniel  westward  (chap.  19  :  26).  Bub  we  may  well  suppose  that  after 
wards  it  reached  to  the  Mediterranean.  Thus  the  prophetic  words  of 
Jacob  had  their  fulfilment :  "Zebulun  shall  dwell  at  the  coast  of  the  sea, 
and  he  [shall  dwell]  at  the  coast  of  ships  ;  and  his  border  shall  be  upon 
Zidon "  (Gen.  49  : 13) ;  that  is,  not  the  city  of  Zidon,  but  Phoenicia,  the 
territory  of  Zidon.  The  words  of  Moses,  "Rejoice,  Zebulun,  in  thy  going 
fortU "  (that  is,  in  the  activities  of  life),  "and  Issachar  in  thy  tents "  (Deut. 
33  : 18),  contrast  the  enterprise  of  Zebulun  with  the  quiet  of  Issachar.  See 
farther  1  Chron.  12  : 32-40. 

1*3.  Finally,  at  the  extreme  northern  limit  of  Palestine  lay 
the  tribes  of  Aslier  and  NapJitali,  side  by  side  ;  Asher  on  the 
west  and  Naphtali  on  the  east.  Josh.  19 : 24-39.  The  terri 
tory  of  Asher  included  the  Phoenician  coast  as  far  as  "  Great 
Zidon;"  but  the  Asherites  obtained  possession  of  it  only  to  a 
very  limited  extent,  as  we  learn  from  Judg.  1 : 31,  32.  To 
Naphtali  belonged  most  of  the  western  coast  of  the  sea  of  Gal 
ilee,  with  the  warm  and  fertile  valley  of  the  upper  Jordan,  to 
the  base  of  Lebanon. 

Of  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  this  part  of  Galilee  all  travellers  speak  in 
terms  of  admiration.  It  is  well  worthy  of  the  prophetic  encomiums  pro 
nounced  upon  it  by  Jacob  and  Moses  :  "  Out  of  Asher  his  bread  shall  be 
fat,  and  he  shall  yield  royal  dainties  "  (Gen.  49  :  20) ;  "  Let  Asher  be  blessed 
with  children  ;  let  him  be  acceptable  to  his  brethren  ;  and  let  him  dip  his 
foot  in  oil ;"  "O  Naphtali,  satisfied  with  favor,  and  full  of  the  blessing  of 
the  Lord,  inherit  thou  the  sea  and  the  south."  Deut.  33  :23,  24  The 
Hebrew  word  rendered  "the  south"  is  Darom,  and  is  entirely  distinct 
from  the  geographical  term  Negeb,  which  is  used  of  the  south  country  in 
Judah.  Here  it  probably  means  the  south  with  reference  to  Lebanon — 
the  warm  and  fertile  valley  of  the  Jordan,  lying  at  its  base.  Jacob's  bless 
ing  on  Naphtali  (Gen.  49  : 21)  refers  apparently  to  the  personal  qualities 
of  the  tribe.  But  the  true  rendering  of  the  original  is  a  matter  of  con 
troversy. 

14.  The  tribe  of  Levi  received  no  separate  territory,  being 
maintained  by  the  tithes  paid  by  the  other  tribes.  Numb. 

9* 


2O2  SACIIKI)   GEOGRAPHY. 

18  :  20 ;  26  :  62 ;  Deut.  10  :  9 ;  18  : 1,  2 ;  Josh.  18  :  7.  For  their 
residence  forty-eight  cities  with  their  suburbs  were  assigned  to 
them,  six  of  them  being  also  cities  of  refuge,  and  these  cities  were 
distributed  among  all  the  other  tribes.  Numb.  35  : 1-8;  Josh., 
chap.  21.  Thus  the  prophetic  announcement  of  Jacob  respect 
ing  Simeon  and  Levi,  "  I  will  divide  them  in  Jacob,  and  scatter 
them  in  Israel"  (Gen.  49  :  7),  was  so  fulfilled  in  the  case  of  this 
tribe  as  to  be  made  a  blessing  to  the  tribe  itself  and  the  whole 
nation;  for  the  functions  of  the  Levites  were  spiritual,  .and 
they  became,  in  a  measure  at  least,  the  instructors  of  the 
people. 

In  respect  to  the  Levitical  cities  Moses  gives  the  following  directions : 
"And  the  suburbs  [pasture-grounds]  of  the  cities  which  ye  shall  give  to 
the  Levites  from  the  wall  of  the  city  and  outward  shall  be  a  thousand  cubits 
round  about.  And  ye  shall  measure  without  the  city  the  east  side  [not,  on 
the  east  side  ;  for  the  Hebrew  has  the  accusative  case]  two  thousand  cubits, 
and  the  south  side  two  thousand  cubits,  and  the  west  side  two  thousand 
cubits,  and  the  north  side  two  thousand  cubits  ;  and  the  city  shall  be  in 
the  midst :  this  shall  be  to  them  the  suburbs  of  the  city. "  Numb.  35  : 4, 
5.  The  commentators  have  expended  much  labor,  and  proposed  many 
plans,  some  of  them  very  artificial,  in  the  effort  to  bring  these  two  verses 
into  agreement  with  each  other.  See  in  Alexander's  Kitto,  art.  Levites ; 
and  in  Saalschiitz  Mosaic  Law,  chap.  8,  §  7.  The  simplest  explanation  of 
the  fourth  verse,  taken  in  connection  with  the  fifth,  is  that  which  assumes 
that  the  suburbs  of  the  Levitical  cities  ';  from  the  city  wall  and  outward" 
extended  in  each  direction  a  thousand  cubits,  when  measured  from  the 
centre  of  the  city,  this  being  of  a  square  form. 

15.  After  the  secession  of  the  ten  tribes,  the  whole  southern 
kingdom,  comprising  the  territory  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  was 
called  by  the  name  of  Judah,  while  that  of  the  ten  tribes  went 
by  the  name  of  Israel ;  or,  as  often  in  tlie  prophets,  Epliraim, 
from  the  leading  tribe,  and  Joseph,  from  the  father  of  the  two 
great  tribes  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh.  Psa.  78 : 67 ;  Ezek. 
37:16,  19;  Zech.  10:6,  7. 

We  should  naturally  infer  from  the  position  of  the  tribe  of  Simeon  that 
its  territory  must  have  fallen  to  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  But  in  2  Chron. 
15  :  9  ;  34  :  6,  it  seems  to  be  distinguished  from  that  of  Judah. 


PALESTINE.  203 

II.     DIVISIONS  OF   PALESTINE   IN  THE  KOMAN  AGE. 

16.  It  is  well  known  that  in  our  Saviour's  time  all  Palestine 
west  of  the  Jordan  was   divided  into  the  three  provinces  of 
Galilee,  Samaria,  and  Judea ;  although  the  latter,  as  we  shall 
see,    did  not  include   the  whole   of   the  ancient   kingdom  of 
Judah. 

17.  Galilee,  the  most  northern  province,  was  bounded  on  the 
south  by  a  line  running  along  the  base  of  Carmel  by  Ginsea  afc 
the  southeastern  extremity  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  to  Scyth- 
opolis  (the  ancient  Beth-shan)  and  the  Jordan.     Josephus,  Jew 
ish  War,  3.  3. 1,  4;  Antiq.,  20.  6.  1.     If  the  line  ran  from  Ginsea 
along  the  southern  arm  of  the  great  plain,  it  struck  the  Jordan 
a  little  below  Scythopolis,  thus  including  Gilboa  and  the  terri 
tory  adjacent  to  Scythopolis  on  the  south.     It  did  not  extend 
on  the  west  to  the  Mediterranean,  being  cut  off  in  that  quarter 
by  the  Phoenician  territory  of  Ptolemais  (the  ancient  Accho), 
Phoenicia  at  this  time  extending,  according  to  Josephus  (Antiq., 
15.  9.  6),  so  far  south  as  to  include  Caesarea. 

The  province  was  subdivided  again  into  Upper  and  Lower 
Galilee,  the  line  of  division  running,  according  to  Josephus 
(Jewish  War,  3.  3. 1),  "  from  Tiberias  to  Chabulon  [Cabul],  near 
to  which,  on  the  seacoast,  is  Ptolemais."  Hence  "  Lower  Gal 
ilee  included  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon  with  its  offshoots, 
which  run  down  to  the  Jordan  and  the  lake  of  Tiberias;  and 
the  whole  of  the  hill  country  adjoining  it  on  the  north  to  the 
mountain  range."  Porter  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary.  Upper 
Galilee  embraced  the  whole  mountain  range  lying  between  the 
upper  Jordan  and  Phoenicia  to  the  northern  extremity  of  Pal 
estine. 

The  term  Galilee  signifies  circuit,  and  is  thought  to  have  been  originally 
applied  to  a  small  region  of  country  in  the  northwest  of  the  region  which 
constitutes  the  Galilee  of  the  New  Testament.  It  was  called  "Galilee  of 
the  Gentiles"  (Isa.  9:1;  in  1  Mac.  5  : 15  Galilee  of  the  foreigners)  from  the 
great  number  of  Gentiles  who  inhabited  the  region.  Compare  1  Mac. 
5  : 17-22. 


204  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

18.  Samaria  lay  between  Galilee  on  the  north  and  Judea  on 
the  south.     Its  southern  boundary  corresponded  substantially 
with  that  which  separated  the  ancient  kingdoms  of  Judah  and 
Israel ;  in  other  words,  it  ran  along  the  northern  border  of  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin. 

Joseplms,  speaking  of  the  northern  boundary  of  Judea,  which  separa 
ted  it  from  Samaria,  says  (Jewish  War,  3.  3.  5)  that  "it  extends  from  the 
river  Jordan  to  Joppa."  He  also  says  (ib.,  §  4)  that  Samaria  extends, 
evidently  in  a  southern  direction,  "from  a  village  in  the  great  plain  named 
Ginaea  to  the  toparchy  of  the  Acrabatenes. "  Acrabatta,  the  modern  Akra- 
beh  (Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  3,  p.  296)  lies  some  eight  miles  southeast  of 
Nabulus,  and  considerably  north  of  a*  line  drawn  east  from  Joppa  to  the 
Jordan.  But  the  toparchy  of  Acrabatta  may  have  extended  some  miles 
south  of  the  town. 

19.  Judcea,  as  a  Roman  province,  extended  south  of  Sama 
ria  to  the  Mediterranean.     But  that  part  of  the  ancienfr  king 
dom  of  Judah  lying  south  of  the  mountains  of  Judah,  and  known 
as  the  South  (Heb.  Negeb)  seems  to  have  been  included  in  the 
province  of  Idumcea;  for  Josephus  expressly  states  (Antiq.,  5. 
1.  22)  that  the  tribe  of  Simeon  "  received  that  part  of  Idumsea 
which  bordered  on  Egypt  and  Arabia." 

The  original  territory  of  the  Idumseans  (Edomites)  was  Mount  Seir, 
lying  east  of  the  Arabah,  or  southern  continuation  of  the  valley  of  the 
Jordan  and  Dead  sea.  But  upon  the  decline  of  the  Jewish  power,  and 
especially  during  the  Babylonish  captivity,  the  Edomites  spread  them 
selves  over  the  region  of  the  Ainalekites  south  of  Judah,  and  took  posses 
sion  of  the  southern  border  of  Palestine.  Judas  Maccabeus  found  them  in 
possession  of  Hebron  and  Mareshah  and  Azotus.  Antiq.,  12.  8.  6.  Although 
the  Idumseans  were  conquered,  they  were  permitted  to  remain  in  the 
region  upon  condition  of  their  receiving  circumcision  (Josephus,  Antiq. , 
13.  9.  1),  and  thus  the  name  of  Idumsea  was  perpetuated. 

20.  The  division  of  ancient  Bashan  into  the  four  provinces 
of   Gaidonitis,  Aiiranitis,  Batan&a,  and    Trachonitis,    to  which 
Iturcea  on  the  northeast  was  added,  has  been  already  consid 
ered  (Chap.  5,  No.  2).     Galaaditis  is  the  ancient  Gilead,  with 
Ammonitis  (Ammon)  lying  east  of  its  southern  part;  and  Moab- 


1'ALESTINK.  -205 

it i-s  (the  Moab  of  Scripture)  on  the  south.  Josephus  uses  the 
term  Percea,  that  is,  the  region  beyond,  as  substantially  equivalent 
to  Gilead.  He  gives  the  length  of  Peraea  as  extending  north* 
from  Machserus  to  Pella ;  and  its  width  east  and  west  from  Phil 
adelphia  (Kabbath  Ammon)  to  the  Jordan.  Jewish  War,  3.  3. 
3.  The  site  of  Machserus,  where,  according  to  Josephus  (Antiq., 
18.  5.  2),  John  the  Baptist  was  imprisoned  and  beheaded,  is 
supposed  to  be  that  of  the  ruined  fortress  Mkauer,  on  the  north 
end  of  Jebel  Attarus.  It  was  certainly  near  the  Arnon,  for 
Josephus  says  that  the  southern  termination  of  Peraea  was 
Moabitis. 


2011  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTEK    VII. 

CLIMATE,    SOIL,   AND*  NATURAL   HISTORY. 
I.     CLIMATE. 

1.  THE  Scorpion  cliffs  (ascent  of  Akrabbim,  Numb.  34:4) 
at  the  southern  extremity  of  Palestine  are  in  about  north  lati 
tude  31  degrees ;  Tell-el-Kady  (the  ancient  Dan)  at  the  northern 
extremity  is  in  north  latitude  33  degrees  16  minutes.     These 
two  parallels  of  latitude  run  through  our  gulf  states ;  the  former 
a  little  north  of  Mobile  in  Alabama,  the  latter  a  little  north  of 
Milledgeville  in  Georgia.     The  latitude  of  the  southern  half  of 
these  two  states  corresponds,  therefore,  with  that  of  Palestine. 
But  the  gulf  states  have  in  their  southern  half  a  comparatively 
level  and  uniform  surface ;  the  surface  of  Palestine  is,  as  we  have 
seen,  wonderfully  diversified :  the  gulf  states  have  on  the  south 
anct  east  an  immense  expanse  of  ocean,  while  Palestine  is  bor 
dered  on  the  south  and  east  by  the  hot  and  dry  regions  of 
Africa  and  Arabia :  the  gulf  states  have  on  their  western  border 
the  continent ;  Palestine  has  on  the  same  border  the  Mediterra 
nean  sea.     These  differences  of  surface  and  relation  to  the  sur 
rounding  regions  produce  corresponding  differences  of  climate 
some  of  which  are  of  a  very  marked  character. 

2.  In  our  country,  as  in  Europe  generally,  rain  falls  more  or 
less  during  the  whole  year.     But  in  Palestine  it  is  confined  to 
certain  months.     The  rainy  and  the  dry  season  constitute  the 
two  divisions  of  the  year;  the  former  being  the  winter  or  cold 
season,  the  latter  the  summer  or  hot  season.     When  the  rainy 
season  has  begun  the  seed-time  comes,  and  at  its  close  the  har 
vest.     Hence  the  division  given  in  the  book  of  Genesis  (chap. 
8:  22),  "  seed-time  and  harvest,  and  cold  and  heat,  and  summer 
and  winter,"  is  for  Palestine  perfectly  natural. 


PALESTINE.  207 

Against  the  idea  of  some  expositors  that  six  different  divisions  of  the 
year  are  here  meant,  see  Delitzsch  on  Genesis  8 : 22.  It  is  the  two  natural 
divisions  considered  in  three  different  aspects. 

3.  The  rains  usually  begin  to  fall  in  the  last  half  of  October 
or  the  beginning  of  November;  and  they  continue  into  April, 
sometimes  even  till  the  first  of  May.     The  rainy  season  does 
not  come  suddenly,  but  by  degrees,  and  it  ends  in  like  manner. 
It  finds  the  earth  hard-baked  and  incapable  of  being  ploughed. 
The  showers,  coming  at  intervals,  soften  the  soil,  and  give  the 
husbandman  an  opportunity  to  plough  his  ground  and  sow  his 
fields  of  winter  wheat  and  barley.     The  rains  are,  as  a  rule, 
most  abundant  in  the  middle  of  the  rainy  season,  but  through 
out  the  whole  period  there  is  an  "  alternation  of  groups  of  rainy 
days,  followed  by  longer  intervals  of   sunshine."     Robinson, 
Phys.  Geog.,  p.  289. 

The  average  annual  fall  of  rain  at  Jerusalem  for  seven  years  is  stated 
by  Barclay  (City  of  the  Great  King,  p.  428)  to  have  been  56.5  inches  ; 
which  is  about  one-fourth  more  than  the  annual  average  for  Massachusetts. 
But  it  all  falls  within  the  period  of  six  months.  We  who  live  in  this  west 
ern  world  can  with  difficulty  apprehend  the  force  and  beauty  of  the  Psalm 
ist's  words  (Psa.  65:9,10)  where  he  describes  the  blessed  influence  of  the 
early  or  former  rains  after  a  continuous  drought  of  six  months:  "Thou 
visitest  the  earth,  and  waterest  it  abundantly:  thou  greatly  enrichest  it: 
the  river  of  God  is  full  of  water:  thou  preparest  the  corn  ;  for  so  hast  thou 
prepared  it.  Abundantly .  watering  its  furrows,  settling  its  ridges,  thou 
makest  it  soft  with  showers:  thou  blessest  its  springing."  The  transfor 
mation  is  wonderful.  The  fields  lately  so  brown  parched  and  desolate,  put 
on  their  robes  of  "living  green,"  and  all  nature  rejoices;  "the  pastures 
are  clothed  with  flocks:  the  valleys  also  robe  themselves  with  corn:  they 
shout  for  joy  ;  yea,  they  sing." 

4.  "We  are  not  to  understand- the  language  of  the  Scriptures 
in  reference  to  the  early  and  the  latter  rain  as  if  these  two  periods 
were  separated  by  a  considerable  interval  of  dry  weather.    "  There 
are  no  definite  and  distinct  seasons  of  early  and  latter  rain, 
separate  from  the  rest  of  the  rainy  season.     The  whole  period 
from  October  to  April  constitutes  only  one  continued  season  in 
which  rain  falls;   without  any  regularly  intervening  term  of 


208  SACKED   OEOG  I!  A  I'HY. 

prolonged  fair  weather."  Kobinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  292.  TJie 
terms  former  and  latter  rain  Jiave  reference  to  the  labor  of  tlic 
husbandman.  "  Should  the  early  rain  fail,  or  be  too  long  de 
layed,  so  that  the  rainy  season  should  begin  at  once  with  heavy 
and  constant  showers,  there  would  be  no  opportunity  for  the 
husbandman  to  plough  his  ground  or  sow  his  seed;  and  there 
could  be  no  crop.  Or,  if  the  latter  rain,  the  showers  of  March 
and  April,  do  not  take  place,  the  ripening  grain  and  springing 
verdure  are  arrested,  and  do  not  reach  their  full  maturity.  In 
such  case  the  crops  are  diminished,  or  fail  altogether.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  the  latter  rain  occurs  in  full,  the  husbandman 
is  never  disappointed  in  his  harvest."  Robinson,  ibid. 

5.  The  prevailing  winds  of  winter  are  westerly;  and  it  is 
from  the  Mediterranean  sea  lying  in  this  direction  that  the  rains 
come.     The  west  wind  continues  to  blow  "  from  one  to  seven  or 
eight  days  at  a  time,  continuing  through  each  group  of  rainy 
days.     Sometimes  the  west  wind  itself  clears  away  the  clouds; 
though  fair  weather  more  commonly  foUows  a  change  of  wind 
to  the  north  or  east."     Robinson,  ib.,  p.  303.     Next  to  the  west 
wind,  that  from  the  east  is  the  most  common,  and  this  usually 
brings  serene  weather.     Respecting  the  Sirocco,  or  wind  from 
the  south  quarter,  see  below. 

"When  Elijah  cast  himself  down  on  Carmcl  to  pray  for  rain,  he  sent  his 
servant  seven  times  with  the  command:  "Go  up  now,  look  towards  the 
sea."  The  seventh  time  the  servant  returned  with  the  report:  "Behold 
there  ariseth  a  little  cloud  out  of  the  sea,  like  a  man's  hand."  Immedi 
ately  upon  hearing  this,  the  prophet  sent  the  message  to  Ahab:  "Prepare 
thy  chariot  and  get  thee  down,  that  the  rain  stop  thee  not."  1  Kings, 
18 : 41-46.  Our  Saviour  alludes  to  the  same  phenomenon :  ' '  When  ye  see, " 
says  he  (Luke  12:54),  "a cloud  rise  out  of  the  west,  straightway  ye  say. 
There  conieth  a  shower ;  and  so  it  js ;"  on  which  passage  Robinson  well 
remarks  (ib.,  p.  303):  "It  does  not  follow  that  it  always  rains  when  the 
west  wind  blows  ;  but  it  is  true  that  the  west  is  the  rainy  quarter,  and  that 
in  winter  a  west  wind  seldom  failsr  sooner  or  later,  to  bring  rain." 

6.  The  beginning  of  the  dry  season  in  April  and  May  is  de 
lightful.     The  sky  is  serene,  the  air  balmy,  and  the  face  of  nature 
arrayed  in  verdure,  with  a  profusion  of  gay  flowers.     All  this 


PALESTINE.  209 

is  portrayed  with  inimitable  grace  and  beauty  in  the  bride 
groom's  address  to  his  bride  (Cant.  2:10-13):  "My  beloved 
spake,  and  said  unto  me,  Eise  up,  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and 
come  away.  For  lo,  the  winter  is  past;  the  rain  is  over  and 
gone ;  the  flowers  appear  on  the  earth ;  the  time  of  the  singing 
of  birds  is  come,  and  the  voice  of  the  turtle  is  lieard  in  our  land ; 
the  fig-tree  ripeneth  her  green  figs,  and  the  vines  are  in  Blos 
som  ;  they  give  a  goodly  smell.  Arise,  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and 
come  away." 

But  as  the  dry  season  advances,  this  cheerful  aspect  of 
nature  gradually  disappears.  The  "  grass  upon  the  house-tops," 
which  had  sprung  up  during  the  rainy  season,  speedily  withers. 
Next  the  fields  lose  their  freshness  and  verdure,  and  the  land 
scape  becomes  brown  and  parched.  "The  deep  green  of  the 
broad  fig  leaves  and  the  lighter  shade  of  the  millet  is  delightful 
to  the  eye  amid  the  general  aridness ;  while  the  foliage  of  the 
olive,  with  its  dull  grayish  hue,  scarcely  deserves  the  name  of 
verdure."  Eobinson  as  above,  pp.  293,  294.  Later  in  the  sea 
son  "the  cloudless  sky  and  burning  sun  dry  up  all  moisture. 
The  grass  withers,  the  flower  fades,  the  bushes  and  shrubs  take 
a  hard,  gray  look,  the  soil  becomes  dust,  and  the  country  as 
sumes  the  aspect  of  a  parched  barren  desert."  Porter  in  Alex 
ander's  Kitto.  If  the  usual  showers  have  not  fallen  in  the  pre 
ceding  rainy  season,  or  if  the  early  rains  of  autumn  are  with 
held,  great  is  the  distress  of  man  and  beast :  "  Their  nobles  have 
sent  their  little  ones  to  the  waters :  they  came  to  the  pits,  and 
found  no  water ;  they  returned  with  their  vessels  empty ;  they 
were  ashamed  and  confounded,  and  covered  their  heads.  Be 
cause  the  ground  is  chapped,  for  there  was  no  rain  in  the  earth, 
the  ploughmen  were  ashamed,  they  covered  their  heads.  Yea, 
the  hind  also  calved  in  the  field,  and  forsook  it,  because  there 
was  no  grass.  And  the  wild  asses  did  stand  in  the. high  places, 
they  snuffed  up  the  wind  like  dragons;  their  eyes  did  fail, 
because  there  was  no  grass."  Jer.  14:3-6. 

7.  The  clouds  that  come  in  the  rainy  season  from  the  Medi 
terranean  deposit  their  moistures  on  the  western  slope  of  the 


210  SACKED   GEOGRAPHY. 

mountains  of  Judaea  and  Samaria:  while  the  eastern  slope  of 
these  mountains  beyond  their  crest  is  left  parched  and  desert. 
Where  the  mountain  barrier  ceases,  as  at  the  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
the  desert  ceases  also.  The  higher  mountains  of  Gilead,  again, 
intercept  the  residuuni  of  moisture  brought  to  them  from  the 
west.  When  this  is  exhausted,  the  great  Arabian  desert  begins. 
Sou£h  of  the  Mediterranean  sea  the  desert  extends  quite  across 
the  southern  rim  of  Palestine  to  Egypt. 

The  same  cause  which  operates  in  South  America,  where  the  east  wind 
prevails,  to  make  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Andes  a  rainy  and  the  western 
a  dry  region,  operates  in  Palestine,  where  the  western  winds  bring  the 
rain,  to  produce  a  contrary  result. 

8.  The  temperature  of  the  different  sections   of  Palestine 
varies  with  their  elevation.     The  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead 
sea,  which  is  the  most  depressed,  is  the  hottest  region,    ^he 
mountainous  tracts  on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan  valley  are  the 
coolest.     Intermediate  between  these  two  extremes  is  the  tem 
perature  of  the  Mediterranean  plain. 

9.  The  climate  of  the  mountainous  regions  is  temperate  and 
salubrious.     Except  when  the  Sirocco  blows,  the  days  are  never 
oppressively  warm,  and  the  nights  are  cool,  often  with  a  heavy 
dew.     The  westerly  winds  which  prevail  much  of  the  time  in 
summer,  coming  as  they  do  from  the  Mediterranean,  temper  the 
heat  of  the  dry  season,  and  make  it  at  Jerusalem,  according 
to  Barclay  (City  of  the  Great  King,  p.  49),  "  much  more  endur 
able  than  in  any  portion  of  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United 
States  from  Maine  to  Texas.     This  is  due  not  only  to  its  [Jeru 
salem's]  elevated  position,"  ....  "  but  to  a  northwesterly  breeze 
from  the  Mediterranean,  which  uniformly  springs  up  as  soon  as 
the  ground  becomes  somewhat  heated — about  eight  or   nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning — and  continues  till  ten  at  night."     Re 
specting  the  -climate  of  the  hill  country  east  of  the  Jordan  we 
have  but  few  observations.    But  from  its  elevation  we  naturally 
infer  that  it  resembles  that  of  the  mountainous  tract  west  of 
the  Jordan  valley.     It  wants,  however,  the  moderating  influence 
of  the  fresh  breezes  from  the  Mediterranean. 


PALEST  INK.  211 

The  highest  elevation  of  the  mercury  recorded  by  Barclay  at  Jerusa 
lem,  is  92  degrees  Fahrenheit,  and  the  lowest — in  a  single  instance  imme 
diately  before  sunrise — 28  degrees.  The  mean  annual  average  of  temper 
ature  is  66.5  degrees,  that  of  Boston  being  49  degrees,  of  Philadelphia, 
52  degrees,  of  New  Orleans,  62  degrees,  of  San  Erancisco,  56  degrees. 
Slight  frosts  are  quite  frequent  at  Jerusalem,  ' ;  sufficiently  severe  to  black 
en  the  fig-leaf  prematurely  in  the  fall.  And  although  there  may  not  be  a 
particle  of  snow  or  ice  for  several  consecutive  years,  in  general,  yet 
there  were  several  snows — though  of  short  continuance — during  the  winter 
of  1853-4  and  1854-5,  and  pellicles  of  ice  at  one  time  an  eighth  of  an  inch 
thick  on  thin  sheets  of  water  in  places  protected  from  the  rays  of  the 
sun ;  and  portions  of  ground  similarly  situated  were  slightly  frozen  for 
several  days."  Barclay,  p.  50.  Robinson  states  (Phys.  Geog.,  p.  290)  that 
"snow  often  falls  at  Jerusalem  and  in  the  hill  country,  mostly  in  January 
and  February,  to  the  depth  of  a  foot  or  more  ;  but  does  not  long  remain." 
"During  the  whole  winter  the  roads,  or  rather  tracks,  in  Palestine,  are 
muddy,  deep,  and  slippery  ;  so  that  the  traveller  at  this  season  is  subjected 
to  great  inconvenience  and  discomfort."  Ib.,  p.  291.  "  Pray  ye,"  says  our 
Saviour  to  his  disciples,  in  anticipation  of  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem 
(Matt.  24  :  20),  "  that  your  flight  be  not  in  the  winter,  neither  on  the  Sab 
bath-day." 

10.  In  the  sunken  valley  of  the  Jordan,  the  lowest  part  of 
which  is  1,300  feet  below  the  level  of  the  ocean,  and  about  3,900 
below  that  of  Jerusalem,  snow  never  falls  and  winter  is  unknown, 
and  the  heat  of  the  summer  months  is  excessive. 

Lynch's  table  of  meteorological  observations  (official  report,  p.  74),  gives 
for  the  Dead  sea  the  following  record  : 

April  18,  Noon,  82  degrees  Fahr.  April  23,  12  p.  M.  74.5degs.  Fahr. 

"  19,  1  P.  M.  87.5  "  "  "  24,    6  A.  M.,  78 

"  "    8      "  70.5  "  "  "  "     Noon,  90  " 

"  "    12    "  68  "  "  "  "      8  P.  M.  78.5  " 

"  20,9A.M.  88  "  "  "  "     12    "  78 

•'  "12n.,  89  "  "  "  25,    6A.M.  79 

"  "  8i  P.  M.  72  "  May  6,    8  A.  M.  92  " 

«•  21,  8  A.  M.  88  "  "  "  "     Noon,  97  "         " 

"  22, 8  P.  M.  75.8  "  "  "  "     2  p.  M.  102  "         " 

"  "10  P.M.  74  "  "  "  "12p.M.  76  " 

"  23,    7A.M.  85  "  "  "  7,    8  A.  M.  84  " 

"  "     Noon,  86  "  "  "  "  11  A.  M.  106  "         " 

"  "      1  P.  M.  90  "  "  "  "    4p.  M.  93  "         •• 


212  SACKED  GEOCHAniY. 

The  lust  two  of  the  above  days  the  mercury  felt  the  influence  of  a  Si 
rocco.  Eobinson  and  Smith's  record  for  May  10-14,  1838,  and  for  May  29 
and  30,  of  the  same  year,  is  not  materially  different.  Under  a  Sirocco,  the 
thermometer  rose,  May  29,  to  102  degrees. 

On  the  Mediterranean  plain  but  few  observations  have  been 
made.  Since,  however,  it  has  but  little  elevation  above  the 
sea,  and  is  consequently  more  than  2,000  feet  lower  than  Jeru 
salem,  it  must  have  a  corresponding  increase  of  temperature. 
Its  climate,  as  already  remarked,  is  intermediate  between  that 
of  the  Jordan  valley  and  that  of  the  mountainous  tracts. 

11.  Besides  the  direct  method  of  observations  made  with 
the  thermometer,  there  are  two  other  means  of  determining  the 
average  relative  temperature  of  the  different  sections  of  Pales 
tine.     The  first  consists  in  comparing  the  times  of  the  barley  and 
wheat  harvest.     According   to  Eobinson,   "the   barley   harvest 
usually  precedes  the  wheat  harvest  by  a  fortnight  or  three 
weeks."    Phys.  Geog.,  p.  301.     The  same  author  states  (ib.,  p. 
302)  that  "  the  wheat  harvest  in  the  Ghor  takes  place  [from  May 
7th  to  May  14th]  about  four  weeks  earlier  than  at  Jerusalem ; 
the  two  being  hardly  more  than  twenty  miles  apart.     The  har 
vest  of  the  western  plain  lies  between;  about  ten  days  later 
than  in  the  Ghor,  and  eighteen  or  twenty  days  earlier  than  on 
the  mountains."     The  other  means  consists  in  noticing  the  pro- 
1 1  a  i-lions  peculiar  to  the  different  regions.     Thus  the  valley  of  the 
Jordan  and  the  Dead  sea  has,  with  an  Egyptian  climate,  Egyp 
tian  plants  also — the  thorny  lote-tree,  the  acacia,  the  dom-palm, 
the  tamarisk,  the  papyrus,  the  apple  of  Sodom,  the  "  camphire" 
or  henna  of  the  Arabs,  the  egg-plant,  nightshade,  and  various 
other  Egyptian  trees  and  plants.     Around  Jericho  date-palms 
were  once  abundant,  and  the  sugar  cane  was  cultivated  there 
also.     Palms  also  nourish  with  suitable  culture,  on  the  Medi 
terranean  plain.     The  vine  and  olive,  on  the  other  hand,  are  the 
staple  productions  of  the  mountains. 

12.  The  most  disagreeable  and  oppressive  wind  of  Palestine 
is  the  Sirocco,  coming  from  any  point  of  the  southern  quarter 
from  southeast  to  southwest,  and  bringing  hot  dry  blasts  from 


PALESTINE.  213 

the  African  and  Arabian  deserts.  These  winds  are  marked  by 
an  oppressive  sultriness  which  causes  great  lassitude  and  disin 
clination  to  all  labor  bodily  or  mental.  Their  extreme  dryness 
closes  the  pores  of  the  animal  body,  and  has  a  withering  effect 
upon  vegetation.  They  bring  from  the  deserts  an  impalpable 
dust,  which  gives  a  lurid  appearance  to  the  atmosphere,  and 
which  penetrates  every  part  of  the  clothing  and  every  crevice 
and  cranny  of  the  houses.  These  winds  commonly  last  but  a 
single  day ;  but  sometimes  two  or  three  days.  See  farther  in 
Robinson's  Phys.  Geog.,  pp.  305,  306 ;  and  Buckingham's  Lec 
tures  on  Egypt;  Barclay,  pp.  51,  52. 

According  to  Robinson  the  name  Sirocco  is  but  an  Italian  form  of  the 
Arabic  Sliurkiyeh,  east  wind.  It  was  originally  applied  to  the  sultry  south 
east  winds  ;  then  to  all  hot  and  sultry  winds  blowing  from  any  quarter  be 
tween  the  southeast  and  the  southwest.  This  is  the  south  wind  referred  to 
by  our  Saviour:  "when  ye  see  the  south  wind  blow,  ye  say,  A  burning 
heat ;  and  it  cometh  to  pass. "  Luke  12  : 55.  This  also  was  the  "  vehement 
east  wind"  that  "  beat  upon  the  head  of  Jonah  that  he  fainted,  and  wished 
in  himself  to  die."  Jonah  4  :  8.  The  Sirocco  sometimes  blows  with  great 
violence,  amounting  to  a  hurricane.  See  Lynch's  Expedition,  p.  375  ;  Eob- 
inson,  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  306.  The  oppressive  stillness  and  sultriness  that 
accompany  the  Sirocco  are  beautifully  described  in  the  book  of  Job  (chap. 
37  : 17):  "Dost  thou  know  how  thy  garments  are  warm,  when  the  earth  is 
quieted  from  the  south  wind  ?" 

* 

II.     SOIL. 

13.  The  basis  of  the  rocks  of  Palestine  is  Jura  limestone,  com 
pact,  hard,  and  full  of  caverns ;  above  which,  capping  its  hills  in 
many  places,  are  the  remains  of  a  more  recent  chalk  formation 
abounding  in  flints.  On  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan  valley  sand 
stone  is  rare ;  but  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Dead  'sea  sandstone 
underlies  the  limestone,  and  from  Kerak  south  sandstone  of  sin 
gular  forms  and  colors  constitutes  the  mass  of  the  mountains. 
In  some  parts — particularly  from"  Beisan  and  northward  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Ghor,  as  also  in  'the  region  of  Bashan  east  of 
the  Jordan  valley — this  general  limestone  formation  has  been 
broken  up,  and  volcanic  rocks  in  the  form  of  black  basalt  have 


214  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

been  protruded  into  it.  The  whole  of  the  Lejah  is,  as  we  have 
seen,  a  sea  of  rough  basaltic  rocks,  resembling  an  ocean  of  lava 
suddenly  congealed. 

14.  The  rocks  of  Palestine  constitute  the  foundation  of  a 
strong  and  fertile  soil,  the  natural  capabilities  of  which  are  uni 
versally  conceded.  The  cutting  away  of  the  ancient  forests  in 
Palestine  is  thought  to  have  exerted  a  deteriorating  influence  on 
both  the  climate  and  the  soil,  by  diminishing  the  amount  of  rain 
and  exposing  the  naked  surface  of  the  earth  for  six  months  to 
the  scorching  rays  of  the  sun.  How  far  this  cause  may  have 
operated  it  is  difficult  to  determine.  The  curse  of  a  bad  gov 
ernment,  which  oppresses  the  husbandman  without  protecting 
him  from  the  incursions  of  the  predatory  Arabs,  is  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  desolation  that  now  reigns  over  so  large  a  part 
of  the  promised  land.  The  enormous  crops  of  grain  which  the 
plains  of  Palestine  yield  wherever  they  are  cultivated,  and  the 
no  loss  enormous  growth  of  thistles  and  other  weeds  where  they 
are  neglected,  give  proof  of  their  capacity  to  be  now,  as  ancient 
ly,  the  granary  of  the  whole  adjacent  region.  The  palm-groves 
of  Jericho  have  disappeared  from  the  deterioration,  not  of  the 
climate  and  soil,  but  of  the  people  and  government.  Now,  as  of 
old,  the  hills  of  Judea  are  capable  of  being  clad  to  their  sum 
mits  with  vineyards  and  olive-groves.  If  all  the  rains  of  Pales 
tine  fall  now  during  the  winter  months,  so  did  they  also  in  the 
days  of  Josephus,  when  "neither  cowardice  oppressed  the  men 
of  Galilee,  nor  thinness  of  population  the  region ;  since  it  was 
fertile  throughout,  and  abounding  in  rich  pasture  land,  and 
planted  with  trees  of  all  kinds;  alluring  by  its  luxuriousness 
even  those  who  were  least  fond  of  agriculture.  It  was  accord 
ingly  all  cultivated  by  its  inhabitants,  and  no  part  of  it  lay  idle. 
The  cities,  moreover,  were  frequent,  and  there  was  every  where 
a  multitude  of  populous  villages  on  account  of  the  goodness  of 
the  soil,  'the  least  of  which  contained  above  fifteen  thousand  in 
habitants."  Jewish  War,  3.  3.  2.  He  elsewhere  says  (Life,  45) 
that  the  number  of  these  cities  and  villages  amounted  to  two 
hundred  and  forty. 


PALESTINE.  215 

When  Moses  describes  Palestine  as  "  a  land  of  brooks  of  water,  of  foun 
tains  and  depths  that  spring  out  of  valleys  and  hills"  (Deut.  8  :  7),  and  as 
"a  land  of  hills  and  valleys,  that  drinketh  water  of  the  rain  of  heaven" 
(Deut.  11  :  11),  we  must  remember  that  his  standard  of  comparison  is  not 
Europe  or  this  western  world,  but  Egypt,  where  there  are  neither  foun 
tains  nor  rain.  From  Moses'  point  of  view  both  descriptions  are  strictly 
accurate.  During  the  winter  months  Palestine  "  drinketh  water  of  the  rain 
of  heaven  ;"  and  the  "  fountains  and  depths  that  spring  out  of  valleys  and 
hills,"  if  not  as  numerous  as  in.  our  highly  favored  country,  are  sufficient 
for  the  wants  of  the  people,  provided  only  their  waters  be  rightly  distrib 
uted.  Several  large  fountains  have  been  noticed  in  the  preceding  pages  ; 
and  there  are  hundreds  of  others,  many  of  them  sufficient  to  turn  each  a 
mill-wheel,  scattered  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  In  the 
environs  of  Jerusalem,  within  a  circuit  of  eight  or  ten  miles,  not  less  than 
thirty  permanent  fountains  have  been  enumerated.  See  Barclay's  City  of 
the  Great  King,  p.  544,  seq.;  Robinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  pp.  238-264. 

III.     NATURAL    HISTORY. 

15.  It  does  not  coine  within  the  plan  of  the  present  work  to 
give  an  enumeration  in  detail  of  the  various  plants  and  animals 
belonging  to  Palestine.     The  reader  will  find  such  of  them  as 
are  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures  described  in  the  various  Bible 
Dictionaries  of  the  day,  so  far  as  Jhey  can  be  identified ;  for  un 
fortunately  in  respect  to  the  names  of  many  plants  and  animals 
it  is  impossible  to  determine  with  any  degree  of  certainty  to 
what  species  the  Hebrews  applied  them.     All  that  will  be  here 
attempted  is  a  general  survey  of  the  vegetable  and  animal  king 
doms  of  Palestine. 

16.  Among  the  plants  that  furnish  food  to  the  human  race 
wheat  and  barley  hold  the  first  place.     "What  abundant  crops  of 
these  grains  the  soil  of  Palestine  yields  is  known  to  all.     "  The 
fat  of  wheat"  and  "the  fat  of  kidneys' of  wheat"  (Ps.  81:16; 
147:14;  Deut.  32:14),  these  are  the  terms  used  by  the  sacred 
writers  in  describing  the  wheat  of  Palestine.     Twenty  thousand 
measures  of  wheat  with  twenty  measures  of  pure  oil  were  given 
by  Solomon  to  Hiram  annually  in  return  for  his  services.     In 
enumerating  the  long  list  of  products  embraced  in  the  com 
merce  of  Tyre,  Ezekiel  names  for  Judah  and  the  land  of  Is- 


216  SACKED   GEOGIIAPHY. 

rael  "  wheat  of  Minnith  and  Pannag  and  honey,  and  oil,  and 
balsam."  Ezek.  27 : 17.  To  these  grains  are  to  be  added  the 
leguminous  plants — peas,  beans,  and  various  kinds  of  lentiles ; 
millet,  sorghum,  rice  in  the  swampy  grounds  bordering  the  lake 
Huleh ;  melons,  cucumbers,  pumpkins,  and  gourds ;  the  whole 
store  of  garden  vegetables — cabbages,  carrots,  lettuce,  endives, 
etc.  Many  plants  not  known  in  ancient  times  have  been  intro 
duced  from  abroad  ;  as  the  potato,  sweet  potato,  maize,  banana, 
sugar-cane,  etc. 

17.  Of  plants  that  furnish  dot! ting,  cotton,  hemp,  and  flax  are 
cultivated  in  Palestine :  but  the  latter  not  very  abundantly  at 
the  present  time.     Silk  is  once  mentioned  in  the  New  Testa 
ment  as  an  article  of  commerce  (Rev.  18:12);  perhaps  also  in 
the  Old  Testament  by  Ezekiel  (chap.  16 : 10,  13)  under  the  name 
mesM.     No  notice  of  it  occurs  at  an  earlier  date. 

18.  Of  fruit-bearing  trees  the  vine,  olive,  fig,  pomegranate, 
and  sycamore  are  often  mentioned   in  Scripture.      To    these 
must  be  added  the  apple,  quince,  apricot,  mulberry,  prickly  pear, 
hawthorn,  orange,  shaddock,  lime,  eto.     The  date-palm,  once  so 
common,  is  now  found  at  various  places  along  the  maritime  plain, 
but  scarcely  elsewhere.  . 

Palestine  has  always  been  celebrated  for  the  excellence  of  its  vineyards. 
It  is  said  that  no  vines  can  vie  for  produce  with  those  of  Judaea.  Dr. 
Hooker  (in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  art.  Palestine)  speaks  of  bunches  pro 
duced  near  Hebron  which  are  sometimes  so  long  that,  "when  attached  to 
a  stick  which  is  supported  on  the  shoulders  of  two  men,  the  tip  of  the 
bunch  trails  on  the  ground."  Compare  Numb.  13  : 23.  The  terraced  hills 
of  Judaea  were  once  covered  in  great  part  with  vineyards,  and  could  be 
again  under  suitable  culture. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  vine  is  the  olive.  The  olive-tree,  with  its 
gray  bark,  knotted  and  gnarled  limbs,  and  dull  foliage,  forms  a  very  stri 
king  feature  of  the  landscape  of  Palestine.  Olive  orchards  with  their 
precious  crop  constitute  now,  as  from  time  immemorial,  one  of  the  chief 
sources  of  wealth  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  land.  "Corn  and  wine  and 
oil" — by  these  three  staple  products  the  holy  land  is  often  characterized. 

The  fig  constitutes  another  important  crop.  It  is  planted  like  the  olive 
in  orchards,  which  are  carefully  cultivated,  and  it  bears  two  or  three  crops 
in  the  year. 


ALMONDS. 


ALMOND-TREE. 


PALESTINE.  217 

The  sycamore  is  a  species  of  tig  with  a  leaf  resembling  that  of  the  mul 
berry.  Hence  its  -Greek  name  sycamoros,  that  is,  jig-mulberry.  The  tree, 
which  is  of  considerable  size,  thrives  on  the  plains  and  in  the  vales  where 
it  is  not  exposed  to  severe  cold.  1  Chron.  27  :  28.  The  fruit  grows  directly 
from  the  trunk  itself  on  little  sprigs,  and  in  clusters  like  grapes.  Though 
inferior  to  the  true  fig,  it  constitutes  an  important  article  of  food.  Its 
wood,  though  light  and  porous,  is  very  durable ;  and  was  much  used  an 
ciently  for  doors  and  various  articles  of  furniture  ;  for  mummy  cases  also, 
it  is  said. 

The  pomegranate  is  rather  a  bush  than  a  tree,  with  a  dark  green  f  oliago 
and  crimson  flowers.  It  bears  a  large  reddish-colored  fruit  filled  with  nu 
merous  seeds,  surrounded  with  juicy  pleasant  tasted  pulp.  The  beauty  of 
the  fruit  caused  it  to  be  selected  as  an  ornament  of  the  high-priest's 
robes  (Ex.  28  : 33,  34 ;  39  :  24-26) ;  and  of  the  pillars  to  Solomon's  temple 
(1  Kings  7  : 18,  20,  42) ;  and  in  Canticles  the  bridegroom  says  to  the  bride 
(chap.  4:3):  "Thy  temples  are  like  a  piece  of  a  pomegranate  within  thy 
locks." 

What  kind  of  tree  was  denoted  by  the  Hebrew  lappuah,  rendered  in 
our  version  apple  and  apple-tree,  is  a  matter  of  doubt.  The  corresponding 
Arabic  word  tuffah  denotes  apple ;  but  also  lemon,  peach,  apricot,  etc. 
Thomson  (Land  and  Book,  2,  pp.  328,  329)  decides  for  the  apple.  Tris 
tram  (Land  of  Israel,  pp.  604,  605)  dissents  from  this  view.  He  would 
prefer  the  meaning  citron  to  that  of  apple,  but  has  no  hesitation  in  express 
ing  his  opinion  that  the  apricot  alone  is  the  apple  of  Scripture.  The  tree 
yields  a  pleasant  shade  (Cant.  2:3;  8:5),  and  its  fragrant  golden  fruit 
has,  he  thinks,  all  the  qualities  ascribed  to  the  apple  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Prov.  25  : 11 ;  Cant.  2:5;  7:8.  The  prevailing  opinion  is  that  the  citron 
is  the  apple  of  Scripture. 

Oranges  are  apparently  of  later  introduction.  Joppa  on  the  Mediter 
ranean  plain  is  surrounded  by  gardens  containing  groves  of  oranges  and 
date-palms,  with  lemons,  citrons,  and  bananas.  The  hedges  of  these  gar 
dens  are  formed  by  the  prickly  pear,  itself  yielding  a  fruit  extensively  eat 
en  by  all  classes. 

19.  Among  nut-bearing  and  other  forest-trees  may  be  mention 
ed  the  walnut,  almond,  pistachio,  carob-tree,  oak,  plane-tree, 
wild-olive,  etc.  The  banks  of  the  Jordan  are  lined  with  the 
oleander,  poplar,  willow,  tamarisk,  and  other  trees  and  shrubs, 
along  with  dense  jungles  of  canebrakes.  The  oleander,  with 
its  gay  flowers,  fringes  the  banks  of  lakes  and  pools,  and  fills 
the  ravines  where  water  runs  during  the  whole  or  most  of  the 
year. 

10 


218  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

The  most  common  forest  tree  is  the  oak,  of  which  there  are  three  spe 
cies.  Except  some  forests  of  pine  on  the  seacoast,  ridges  of  Carmel,  and 
a  few  other  high  crests,  the  oak  alone  forms  continuous  forests.  It  is  most 
abundant  in  Bashan  and  Gilead.  The  valonia  oak  (Quercus  cegilops]  is 
probably  the  prevailing  oak  of  Bashan  and  Gilead.  Its  thick  gnarled  limbs 
answer  well  to  the  thick  boughs  of  the  great  oak  that  caught  Absalom's 
head  as  his  mule  rushed  under  them  in  the  flight  from  Joab's  men,  2  Sam. 
18:9. 

Of  the  pistacia  there  are  three  species.  That  which  yields  the  pistachio 
nut  (Pistacia  vera)  is  rare  ;  but  the  two  other  kinds,  the  lentiscus  and  tere 
binth,  are  very  common.  The  former  is  a  bush  conspicuous  for  its  dark 
evergreen  leaves  and  numberless  scarlet  berries  ;  the  latter  becomes  a  largo 
tree. 

The  carob-tree  (Ceratonia  siliqua]  is  related  to  the  locust  family.  Its 
large  pendulous  pods  filled  with  a  sweetish  pulp  are  extensively  used  as 
food  for  cattle,  horses,  mules,  and  swine.  These  are  "the  husks  \keratia, 
carob-pods]  that  the  swine  did  eat."  Luke  15  : 16. 

20.  Odoriferous  plants  abound  on  the  hills  of  Palestine.    Dr. 
Hooker    specifies    marjoram,    thymes,    lavenders,    calaminths, 
sages,  and  teucriums.     Fennels  also,  and  mustard  of  gigantic 
size,  with  other  umbelliferous  and  cruciferous  plants  are  very 
common. 

What  was  the  plant  known  to  the  Hebrews  by  the  name  Ezobh,  which 
the  translators  render  by  the  word  hyssop,  is  a  matter  of  uncertainty.  The 
various  conjectures  may  be  seen  in  the  modern  Bible  Dictionaries,  which, 
however,  shed  but  little  light  on  the  question.  Thomson  (Land  and 
Book,  1,  p.  161)  speaks  of  having  seen  a  variety  of  hyssop  having  the  fra 
grance  of  thyme,  with  a  hot,  pungent  taste,  and  long  slender  steins.  Such 
a  plant  would  agree  well  with  the  qualities  ascribed  to  the  hyssop  of  Scrip 
ture. 

21.  We  have  already  noticed  the  fact  that  in  the  deep  sunk 
en  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  Dead  sea  many  Egyptian  plants  are 
found,  and  some  that  belong  to  the  flora  of  India.     Such  are 
the  thorny  lote-tree,  the  zukkum  that  yields  the  false  balsam, 
the   henna,  the  apple  of  Sodom,  the  mad  apple,  etc.     One  of 
the  most  interesting  plants  of  this  region  is  the  papyrus,  said  to 
have  once  grown  on  the  banks  of  the  lower  Nile,  but  which  is 
now  found  without  the  tropics  only  in  one  spot  in  the  island  of 


PALESTINE.  219 

Sicily,  and  in  certain  localities  of  modern  Syria.  It  abounds  in 
the  marshes  by  the  upper  lakes  of  the  Ghor,  and  is  said  to  grow 
near  Haifa  at  the  foot  of  Carmel  and  elsewhere.  Hooker  in 
Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  art.  Palestine. 

The  papyrus  is  the  babeei'  of  the  Arabs  (b  being,  as  usual  with  them, 
substituted  tor  p}.  It  is  a  tall  stout  three-cornered  plant,  growing  to  the 
height  of  eight  or  ten  feet,  and  ending  above  in  a  wide-spreading  broom- 
like  tuft.  "It  imparts,"  says  Thomson,  speaking  of  the  marshes  of  the 
Huleh  (1,  p.  401),  "  a  singular  appearance  to  the  whole  marsh,  as  if  ten  thou 
sand  thousand  brooms  were  waving  over  it."  Of  this  plant  the  ancients 
manufactured  paper,  and  hence  the  name-1— papei*  from  papyrus.  The  Arabs 
make  mats  of  it  for  the  walls  and  roofs  of  their  huts. 

22.  The  green  compact  turf  of  England  and  the  United 
States  is  rarely  found  in  Palestine ;  but  the  variety  and  beauty 
of  the  wild  flowers  at  the  close  of  the  rainy  season  is  wonderful. 
Particularly  worthy  of  notice   is   the  predominance  of  those 
which  have  a  scarlet  hue — scarlet  anemones,  wild  tulips,  pop 
pies,  etc. 

'  •  Of  all  the  ordinary  aspects  of  the  country,  this  blaze  of  scarlet  color 
is  perhaps  the  most  peculiar. "  Stanley,  Sinai  and  Palestine,  p.  137.  The 
brilliancy  of  the  vernal  flora  of  Palestine  is  often  noticed  by  Tristram  : 
"  The  lovely  scarlet  anemone,"  writes  he  at  Bethlehem,  under  date  of  Feb. 
11  (Land  of  Israel,  pp.  403,  404),  "was  coming  into  flower,  and  showing 
signs  of  spring ;  pretty  little  annuals — a  pink  lychnis,  saponarias,  blue 
pimpernels,  and  red  valerians — carpeted  with  a  sheet  of  color  the  soil 
under  the  olive-trees."  Feb.  26th,  near  Nazareth,  he  writes  :  "The  ground 
was  carpeted  with  brilliant  patches  of  anemone  and  other  red  flowers, 
bunches  of  lovely  cyclamen,  composite  flowers  in  endless  variety,  not  omit 
ting  a  blue  iris  and  species  of  periwinkle."  In  view  of  the  blaze  of  bright 
flowers  hojv  natural  and  apt  is  the  Saviour's  illustration  :  ' '  Consider  the 
lilies  of  the  field  how  they  grow  ;  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin  ;  and 
yet  I  say  unto  you  that  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one 
of  these."  Matt,  6:28,  29. 

23.  As  the  dry  season  advances,  this  gorgeous  carpeting  of 
flowers  withers  away  along  with  the  tall  thistles,  the  matted 
thorns,  and  the  sprawling  brambles.     Then  their  common  des 
tiny  is  to  feed  the  fires  of  the  inhabitants ;  for  in  this  land,  so 
bare  of  forest-trees,  fuel  is  a  very  precious  article.     The  dry 


SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

stalks  of  the  lily  and  thistle  are  cast  together  into  the  oven. 
"If,"  says  the  Saviour  (Matt.  6:30),  "God  so  clothe  the  grass 
of  the  field,  which  to-day  is,  and  to-morrow  is  cast  into  the  oven, 
shall  he  not  much  more  clothe  you,  O  ye  of  little  faith?" 

The  dried  ordure  of  animals  is  carefully  gathered  up  and  used  for  fuel 
aloug  with  the  withered  stalks  of  flowering  plants,  thistles,  brambles,  thorns, 
and  weeds  of  all  kinds.  "  You  see,"  says  Thomson  (Land  and  Book,  1,  p. 
81),  "an  immense  quantity  of  this  low  matted  thorn-bush  collected  around' 
them.  That  is  the  fuel  with  which  the  lime  is  burned.  And  thus  it  was 
in  the  days  of  Isaiah.  '  The  people  shall  be, '  says  he,  '  as  the  burnings  of 
lime  ;  as  thorns  cut  up  shall  they  be  burned  in  the  fire.'  Those  people 
among  the  rocks  yonder  are  cutting  up  thorns  with  their  mattocks  and 
pruniug-hooks,  and  gathering  them  into  bundles  to  be  burned  in  these 
burnings  of  lime." 

24.  The  domestic  animals  of  Palestine — the  ox,  sheep,  goat, 
ass,  camel — are  well  known.  Horses  also  were  in  use  on  the 
plain  country,  among  the  native  inhabitants  of  Canaan,  at  the 
time  of  the  conquest ;  for  we  repeatedly  read  of  their  chariots 
of  iron,  by  the  help  of  which  they  successfully  withstood  the 
Israelites  (Josh.  17:16;  Juclg.  1:19;  4:3).  But  among  the 
Israelites  themselves  horses  and  niules  did  not  come  into  com 
mon  use  till  a  later  period.  In  Palestine,  as  throughout  the 
East  generally,  the  buffalo,  which  is  larger  and  stronger  than 
the  ox,  is  domesticated,  and  much  used  for  ploughing  and 
draught  purposes.  It  is  also  found  wild  in  the  marshes  about 
the  upper  lakes. 

Tristram  saw  "herds  of  buffaloes  standing  half  buried  in  the  mud"  in 
the  marshy  ground  bordering  the  sea  of  Galilee  (Land  of  Israel,  p.  429)  ; 
and  in  the  morasses  of  the  Huleh  * '  herds  of  ill-looking  buffaloed  were  wal 
lowing  in  the  mud,  or  standing  with  only  their  noses  out  of  water  "  (ib.,  p. 
588).  These  may  be,  as  he  suggests,  the  true  representatives  of  the  "  bulls 
of  Bashan." 

The  Mosaic  law  discouraged  the  multiplication  of  horses  (Deut.  17  : 16) ; 
but  Solomon  introduced,  them  in  great  numbers  (1  Kings  10  :  26 ;  2  Chron. 
1  : 14).  Mules  are  first  mentioned  in  David's  time  (2  Sam.  13  :  29);  for  in 
Gen.  36  : 24  the  Hebrew  word  rendered  mules  might  be  better  translated 
warm,  springs,  as  in  the  Vulgate.  Indeed,  the  Levitical  law  (Lev.  19  : 19) 
forbade  the  breeding  of  niules. 


THE  BULL  OF   SY1U.V. 


THE  FAT-TAILED  SYRIAN  SHEEP.  ROE  AND  ROEBUCK  :   AXTILOPA  DOECAS. 


HKAD  OF  THE  SYRIAN  GOAT. 


PALESTINE.  221 

The  broad-tailed  variety  of  sheep  is  very  common  in  Palestine.  The  tail 
is  the  part  (rendered  rump  in  our  version)  which  was  to  be  removed  in  the 
case  of  certain  sacrifices,  and  burned  on  the  altar.  Lev.  3;9;7:3;8:25; 
9  : 19.  Its  weight  is  often  fifteen  pounds  and  more. 

25.  Of  the  tr if> I  <in i mals  mentioned  in  Scripture,  the  lion  lias 
disappeared  from  Palestine ;  and  the  bear,  once  common  in  the 
land,  is  very  rare  at  present,  except  in  the  mountains  of  Leba 
non.  Tristram  encountered  a  brown  Syrian  bear  in  the  IVady 
Hamdm,  which  enters  the  plain  of  Gennesaret  at  its  western 
side.  Other  wild  beasts  are  the  leopard,  wolf,  hyena,  jackal,  fox, 
with  a  multitude  of  smaller  animals. 

The  leopard,  wolf,  and  hyena  are  not  common.  The  leopard  inhabits 
the  heights  of  Lebanon  and  Hcrmon,  and  is  occasionally  found  in  Pales 
tine  ;  in  the  jungles  of  the  Jordan,  for  example,  and  the  canebrakes  around 
the  fountains  on  the  shore  of  the  Dead  sea.  Tristram,  pp.  242,  274.  Tris 
tram  saw  wolves  in  the  wilderness  of  Judah  at  Mar  Saba  and  farther  south 
(pp.  267,  268,  367) ;  and  he  several  times  speaks  of  hyenas  as  inhabiting 
the  Ghor  (pp.  242,  275,  325).  Jackals  are  extremely  numerous,  as  is  suffi 
ciently  attested  by  their  nocturnal  bowlings.  The  Hebrew  term  SJnial, 
rendered  in  our  version  fox,  seems  to  include  both  foxes  and  jackals.  The 
latter  go  in  troops,  and  are  easily  caught.  The  three  hundred  foxes  of 
Samson  (Judg.  15  : 4)  may  have  been  jackals.  The  jackal,  like  the  hyena 
and  vulture,  feeds  upon  carrion.  To  "fall  by  the  sword"  and  "be  a  por 
tion  for  foxes  "  (Psa.  63  : 10)  is  to  be  left  on  the  battle-field  to  be  the  prey 
of  jackals,  which  here  represent  all  beasts  that  feed  on  carrion. 

The  jungles  of  the  Jordan  and  the  marshes  of  the  upper  lakes  are  the 
favorite  haunts  of  wild  swine. 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  Hebrew  term  shaphan,  which  our  trans 
lators  have  rendered  cony,  is  the  Syrian  hyrax,  which  has  its  retreat  in 
rocky  cliffs.  Tristram  describes  it  as  "about  the  size  of  a  well-grown  rab 
bit,  with  short  ears,  round  head,  long  plantigrade  foot,  no  tail,  and  nails 
instead  of  claws.  With  its  weak  teeth  and  short  incisors,  there  seem  few 
animals  so  entirely  without  the  means  for  self-defence.  '  The  conies  are 
but  a  feeble  folk,  yet  make  they  their  houses  in  the  rock.'  Prov.  30  : 26. 
But  the  stony  rocks  are  a  refuge  for  the  conies,  and  tolerably  secure  are 
they  in  such  rocks  as  these.  No  animal  ever  gave  us  so  much  trouble  to 
secure"  (p.  250).  The  shaphan  is  not  properly  a  ruminant,  but  is  placed 
with  ruminants  in  a  popular  classification  (Lev.  11  :  5).  "It  is  quite  suffi 
cient,"  says  Tristram  (p.  251),  "to  watch  the  creature  working  and  moving 
its  jaws,  as  it  sits  in  a  chink  of  the  rocks,  to  understand  how  any  one  wri- 


222  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

ting  as  an  ordinary  observer,  and  not  as  a  comparative  anatomist,  would 
naturally  thus  speak  of  it." 

Besides  the  use  of  the  dog  to  guard  the  shepherd's  flocks  (Job  30  : 1 ; 
Isa.  56  : 10),  multitudes  of  dogs  without  owners  wander  in  troops  through 
the  cities  and  villages  of  the  East  in  search  of  food.  To  this  fact  there 
are  various  allusions  in  the  Old  Testament  (1  Kings  14  : 11 ;  16  : 4  ;  21  :  24  ; 
2  Kings  9  : 10,  36  ;  Psa.  22  : 16  ;  59  :  6,  14,  15  ;  Jer.  15  :  3  ;  Luke  16  :  21). 
These  "greedy  dogs,"  feeding  on  offal  and  dead  bodies,  were  to  the  He 
brews  preeminently  unclean  (Matt.  7:6);  and  they  represent  the  shame 
lessly  impure  among  men.  Phil.  3:2;  Kev.  22  : 15.  In  Deut.  23  : 18  the 
word  dog  represents  a  Sodomite.  Compare  ver.  17. 

26.  Now,  as  anciently,  Palestine  abounds  in  numerous  kinds 
of  birds.  Among  birds  of  prey  and  such  as  feed  on  carrion  maybe 
named  eagles,  vultures,  falcons,  kites,  owls,  ravens.  Among  marsh 
and  water  fowl  are  cranes,  herons,  bitterns,  cormorants,  curlews, 
pelicans,  gulls,  ducks,  teal,  etc.     "  The  rocky  hill-sides  abound 
with  partridges  and  quails ;  the  cliffs  in  the  glens  with  pigeons ; 
the  bushes  with  turtle-doves."     Alexander's  Kitto,  art.  Pales 
tine.     Among  singing-birds  is  the  bulbul,  or  Palestine  nigh  tin- 
gale,  which,  says  Tristram  (p.  201),  "positively  swarm"  in  the 
thickets  which  line  the  Jordan,  "almost  every  tree  being  inhab 
ited  by  a  pair,  and  the  thickets  reechoing  with  their  music." 

The  number  of  rock-pigeons  is  immense.  ' '  No  description, "  £ays  Tris 
tram  (p.  446),  speaking  of  Wady  Leimuu,  a  narrow  gorge  opening  upon 
the  sea  of  Galilee,  with  limestone  cliffs  from  five  hundred  to  seven  hundred 
feet  high,  perforated  with  innumerable  caves,  "can  give  an  adequate  idea 
of  the  myriads  of  rock-pigeons.  In  absolute  clouds  they  dashed  to  and 
fro  in  the  ravine,  whirling  round  with  a  rush  and  a  whirr  that  could  be 
felt  like  a  gust  of  wind."  This  passage  well  illustrates  Solomon's  descrip 
tion  of  his  bride  :  "O  my  dove,  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  in  the  hiding- 
place  of  the  ledges."  Cant.  2  : 14. 

27.  Of  reptiles  we  notice  only  those  of  the  serpent  kind. 
Besides  the  generic  word  nahasJt,  serpent  (also  tannin,  dragon), 
the  Hebrew  uses  several  terms,  apparently  all  specific,  for  ven 
omous  serpents. 

Ackshub,  in  our  version  adder  (Psa.  140  : 3) ;  epke,  in  our  version  viper 
(Job  20  : 16 ;  Isa.  30  : 6  ;  59  : 5).  The  particular  species  is  not  known  in 
either  case. 


THE   VULTURE. 


THE  FOX.    OK   JACKAL. 


THE   CONKY. 


THE  SCIJEECH-OWL. 


THE  EAGLE. 


THE   WILD  ASS. 


PALESTINE.  223 

Pethen,  rendered  adder  in  the  book  of  Psalms  (58  : 4 ;  91  : 13) ;  else 
where  asp  (Deut.  32:33;  Job  20:14,  16;  Isa.  11:8).  The  prevailing 
opinion  is,  that  this  word  denotes  the  Nnja  liaye  of  naturalists,  which  is 
nearly  allied  to  the  cobra  of  India.  It  has  the  body  spotted  with  black 
and  white,  and  is  very  venomous. 

Sliephiphon  (Gen.  49  : 17),  rendered  adder.  It  is  thought  by  some  to 
be  the  horned  cerastes. 

Tsepha  and  tsiphoni,  once  rendered  adder  (Prov.  23  : 32) ;  elsewhere 
cockatrice  (Isa.  11  :  8  ;  14  :  29  ;  59  :  5  ;  Jer.  8  : 17).  The  particular  species 
is  unknown. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  term  saraph,  bunting  or  fiery,  used  with  or 
without  the  addition  oinahash,  serpent  (Numb.  21  :  6,  8  ;  Deut.  8  : 15).  In 
Isa.  14  :  29  ;  30  :  6,  the  epithet  fly  ing  is  added.  No  serpents  have  wings,  but 
some  of  them  have  the  habit,  when  excited,  of  raising  themselves  up  on 
the  coil  of  the  tail,  and  expanding  the  skin  in  the  upper  part  of  the  body 
below  the  neck  into  a  thin  disk,  before  they  make  the  fatal  spring.  This 
cannot  enable  them  to  fly,  though  it  may  perhaps  help  them  in  throwing 
themselves  upon  the  victim.  Such  u  spring  from  an  upright  position,  with 
the  skin  of  the  neck  expanded,  may  possibly  have  suggested  the  epithet 
ftying.  Some  have  supposed  that  they  were  called  flying  serpents  from 
their  power  of  darting  at  their  prey  from  trees,  or  of  swinging  themselves 
from  limb  to  limb.  But  we  need  more  light  concerning  the  habits  of  the 
serpent  in  question. 

28.  Concerning  the  fishes  and  marine  animals  of  Palestine 
and  the  adjacent  seas  our  information  is  very  scanty.  "  The 
great  fish"  that  swallowed  Jonah  is  not  said  to  have  been  a  whale. 
It  is  from  the  Alexandrine  version  that  the  rendering  whale 
comes,  apparently  in  the  sense  of  any  great  sea-monster.  That 
there  exist  in  the  Mediterranean  sea  fish  capable  of  swallowing 
a  man  entire  is  a  well-attested  fact.  The  question  concerning 
the  particular  species  is  unimportant;  since,  whatever  it  may 
have  been,  his  preservation  in  the  belly  of  the  fish,  as  well  as 
his  deliverance  thence,  was  miraculous. 

The  iahash,  rendered  in  our  version  badger,  is  thought  by  many  to 
have  been  some  species  of  the  marine  animals  that  anciently  abounded  in 
the  Red  sea,  possibly  the  seal  or  the  dugong.  Others  incline  to  the  opin 
ion  that  it  was  of  the  antelope  family  ;  mainly  on  the  ground  that  the  ante 
lope  was,  according  to  the  Mosaic  law,  a  clean  animal. 

In  the  Hound  Fountain  (Ain  el-Mudauwarah),  whose  waters  flow 
through  the  plain  of  Gennesaret,  Tristram  discovered  a  large  species  of 


224  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

catfish  identical  with  the  catfish  of  the  ponds  of  Lower  Egypt.  Land  of 
Israel,  pp.  435,  442.  This  goes  far  to  identify  this  fountain  with  the  foun 
tain  of  Capernaum  described  by  Josephus  (Jewish  War,  3.  10.  8),  where 
lie  says  :  "It  is  watered  by  a  most  fertilizing  fountain,  which  the  inhabit 
ants  call  Capharnaum.  Some  have  thought  this  to  be  a  vein  of  the  Nile, 
since  it  produces  a  fish  similar  to  the  coracinus  of  the  Alexandrine  lake." 

29.  Of  tlie  insects  of  Palestine  we  notice  particularly  two ; 
one  for  the  benefits  it  confers,  the  other  for  the  injuries  it  in 
flicts.  The  land  of  Palestine  is  celebrated  for  its  bees,  and  they 
seem  to  have  been  anciently  more  abundant  than  at  present. 
They  select  for  their  hives  fissures  in  the  rocks,  hollow  trees,  or 
any  other  cavity  that  offers  itself.  The  narrative  in  1  Sam. 
14 :  25-27,  where  we  are  told  that  "  when  the  people  were  come 
into  the  wood,  behold,  the  honey  dropped" — from  the  combs 
namely  in  the  trees;  and  Jonathan  "put  forth  the  end  of  the  rod 
that  was  in  his  hand,  and  dipped  it  in  a  honey-comb,  and  put 
his  hand  to  his  mouth,  and  his  eyes  were  enlightened" — this 
simple  narrative  illustrates  the  oft-recurring  description  of  Pal 
estine  as  "  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey." 

The  Arabs  apply  the  term  honey  (dibs  answering  to  the  Hebrew  debhash) 
to  other  sweet  substances,  particularly  the  syrup  of  grapes,  or  must,  which 
is  a  decoction  made  from  the  newly  expressed  juice  of  grapes.  This  syrup 
is  in  common  use  in  Palestine  at  the  present  day  :  and  doubtless  the  He- 
bivws  used  the  word  honey  in  the  same  wide  sense. 

Locusts  are  a  terrible  scourge  to  Palestine  and  the  adjacent 
regions.  They  fly  with  the  wind  in  swarms  of  incredible  mag 
nitude,  which  cover  the  heavens  and  darken  the  air ;  and  when 
they  alight  they  sometimes  cover  the  surface  of  the  ground  a 
foot  deep  for  many  miles  in  extent  Every  green  thing  disap 
pears  before  them.  "  The  land,"  says  the  prophet  (Joel  2 : 3), 
"  is  as  the  garden  of  Eden  before  them,  and  behind  them  a  des 
olate  wilderness ;  yea,  and  nothing  shall  escape  them." 

The  insects  popularly  called  grasshoppers  in  the  United  States  are  prop 
erly  locusts,  and  they  give  the  best  idea  of  the  migratory  oriental  locust. 
But  the  size  of  the  latter  is  much  greater.  It  is  about  two  and  a  half 
inches  long,  of  a  greenish  color  obscurely  spotted,  with  pale  brown  wing- 
covers  marked  with  black.  In  all  its  forms,  from  the  larva  to  the  perfect 


LEVIATHAN. 


VIPER. 


KIIINOCEBOS. 


OSTKICH. 


HIPPOPOTAMTS.   OK  BEHEMOTH. 


PALESTINE.  225 

insect,  it  is  very  voracious.  When  driven  by  the  wind  over  the  sea  they 
often  perish  there  ;  and  their  dead  bodies  wafted  to  the  shore  sometimes 
form  banks  extending  for  miles,  the  stench  of  which  taints  the  air  to  a 
great  distance. 

Locusts  are  used  now  as  in  ancient  times  for  food.  Lev.  11 : 21,  22. 
They  are  prepared  in  various  ways.  The  legs  and  wings  being  pulled  off 
they  are  roasted  or  fried  in  oil ;  or  they  are  dried  in  the  sun,  pounded  up 
and  used  as  flour  ;  at  other  times  they  are  boiled  or  stewed  in  butter.  In 
many  Arabian  towns  they  are  sold  in  the  shops  by  measure  as  articles  of 
food.  There  is  no  reason  for  understanding  the  scriptural  declaration  that 
the  Baptist's  food  was  "locusts  and  wild  honey"  (Matt.  3  :4)  in  any  other 
than  a  literal  sense. 

Locusts  are  most  abundant  in  dry  seasons,  so  that  the  two  calamities  of 
drought  and  locusts  often  come  together.     Compare  Joel,  chap.  1 : 17-20  ; « 
2:23. 

30.  We  bring  this  chapter  to  a  close  by  a  brief  notice  of  three 
animals  respecting  which  there  has  been  no  little  discussion; 
namely,  %e  unicorn,  behemoth,  and  leviathan. 

In  our  version  the  Hebrew  word  reem  is  rendered,  in  accordance  with 
the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate,  by  the  word  unicorn,  that  is,  one-horned.  But 
no  such  idea  is  conveyed  by  the  original.  In  Psa.  92  : 10,  the  Hebrew 
reads  elliptically  :  My  horn  shall  thou  exalt  like  a  unicorn;  while  in  Deut. 

33  : 17  the  animal  is  plainly  represented  as  having  tiro  horns.    "His glory," 
says  Moses  of  Joseph,  "is  like  the  firstling  of  his  bullock,  and  his  horns 
-are  the   horns  of  a  unicorn."      The  rendering  of   the  English  version: 

"like  the  horns  of  unicorns,"  is  acknowledged  in  the  margin  to  be  not  in 
accordance  with  the  Hebrew,  and  was  made  under  the  idea  that  the  word 
reem  must  have  in  this  passage  a  collective  sense.  But  for  this  there  is  no 
ground,  since  the  plural  form  reemim  or  remim  is  also  in  use.  See  Isa. 

34  : 7,  Psa.  29  :  6,  where  the  original  reads,  like  a  son  of  unicorns  ;  and  Psa. 
22  :  21,  where  the  Jiorns  of  unicorns  are  mentioned. 

Again  :  when  other  animals  nre  associated  with  the  unicorn,  they  are 
always  of  the  ox  kind.  Thus  in  Deut.  33  : 17,  the  bullock  and  unicorn  are 
named  together  ;  in  Psa.  29  : 6,  the  calf  and  young  unicorn :  in  Isa.  34  : 6,  7, 
all  the  clean  animals  in  use  for  sacrifices  are  named,  and  with  them  uni 
corns — in  ver.  6,  the  small  cattle,  lambs,  goats,  rams  ;  in  \fcr.  7,  the  large 
cattle,  unicorns,  bullocks,  bulls:  in  the  twenty-second  Psalm  the  sufferer 
describes  his  enemies  as  bulls  of  Bashan,  roaring  lions,  and  dogs  (vers.  12, 
13,  16) ;  and  he  prays  for  deliverance  from  them  in  the  inverse  order,  aa 
dogs,  lions,  and  unicorns  (vers.  20,  21).  See  also  the  description  of  the 
unicorn  in  Job  39  :  9-12,  from  which  passage  we  learn  that  the  unicorn 
had  not  then  been  tamed. 

10* 


226  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Once  more  :  it  is  obvious  that  the  unicorn  is  not  a  foreign  animal  known 
to  the  Hebrews  by  report  only,  but  one  which  they  knew  from  observa 
tion. 

We  come  then  with  much  certainty  to  the  conclusion  that  the  unicorn 
was  a  wild  animal  of  the  ox  kind.  It  is  generally  thought  to  have  been  the 
wild  buffalo.  But  this  is  not  certain.  It  may  have  been  some  other 
species  of  wild  ox,  like  the  urns  described  by  Caesar  (Gallic  War,  6.  28), 
which,  along  with  the  lion,  has  now  disappeared  from  the  region. 

The  behemoth  is  mentioned  only  in  Job  40  : 15-24.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  assume  that  he  was  an  inhabitant  of  Palestine,  but  only  that  the  pa 
triarch  was  acquainted  with  him.  It  is  agreed  that  the  animal  described 
must  have  been  the  hippopotamus  or  some  species  of  elephant ;  but  between 
the  two  it  is  difficult  to  decide.  The  animal  "lieth  under  the  shady  trees 
(or,  lotus-bushes) ;  in  the  covert  of  the  reeds  and  fens.  The  shady  trees 
(or,  lotus-bushes)  cover  him  with  their  shadow ;  the  willows  of  the  brook 
compass  him  about"  (vers.  21,  22).  This  description  suits  either  the  hippo 
potamus  or  the  elephant.  "The  mountains  bring  him  forth  food  ;  where 
all  the  wild  beasts  of  the  field  play"  (ver.  20).  These  words  apply  perfectly 
to  the  elephant,  but  not  to  the  hippopotamus.  If  we  adopt  tlie  rendering 
of  the  last  clause  of  verse  19  proposed  by  many  Hebrew  scholars,  ' '  his 
Maker  hath  furnished  him  with  his  sword,"  it  may  describe  either  the 
tusks  of  the  elephant  or  the  teeth  of  the  hippopotamus.  The  exact  sense 
of  verse  23  is  not  clear  ;  but  according  to  any  proposed  rendering  it  suits 
the  hippopotamus  better  than  the  elephant.  We  may,  perhaps,  translate 
it  as  follows  :  "Lothe  river  is  violent  [swells  and  rushes  upon  him  with 
violence];  he  hasteth  not  away;  he  is  confident  when 'Jordan  bursteth 
forth  unto  his  mouth"  (swells  so  as  to  fill  his  mouth).  The  last  verse  of 
the  chapter  (verse  24)  is  rendered  by  De  Wette  :  "Does  one  take  him  be 
fore  his  eyes  ?  in  fetters  does  one  bore  through  his  nose  ?"  Tims  taken 
the  words  express  simply  the  difficulty  of  capturing  him.  But,  if  we  fol 
low  the  rendering  of  the  last  clause  proposed  in  our  version,  "his  nose 
pierceth  through  snares,"  it  might  well  be  regarded  as  a  description  of  the 
elephant's  trunk. 

It  does  not  seem  possible,  therefore,  to  decide  with  confidence  between 
the  elephant  and  the  hippopotamus.  The  fact  that  the  behemoth  is  asso 
ciated  in  this  chapter  with  the  leviathan  may,  perhaps,  incline  us  to  the  idea 
that  a  marine  animal  is  intended  ;  which  must  then  be  the  hippopotamus. 
As  to  the  supposed  Egyptian  origin  of  the  name — p-ehe-mout,  the  water 
ox — we  want  evidence  that  the  Egyptians  ever  used  it.  In  its  Hebrew 
form  it  is  a  "plural  of  majesty  ;"  as  if  beast  of  beasts. 

The  word  leviathan  signifies,  according  to  Gesenius,  "an  animal 
wreathed,  gathering  itself  in  folds;"  and  this  explanation  is  supported  by 


PALESTINE.  227 

Isa.  27:1  :  "In  that  day  Jehovah,  with  his  hard,  and  groat,  and  strong 
sword,  shall  visit  upon  [inflict  judgment  upon]  leviathan  the  swift  ser 
pent,  and  upon  leviathan  the  crooked  serpent  ;  and  shall  slay  the  dragon 
that  is  in  the  sea."  Leviathan,  the  crooked  serpent  and  dragon,  is  here 
obviously  a  symbol  of  some  great  oppressive  power,  apparently  the  Baby 
lonish  monarchy.  In  Psa.  74  : 13,  14,  the  Psalmist  says,  with  evident  al 
lusion  to  the  passage  through  the  Eed  sea  :  "  Thou  didst  divide  the  sea  by 
thy  strength  :  thou  didst  break  the  heads  of  the  dragons  upon  the  waters. 
Thou  didst  crush  the  heads  of  leviathan  :  thou  didst  give  him  as  food  to 
the  people,  to  the  dwellers  in  the  desert."  In  this  passage,  also,  the  drag 
on  and  leviathan  are  best  understood  as  representatives  of  the  persecuting 
Egyptian  monarch  and  his  host.  In  Psa.  104  : 26,  leviathan  is  described 
as  an  inhabitant  of  "the  great  and  wide  sea"  over  which  the  ships  pass. 
In  Job  3  :  8,  magicians  are  apparently  spoken  of  "  who  are  ready  to  raise 
up  leviathan,"  that  is,  who  profess  to  raise  up  leviathan  from  the  deep. 
There  is  ground  for  thinking  (though  this  is  denied  by  some)  that  in  all 
the  above  passages  the  term  leviathan  is  used  generically,  much  as  we  em 
ploy  dragon  ;  and  that  it  denotes  a  great  sea-monster.  But  in  the  forty-first 
chapter  of  Job,  which  is  the  only  remaining  passage  where  leviathan  is 
mentioned,  a  specific  animal  is  plainly  intended  ;  and  one,  too,  with  which 
the  patriarch  was  acquainted.  Unless  now  we  assume  without  evidence 
that  the  reference  is  to  some  sea-monster  that  has  become  extinct  since  the 
time  of  the  patriarch,  we  must  of  necessity  understand  the  crocodile.  The 
description  as  a  whole  agrees  with  this  animal,  and  with  no  other.  The 
account  of  his  impenetrable  skin  (verses  7,  15-17,  26-29)  applies  perfectly 
to  the  crocodile,  but  not  in  the  least  degree  to  the  whale.  A  difficulty  is 
created  by  the  mention  of  the  deep  and  the  sea  (verses  31,  32),  since  the 
crocodile  is  a  fresh-water  animal  having  his  home  in  rivers.  But  in  a 
highly  wrought  poetic  description,  like  the  present,  the  deep  and  the  sea 
may  represent  the  Nile  with  the  lakes  at  its  mouth ;  not  to  say  that  in 
Nahum  3  : 8  the  Nile  is  certainly  called  the  sea.  If  a  difficulty  be  found 
with  that  part  of  the  description  which  represents  fire  and  smoke  as  issu 
ing  from  his  nostrils  (verses  19-21),  this  is  not  removed  by  substituting  the 
whale  or  any  other  marine  animal  for  the  crocodile.  No  one  can  suppose- 
that  this  or  any  other  animal  literally  breathes  flames,  or  that  his  breath 
literally  kindles  coals.  The  description  must  be  taken  as  highly  figura 
tive. 


223  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTEK    VIII. 

COUNTRIES   ON    THE    SOUTHWEST   AND    jSouTH    OF 
PALESTINE. 

THE  countries  that  come  under  consideration  in  the  present 
chapter  are  Egypt  and  Ethiopia  on  the  southwest  of  Palestine, 
and  the  Arabian  Peninsula  on  the  south.  The  scriptural  referen 
ces  to  the  regions  west  of  Egypt,  as,  for  example,  "  the  parts  of 
Libya  about  Cyrene"  (Acts  2:10),  are  but  few  and  casual,  and 
do  not  require  particular  notice. 

I.     EGYPT   AND   ETHIOPIA. 

1.  Ancient  Egypt  deserves  special  attention,  partly  on  ac 
count  of  its  great  antiquity  and  the  high  degree  of  civilization 
to  which  it  attained ;  but  more  particularly  because  of  the  close 
connection  between  its  history  and  that  of  the  covenant  people. 
The  Hebrew  name  of  Egypt  (retained  in  the  modern  Arabic 
Misr)  is  Mizraim,  a  noun  of  the  dual  form,  referring  apparently 
to  the  earliest  division  of  the  country  into   Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt. 

The  ancient  Egyptians,  as  we  learn  from  the  monuments,  called  their 
country  Kern,  or  ia  the  demotic  form  Kemee  (Poole  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.). 
The  Coptic  name  appears  in  the  dialects  as  CUame,  Chemi,  Kerne,  Kemi, 
with  which  the  poetic  Hebrew  designation  tlie  land  of  Ham  (Psa.  105  : 23  ; 
106  :  22  ;  compare  Psa.  78  : 51)  apparently  agrees.  Another  poetic  appel 
lation  is  the  field  of  Zioan,  from  Zoan  or  Tanis,  a  city  of  Lower  Egypt. 

2.  In  regard  to  antiquity  it  is  w.ell-known  what  extravagant 
claims  the  ancient  Egyptians  made.    There  has  come  down  to  us, 
through  Julius  Africanus,  Eusebius,  and  Syncellus  a  list  of  thirty 
Egyptian  dynasties  compiled  by  the  Egyptian  historian  Manetho, 
a  priest  of  Sebennytus  in  Lower  Egypt,  who  flourished  in  the  be 
ginning  of  the  third  century  before  Christ.     The  forms  of  this 


PALESTINE.  229 

•j» 

list,  as  given  by  Eusebius  and  Syncellus,  present  important  differ 
ences,  and  the  true  text,  as  it  proceeded  from  Manetho's  pen, 
must  remain  a  matter  of  uncertainty.  Respecting  the  general 
credibility  of  Manetho's  list  and  the  principles  upon  which  it  was 
constructed  there  has  been  much  discussion.  The  study  of  the 
Egyptian  monuments  leads  to  the  conclusion,  on  the  one  hand, 
that  Manetho  composed  his  list  from  authentic  Egyptian 
records ;  and,  on  the  other,  that  these  thirty  dynasties  cannot 
have  been  all  successive,  as  he  seems  to  present  them,  but  that 
many  of  them  must  have  been  contemporaneous.  "The  series  of 
dynasties,"  says  Poole  (ul>i  x>(j>rc'\  "is  given  as  if  they  were  suc 
cessive,  in  which  case  the  commencement  of  the  first  would  be 
placed  full  five  thousand  years  B.  c.,  and  the  reign  of  the  king 
who  built  the  great  pyramid  four  thousand.  The  monuments 
do  not  warrant  so  extreme  an  antiquity,  and  the  great  majority 
of  Egyptologers  have  therefore  held  that  some  of  the  dynasties 
were  partly  contemporary."  The  extreme  antiquity  assigned 
to  Egypt  by  Bunsen  and  Lepsius,  on  the  assumption  that  the 
thirty  dynasties  of  Manetho  were  all  successive,  rests  on  con 
jectural  computations  rather  than  on  sure  historic  evidence. 
But,  after  all  reasonable  deductions  have  been  made  for  con 
temporaneous  dynasties,  it  still  remains  true  that  no  nation  can 
claim  a  higher  antiquity  than  Egypt. 

According  to  Mr.  Poole's  scheme,  which  is  regarded  with  favor  by 
Rawlinson  (Herodotus  2,  p.  340),  the  first  seventeen  dynasties  were  in  part 
contemporary,  while  from  the  eighteenth  and  onward  Egypt  was  an  undi 
vided  kingdom,  and  the  dynasties  are  to  be  regarded  as  successive.  He 
assigns  Menes,  the  first  historic  sovereign,  to  the  year  B.  c.  2700.  As  to 
the  time  of  the  Exodus  there  is  much  diversity  of  opinion.  Poole  would 
place  it  under  the  shepherd-kings  as  early  as  B.  c.  1652  ;  and  this  is  nearly 
the  date  adopted  by  Hales.  Calmet  places  it  B.  c.  1487 ;  Bunsen  and 
others  still  later.  The  chronology  of  this  part  of  Hebrew  history  is  in 
volved  in  .much  obscurity.  See  Companion  to  the  Bible,  pp.  233,  234. 

3.  The  religion,  government,  and  civilization  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians  constituted  an  organic  whole.  Their  religion,  like 
all  others  of  heathen  origin,  rested  on  a  foundation  of  nature- 


230  SACRED   GEOGRAPHY. 

• 

worship.  They  deified  the  powers  of  nature,  and  by  dividing 
these  powers  among  different  natural  objects — beasts,  birds, 
reptiles,  insects,  plants,  the  sun,  moon,  etc. — they  multiplied  the 
number  of  their  deities  without  end,  and  worshipped  them  under 
hideous  forms.  They  had  gods  and  goddesses  with  the  heads 
of  rams,  lions,  jackals,  cats,  storks,  hawks,  crocodiles,  frogs,  etc. 
In  worshipping  these  nature-gods,  they  offered  to  them  sacrifi 
ces  of  animals,  oblations  of  fruits  and  vegetables,  libations  of 
wine,  and  incense.  Nevertheless  their  religion  retained  some 
grand  relics  of  the  primitive  revelation  of  God  to  man.  Thus 
the  doctrine  of  a  future  life,  with  rewards  and  punishments  for 
the  deeds  of  the  present  life,  was  taught  by  the  priests,  and 
this  was  one  element,  perhaps  the  chief,  of  their  great  power 
over  the  popular  mind. 

For  the  refusal  of  the  Egyptians  to  eat  with  the  Hebrews,  as  foreign 
ers,  we  need  not  seek  to  find  a  special  historic  reason.  It  had  its  founda 
tion  in  religious  scruples.  The  Egyptians,  namely,  sacrificed  only  male 
kine.  To  offer  cows  in  sacrifice  was  in  their  view  an  abominable  act,  since 
these  were  sacred  to  Isis,  a  goddess  having  the  form  of  a  woman  with  the 
head  and  horns  of  a  cow.  Compare  Exod.  8  :  26.  Hence  they  regarded 
foreigners  who  violated  this  and  other  of  their  religious  usages  as  unclean. 
"The  Egyptians,"  says  Herodotus  (2.  41),  "one  and  all,  venerate  cows 
more  highly  than  any  other  animal.  This  is  the  reason  why  no  native  of 
Egypt,  whether  man  or  woman,  will  give  a  Greek  a  kiss,  or  use  the  knife 
of  a  Greek,  or  his  spit,  or  his  caldron,  or  taste  the  flesh  of  an  ox,  known  to 
be  pure,  if  it  has  been  cut  with  a  Greek  knife."  On  the  same  general 
ground  shepherds,  that  is,  in  the  wide  sense  of  the  term,  those  whose  occu 
pation  was  the  care  of  flocks  and  herds,  were  to  the  Egyptians  unclean  in  a 
special  sense.  Hence  the  declaration  of  Moses  (Gen.  46  : 34)  that  "every 
shepherd  is  an  abomination  unto  the  Egyptians." 

4.  The  government  of  Egypt  was  monarchical.  It  was  man 
ifestly  a  strong  government  affording  efficient  protection  to  life 
and  property ;  and  it  rested  preeminently  on  a  religious  founda 
tion.  The  high  prerogatives  of  the  priests,  and  their  great  in 
fluence,  appear  very  clearly  in  the  scriptural  account  of  Joseph's 
administration.  When  he  took  for  Pharaoh  the  people's  land 
in  exchange1  for  bread,  the  priests  alone  were  excepted:  "Only 


PALEST  INK.  231 

the  laud  of  the  priests  bought  he  not ;  for  the  priests  had  a 
portion  assigned  them  of  Pharaoh,  and  did  eat  their  portion 
which  Pharaoh  gave  them ;  wherefore  they  sold  not  their  lands." 
Gen.  47 : 22. 

5.  The  civilization  of  the  Egyptians  grew  up  in  close  connec 
tion  with  their  religion  and  government.  It  was  thoroughly 
heathen  in  its  character,  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  was  in 
many  respects  of  a  high  order;  the  best  probably  that  existed 
in  that  age  of  the  world.  The  monuments  present  to  us  a 
lively  picture  of  Egyptian  life  in  all  its  details.  To  their  archi 
tectural  skill  the  stupendous  remains  described  by  so  many 
travellers  bear  abundant  testimony.  Their  excellence  in  astron 
omy  and  mathematics,  judging  them  by  the  standard  of  that 
age,  cannot  be  denied.  All  the  pyramids  face  accurately  north 
and  south ;  and  long  ages  before  the  time  of  the  Romans  they 
had  the  Sothic  or  sidereal  year  consisting  of  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  and  a  quarter  days,  beginning  with  the  heliacal  rising 
of  Sothis  or  Sirius ;  that  is,  when  Sirius  rose  about  an  hour  be 
fore  the  sun.  In  medical  science  they  were  not  excelled  by  any 
nation ;  and  their  skill  in  embalming  is  known  to  all.  They 
understood  the  art  of  glass-blowing,  and  their  glass  beads  and 
richly  colored  bottles  remain  to  the  present  day.  They  had 
musical  instruments  in  use  in  their  religious  services.  Their 
skill  in  spinning  and  weaving',  as  Avell  as  the  brilliancy  of  their 
dyes,  is  known  to  all.  In  leather  they  were  expert  workmen. 
They  had  vases  of  gold  and  silver  engraved  and  embossed :  also 
of  porcelain  in  rich  colors.  M>  their  meals  they  sat  upon  car 
pets  and  mats,  or  on  stools  and  chairs  around  the  table.  The 
more  wealthy  Egyptians  had  villas  with  pleasure-grounds  and 
flower-gardens;  and  houses,  which  did  not  generally  exceed 
two  stories,  were  placed  round  open  courts  after  the  fashion  in 
Eastern  countries.  They  were  familiar  with  the  use  o"f  iron  from  a 
.remote  period,  and  understood  the  art  of  manufacturing  bronze. 
For  writing  they  used  leather,  or  paper  manufactured  from  the 
the  papyrus-plant.  The  monuments  represent  inkstands  with 
red  and  black  ink,  and  scribes  holding  the  pen  behind  the  ear. 


232  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Finally,  the  monuments  exhibit  the  whole  process  of  brick-ma 
king  with  the  taskmasters  armed  with  rods  set  over  the  workmen. 

6.  The  relation  of  tJie  covenant  people  to  tlte  Egyptians  began 
with  Abraham,  who  sojourned  in  Egypt  during  a  time  of  famine. 
Gen.  12  : 10-20.     Afterwards  Joseph;  in  the  providence  of  God, 
was  sold  into  Egypt,  which  became  the  occasion  of  the  settlement 
of  the  whole  family  there.     Here  the  growing  Hebrew  nation 
spent,  according  to  some  chronologists,  four  hundred  and  thirty 
years,  according  to  others  two  hundred  and  fifteen ;  and  then 
they  left  the  country  carrying  with  them  much  of  its  wealth 
(Exod.  3  : 21,  22;  12  : 35,  36),  and  the  knowledge  of  all  its  arts 
that  pertained  to  daily  life.     It  was  the  plan  of  God  to  bring 
his  covenant  people  at  the  outset  into  intimate  and  long  con 
tinued  contact  with  the  highest  form  of  civilization  which  the 
world  then  possessed.     If  they  took  with  the  knowledge  of 
Egyptian  civilization,  its  superstitions  also,  this  was  an  inciden 
tal  evil  for  which  an  efficient  remedy  was  provided  in  the  forty 
years  training  to  which  they  were  subjected  in  the  wilderness 
of  Arabia,  shut  out  from  the  rest  of  the  world. 

7.  After  the  exodus,  the  intercourse  between  the  Hebrews 
and  the  Egyptians  does  not  seem  to  have  been  renewed  till-  the 
time  of  Solomon,  when  it  was  of  a  friendly  character.     1  Kings 
3 : 1 ;  10  :  28,  29.  After  Solomon's  day  the  Egyptians  and  Ethiopi 
ans  appear  as  the  oppressors  and  spoilers  of  the  Hebrew  people. 
1  Kings  14 :  25,  26 ;  2  Chron.  14  :  9.     Again  we  find  the  kings  of 
Israel  and  Judali,  in  the  decline  of  their  power,  relying  on  the 
broken  reed  of  Egyptian  help  against  the  Eastern  monarchies 
(2  Kings  17  :  4;  Ezek.,  chap.  17),  for  which  sin  they  were  sharply 
rebuked  by  the  prophets.     Isa.  30  : 1-7 ;  31 : 1-3 ;  Ezek.  17  : 15 ; 
Hosea  12  : 1.     After  the  captivity,  the  Jews  in  great  numbers 
settled  in  Egypt.     Here  they  had  their  temple,  and  here  was 
executed  the  Greek  version  of  the  Old  Testament  called  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  which  has  exerted  such  an  important  influence  on  the. 
language  of  the  New  Testament,  and  was  the  basis  of  the  Latin 
version  used  in  the  Western  church  for  many  centuries.     See 
farther  under  the  head  of  Alexandria,  in  No.  17  below. 


PALESTINE. 

8.  The  geographical  features  of  Egypt  are  unique  and  simple. 
Eain  never  falls  there  in  such  quantities  as  to  be  of  any  avail  for 
agricultural  purposes.     The  Nile  flows  through  the  land  from 
south  to  north  in  a  narrow  valley  until  it  reaches  the  apex  of 
the  Delta  twelve  miles  below  the  modern  Cairo.     From  this 
point  the  river  expands,  its  current  becomes  sluggish,  and  it 
soon  begins  to  flow  off  in  separate  branches.     Thus  we  have 
the  most  ancient  natural  division  of  Upper  Egypt  above  the 
Delta  and  Lower  Egypt.      The  whole  extent  of  the  country 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  island  of  Philae,  latitude  twenty- 
four  degrees  one  minute  north,  is  in  a  direct  line  about  five  hun 
dred  and  twenty  miles ;  but  if  we  follow  the  course  of  the  river, 
seven  hundred  miles. 

9.  Upper  Egypt  extends  from  the  island  of  Philae,  on  the 
border  of  Nubia,  to  the  apex  of  the  Delta,  a  distance  of  about 
six  hundred  miles,  though  there  are  monuments  of  the  Egyptian 
.sovereigns  in  abundance  above  Philae..    The  valley  is  nowhere 
much  above  eleven  miles  in  breadth,  and  its  average  breadth  is 
about  seven  or  eight  miles.     It  is  shut  in  on  each  side  by  a 
chain  of  hills  rarely  higher  than  three  hundred  feet,  which  form 
the  border  of  the  desert  region.     A  little  above  Cairo  these  hills 
open  on  either  hand ;  those  on  the  western  side  running  off  to 
the  northwest,  and  those  on  the  eastern  side  curving  round  tow 
ards  the  head  of  the  Red  sea. 

In  the  times  of  the  earlier  Cscsars  this  part  of  Egypt  was  divided  into 
two  provinces,  the  Heptanuvnis,  or  Middle  Egypt,  and  the  TJiebdis,  or  Upper 
Egypt  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term ;  so  named  from  Thebes,  its  ancient 
capital.  All  the  provinces  were  again  subdivided  into  Nomes,  of  which 
the  Heptanomis  had  seven.  Hence  the  name,  which  signifies  district  of 
seven  nomes.  Respecting  Pailiros  (Isa.  11  : 11 ;  Jer.  44  : 1,  15  ;  Ezek.  29  : 14  ; 
30  : 14),  whence  the  Gentile  term  Pathrusim,  people  of  Palhros  (Gen. 
10  : 14).  the  commonly  received  opinion  is,  that  it  is  the  ancient  domestic 
name  for  Upper  Egypt,  or  at  least  a  part  of  Upper  Egypt. 

10.  Lower  Egypt  consists  of  the  triangular  gore   formed  by 
the  divergent  branches  of  the  Nile  near  its  mouth,  and  which  is 
called  the  Delta  from  its  resemblance  to  the  Greek  letter  of  that 


234  SACRED  GEOGEAPHY. 

name  (A).  Its  length  from  its  apex,  twelve  miles  below  Cairo, 
to  the  sea,  is  about  ninety  miles.  Its  present  breadth  on  the 
seacoast,  reckoning  from  the  eastern  branch  at  Damietta  to  the 
western  at  Rosetta,  is  eighty  miles.  But  the  ancient  Delta  was 
much  wider.  It  had  for  its  eastern  border  the  Pelusiac  branch 
of  the  Nile,  now  only  a  canal,  which  enters  the  Mediterranean 
some  fifty  miles  or  more  to  the  southeast  of  Damietta ;  while  its 
western  or  Caiiopic  branch  had  its  mouth  at  Canopus,  only 
twelve  miles  east  of  Alexandria.  This  was  the  Delta  proper, 
lying  within  the  extreme  eastern  and  western  branches  of  the 
Nile,  and  intersected  by  several  subordinate  branches  and  vari 
ous  canals.  But  the  province  of  the  Delta  included  anciently,  as 
now,  a  considerable  strip  of  territory  beyond  these  branches  on 
each  side,  which  enjoyed  the  fertilizing  influence  of  the  Nile. 

The  coast  of  the  Delta  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean  is 
low  and  barren,  consisting  of  a  line  of  sand-hills,  with  occasional 
barriers  of  rock,  behind. which  are  extensive  tracts  of  salt  lakes, 
with  marshy  borders.  To  these  succeeds  the  vast  alluvial  plain 
of  the  Delta,  intersected  by  the  branches  of  the  Nile  and  many 
canals,  and  having  a  soil  of  %  great  richness,  consisting  of  the 
black  mud  deposited  by  the  Nile  through  a  period  of  many  ages 
to  the  depth,  it  is  said,  of  thirty  or  forty  feet.  As  in  the  case  of 
the  Mississippi  and  some  other  large  rivers,  the  surface  of  the 
alluvial  deposits  descends  from  the  margin  of  the  stream  on  each 
side  towards  the  hills,  owing  to  the  greater  amount  of  deposi 
tion  on  its  borders. 

11.  The  position  and  boundaries  of  the  land  of  Goslten  are 
nowhere  directly  defined.  But  the  Scriptural  notices  of  it  indi 
cate  that  it  lay  on  the  eastern  border  of  Lower  Egypt.  Joseph 
"  went  up  to  meet  Israel  his  father  to  Goshen,"  when  the  patri 
arch  was  on  his  way  from  the  land  of  Canaan  to  Egypt.  Gen. 
16 : 29.  When  the  Israelites  left  Egypt,  they  journeyed  in  three 
days  from  Goshen  to  the  Red  sea,  manifestly  without  crossing 
the  Nile.  Ex.  12 : 37 ;  13  :  20 ;  14  :  2.  If  we  define  the  land  of 
Goshen  as  "  the  country  intervening  between  the  desert  of  Ara 
bia  and  Palestine  on  the  one  side  and  the  Pelusiac  arm  of  the 


PALESTINE.  235 

Nile  on  the  other,  with  the  Mediterranean  at  the  base"  (Smith's 
Bible  Diet.),  it  is  perhaps  as  far  as  we  can  go  with  certainty. 
Goshen  will  thus  include  the  modern  province  eah-Skwrttyek, 
which  Robinson  says  (Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  53)  has  ever  been  "  the 
best  of  the  land"  down  to  the  present  time.  Certainly  it  was 
to  the  Israelites,  for  their  purposes  as  shepherds  and  herds 
men,  "  the  best  of  the  land  of  Egypt;"  and  that  is  all  that  the 
statements  of  Scripture  require  us  to  assume. 

At  the  time  of  the  exodus,  the  Israelites,  though  living  as  a  people  by 
themselves  in  the  land  of  Goshen  (Exod.  8  :  22  ;  9  :  26  ;  10  :  23,  etc.),  had 
yet  intimate  connections  with  the  Egyptians,  as  is  manifest  from  their  bor 
rowing  of  them,  "every  man  of  his  neighbor,  and  every  woman  of  her 
neighbor  "(Exod.  11  :  2  ;  12  :  35).  Perhaps  a  part  of  the  people  lived  among 
the  Egyptians  west  of  the  proper  land  of  Goshen, 

12.  It  is  well  known  that  the  existence  of  Egypt  as  a  habit 
able  region  depends  on  the  annual  overflow  of  the  Nile.     Tracing 
up  this  wonderful  river  from  the  Mediterranean  towards  the 
south,  we  find  it  dividing  at  Khartoom,  in  latitude  fifteen  degrees 
forty  minutes  north,  into  two  main  branches,  called  the  White 
and  Blue  Nile ;  of  which  the  former  conies  in  from  the  south 
west,  the  latter  from  the  southeast.     The  Blue  Nile  has  its 
sources  in  the  district  of  Geesh,  in  about  latitude  eleven  degrees 
north,  and  longitude  thirty-seven  degrees  east  from  Greenwich, 
at  an  elevation  of  nearly  six  thousand  feet  above  the  sea.     The 
White  Nile  is  the  main  stream.     It  has  been  explored  as  far 
south  as  latitude  three  degrees  twenty  minutes  north,  but  above 
this  its  course  is  uncertain.     According  to  present  information, 
its  probable  source  is  the  great  lata  Nyanza,  the  southern  ex 
tremity  of  which  is  in  latitude  three  degrees  twenty-one  minutes 
south,  with  the  probability  of  head-waters  still  farther  soutli. 
Thus  it  has  a  length,  if  we  include  the  Nyanza,  of  almost  thirty- 
five  degrees  of  latitude  in  a  direct  line,  and  is  the  longest  river 
on  the  globe.     At  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles 
below  Khartoom  the  Nile  receives  from  the  right,  in  latitude 
seventeen  degrees  forty-five  minutes,  the  Atbara  or  Black  river, 
so  named  from  the  black  earth  with  which  it  is  discolored  in  the 


236  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

rainy  season.  This  is  its  last  affluent.  In  the  remaining  one 
thousand  five  hundred  miles  of  its  course  to  the  sea  it  does  not 
receive  a  single  branch — a  phenomenon  unparalleled  in  the  his 
tory  of  great  rivers.  Descending  through  Nubia,  it  passes  in 
succession  five  cataracts,  the  last  of  which  (called  ilie  first  cata 
ract  reckoning  upwards  from  the  north)  is  immediately  below 
the  island  of  Philoe,  and  thus  on  the  southern  border  of  Egypt. 
Of  the  branches  which  form  the  Delta,  the  western  is  said  to 
have,  at  low  water,  a  breadth  of  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
feet,  with  a  depth  of  five  feet;  the  eastern,  a  breadth  of  only 
nine  hundred  feet,  but  with  a  depth  of  about  eight  feet. 

13.  The  animal  rise  of  the  Nile  is  due  to  the  periodical  rains 
in  the  tropical  regions  from  which  it  flows.  In  Egypt  the  river 
begins  to  rise  the  latter  part  of  June,  and  reaches  its  greatest 
height  at  the  autumnal  equinox  or  soon  afterwards.  About  the 
middle  of  October  it  begins  to  fall,  and  by  the  end  of  November 
the  fields  are  left  dry  and  covered  with  a  fresh  deposit  of  slime, 
which  acts  as  a  powerful  fertilizer.  The  crops  are  now  sown, 
and  owing  to  the  warmth  of  the  climate,  mature  rapidly,  so  that 
there  is  time  in  most  cases  for  a  succession  of  them  before  the 
next  inundation. 

Rawlinson  (Trans,  of  Herodotus,  vol.  2,  p.  301)  gives  the  rise  of  the 
Nile  in  an  ordinary  inundation  for  Asouan  (the  ancient  Syene)  at  the  south 
ern  extremity  of  Egypt,  forty  feet ;  for  Thebes  in  Upper  Egypt,  thirty- 
six  ;  for  Cairo  just  above  the  head  of  the  Delta,  twenty-five  ;  for  Rosetta 
and  Damictta  at  the  mouths  of  the  river,  four.  During  the  inundation 
the  Delta  has  the  appearance  of  an  immense  marsh,  interspersed  with, 
numerous  islands,  on  which  are  seen  towns,  villages,  and  plantations  of 
trees  just  above  the  water.  Should  the  rise  at  Cairo  reach  thirty  feet,  it 
sweeps  away  the  mud-built  cottages  of  the  inhabitants,  and  does  immense 
damage.  Should  it,  on  the  other  hand,  fall  short  of  eighteen  feet,  a  fam 
ine  is  the  consequence.  The  extent  of  territory  fertilized  by  the  overflow 
of  the  Nile  was  greatly  increased  anciently  by  means  of  canals,  many  of 
which  have  fallen  into  decay  in  modern  times.  Where  the  water  cannot 
be  directly  carried,  irrigation  becomes  a  more  laborious  and  expensive 
process. 

In  Pharaoh's  dream  the  fat  and  the  lean  kine  came  up  out  of  the  river. 
This  represents  the  fact  that  in  Egypt  both  plenty  and  famine  come  from 


PALESTINE.  237 

the  Nile  as  tlieir  source.  The  seven  years  of  famine  were  doubtless  seven 
successive  years  in  Avhich  the  inundation  failed  to  reach  such  a  height  as  to 
make  agriculture  practicable. 

14.  The  fertility  of  Egypt,  wherever  the  waters  of  the  Nile 
have  access,  is  inexhaustible.     With  no  other  fertilizing  sub 
stance  except  the  annual  deposits  of  slime,  and  under  the  rudest 
system  of  husbandry,  the  soil  yields  from  "age  to  age  the  most 
abundant  crops.     Herodotus  tells  us  (2.  14)  that  the  husband 
man  had  no  need  of  the  plough  or  the  hoe;  that  "he  waits  till 
the  river  has,  of  its  own  accord,  spread  itself  over  the  fields  and 
withdrawn  again  to  its  bed,  and  then  sows  his  plot  of  ground, 
and  after  sowing  turns  his  swine  into  it.     The  swine  tread  in 
the  corn.     After  which  he  has  only  to  await  the  harvest."  This 
cannot,  however,  be  understood  as  the  universal  rule.     At  the 
present  day,  where  the  level  of  the  land  is  the  lowest,  they  sow 
the  seed  on  the  mud,  and  then  drag  it  in  with  bushes ;  or  they 
drive  in  a  number  of  sheep,  goats,  or  pigs,  to  tread  it  in.     But 
in  other  places  the  plough  is  indispensable,  and  the  monuments 
of  ancient  Egypt  represent  ploughs  of  rude  construction  drawn 
by  oxen,  as  is  the  custom  at  the  present  day.     For  raising  water 
from  the  Nile  the  slmduf  is,  and  always  was,  in  common  use — 
an  apparatus  agreeing  substantially  with  the  old  fashioned  well- 
siveep  of  New  England.     In  Deut.  11 : 10,  Moses  contrasts  the 
land  of  Palestine  with  Egypt :  "  The  land  whither  thou  goest 
in  to  possess  it,  is  not  as  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  whence  ye 
came  out,  where  thou  sowedst  thy  seed,  and  wateredst  it  with 
thy  foot,  as  a  garden  of  herbs."     In  this  passage  Moses  is  gen 
erally  supposed  to  refer  to  the  helix,  a  sort  of  treadwheel  de 
scribed  at  length  by  Philo,  and  a  figure  of  which,  as  now  in  use, 
is  given  by  Niebuhr.     It  is  possible,  however,  that  he  refers  to 
the  common  method  of  conducting  the  rills  of  water  in  a  garden 
from  furrow  to  furrow  by  pushing  the  soil  with  the  foot  to  open 
or  close  the  passage.     See  Thomson's  Land  and  Book,  2,  pp. 
276-280,  where  is  an  interesting  account  of  the  different  modes 
of  artificial  irrigation. 

15.  Egypt  produces  in  abundance  the  plants  that  furnish 


238  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

food  and  clothing  to  the  human  family.  Wheat  is  raised  for 
exportation.  The  soil  is  particularly  adapted  to  maize  and 
millet.  These  grains,  with  rice,  lentils,  and  other  kinds  of  pulse, 
constitute  the  principal  food  of  the  inhabitants.  Melons  and 
cucumbers  are  raised  in  abundance  and  of  excellent  quality. 
Grapes  and  other  fruits — dates,  figs,  pomegranates,  apricots, 
peaches,  oranges,  lemons,  bananas,  mulberries,  olives — are  plen 
tiful;  and  of  garden  vegetables  there  is  a  rich  variety.  Other 
products  are  cotton,  flax,  coffee,  tobacco,  sugar-cane,  indigo, 
and  madder.  The  lakes  of  Egypt  furnish  a  variety  of  fish.  The 
nature  of  the  country  determines  the  Egyptians  to  be  an  agri 
cultural  rather  than  a  pastoral  people.  Sheep  and  goats  are 
common,  and  asses,  mules,  and  camels  are  in  use  as  beasts  of 
burden. 

.  The  articles  of  food  for  which  the  Israelites  pined  in  the  wilderness 
are  highly  characteristic  of  Egypt — fish,  cucumbers,  melons,  leeks,  onions, 
garlics.  Numb.  11  : 5.  The  lotus,  a  species  of  water-lily,  which  Herodo 
tus  represents  the  ancient  Egyptians  as  using  for  food  (2.  92)  grows  in  the 
ponds  and  small  channels  of  the  Delta  during  the  inundations.  The  ne- 
lumbium,  another  species  described  by  him,  is  no  longer  found  in  Egypt. 
The  celebrated  papyrus,  of  which  the  Egyptians  manufactured  paper, 
mats,  sails,  baskets,  sandals,  and  also  small  light  boats,  is  no  longer  a 
native  of  Egypt.  The  hippopotamus,  formerly  common  in  Egypt,  is,  ac 
cording  to  Rawlinson,  now  rarely  seen  as  low  as  the  second  cataract.  Notes 
to  Herodotus,  2,  p.  118.  According  to  the  same  author,  the  crocodile  does 
not  now  descend  below  Beni  Hassan  in  latitude  28  degrees  north.  2,  p. 
114,  note. 

16.  The  climate  of  Egypt  is  dry  and  equable,  and  with  the 
exception  of  some  spots  in  the  vicinity  of  the  salt  marshes,  it  is 
considered  healthy.  The  prevailing  diseases  are  affections  of 
the  liver  and  skin,  ophthalmia,  and  dysentery.  The  northerly 
winds  blow  ten  months  of  the  year,  and  during  their  prevalence 
the  heat  is  never  oppressive.  "When  these  fail,  about  the  be 
ginning  of  May,  and  the  khamsin  sets  in — a  hot  wind  from  the 
southern  desert  also  called  simoom — which  lasts  about  fifty 
days,  the  sultriness  and  heat  of  the  atmosphere  become  oppres 
sive. 


PALESTINE.  239 

The  warm  and  equable  character  of  the  climate  relieves  the  inhabitants 
from  the  necessity  of  great  outlays  on  their  dwellings  or  wearing  apparel, 
while  in  ordinary  years  all  the  necessities  of  life  are  abundant  and  cheap. 
Hence  Egypt  anciently  supported,  for  the  amoant  of  its  tillable  land,  a 
very  great  population.  Under  the  Eomans  Egypt  was  the  granary  of  the 
empire,  nor  has  its  natural  fertility  decreased.  Under  a  good  government 
its  inexhaustible  natural  resources  might  be  again  developed.  Famines, 
however,  consequent  on  the  failure  of  the  usual  rise  of  the  Nile,  are 
common  now,  as  in  ancient  days.  See  Genesis,  chap  41,  seq.  History 
records  one  since  the  time  of  Joseph  of  seven  years'  duration  (A.  D. 
1064-1071),  which  seems  to  have  been  as  severe  as  that  recorded  in  the 
book  of  Genesis.  See  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  art.  Famine.  "Famines  in 
Egypt  and  Palestine,"  says  the  writer  of  that  article,  "seem  to  be  effected 
by  drought  extending  from  northern  Syria  through  the  meridian  of  Egypt, 
as  far  as  the  highlands  of  Abyssinia." 

17.  We  add  a  notice  of  some  ancient  places  mentioned  in 
Scripture. 

Alexandria  is  situated  on  the  Mediterranean  twelve  miles  west  of  the 
Canopic  mouth  of  the  Nile,  and  near  the  northwestern  angle  of  the  Delta, 
having  in  front  the  long  narrow  island  of  Pharos,  and  in  the  rear  the  lake 
Mareotis.  It  was  founded  B.  a  332  by  Alexander  the  Great,  who  per 
ceiving  its  pleasant  and  salubrious  site  and  its  great  advantages  for  com 
merce,  marked  out  the  plan  of  the  new  city,  and  connected  it  by  a  mole 
with  the  island  of  Pharos,  thus  making  a  spacious  and  safe  harbor.  But 
as  it  was  difficult  of  access,  he  erected  the  celebrated  lighthouse  of  Pharos 
at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  island,  a  square  structure  of  white  marble 
on  the  top  of  which  fires  were  kept  constantly  burning  for  the 'direction  of 
mariners.  Owing  to  its  great  commercial  advantages — as  the  emporium  of 
commerce  between  the  east  and  the  west  through  the  Mediterranean,  the 
Nile,  and  the  Hed  sea,  with  a  short  overland  carriage  from  Coptos  on  the 
Nile  to  Myos  Hormos  on  the  Red  sea — Alexandria  speedily  rose  to  be  the 
metropolis  of  the  commercial  world,  with  a  population  estimated  at  600,000 
souls.  After  various  fortunes  it  fell  in  A.  D.  640  into  the  hands  of  the 
Saracens,  who  burnt  its  magnificent  library  of  700,000  volumes.  .  The  city 
continued,  however,  to  be  an  important  port  till  the  discovery  in  1497  of 
the  passage  to  the  east  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  wrhen  it  sunk  into  decay. 
But  with  the  restoration  in  modern  times  of  the  overland  route  to  the  east 
by  means  of  steamers  and  the  railroad  from  Alexandria  through  Cairo  to 
Suez,  the  city  is  fast  rising  again  into  importance.  The  population  of  the 
modern  town  is  said  to  be  about  40,000. 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  (No.  8  above)  to  the  important  religious 


240  SACKED   GEOGKAPHY. 

influences  that  emanated  from  Egypt  before  and  after  our  Lord's  advent. 
Of  these  Alexandria  was  ever  the  centre.  From  the  first  the  city  was 
inhabited  by  a  large  Jewish  population.  Here  Jewish  literature  flourished 
in  intimate  contact  with  the  Grecian  mind,  and  received  from  it  import 
ant  modifications,  as  the  writings  of  Philo  show  :  here  was  executed  the 
Greek  version  of  the  seventy,  the  first  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures 
into  a  foreign  tongue,  and  one  that  exerted  a  great  influence  on  the  Ian 
guage  of  the  New  Testament :  here,  also,  after  the  establishment  of  Chris 
tianity,  was  the  celebrated  catechetical  school  presided  over  by  Pantsenus, 
Clement,  Origen,  and  other  illustrious  teachers,  the  influence  of  whose 
exegetical  principles  endures  to  the  present  day. 

Zoan,  the  Tanis  of  the  Greeks  and  the  San  of  the  modern  Arabs,  was 
an  important  city  of  Lower  Egypt.  It  stood  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Tanitic  branch  of  the  Nile,  not  very  far  from  its  mouth.  Nothing  of  its 
ancient  splendor  remains  except  fragments  of  walls,  columns,  and  fallen 
obelisks.  The  modern  village  consists  of  mere  huts  in  a  desolate  and  un 
healthy  region.  See  Wilkinson's  Modern  Egypt,  1,  pp.  449-452. 

Sin,  a  strongly  fortified  place,  called  "the  strength  of  Egypt"  (Ezek. 
30  : 15),  is  identified  by  Jerome  with  Pelusium  ;  and  in  this  judgment  bibli 
cal  scholars  generally  acquiesce.  Both  words  signify  mire  or  miry  place, 
a  name  which  the  city  well  deserved  ;  for  it  lay  among  the  marshes  on  the 
most  northeasterly  branch  of  the  Nile.  The  site  is  now  approachable  only  by 
boats,  except  when  the  water  of  the  Nile  is  low.  The  remains  consist  only 
of  a  few  mounds  and  fallen  columns  in  the  midst  of  pestilential  marshes. 
Thus  is  fulfilled  the  prediction  of  Ezekiel :  "I  will  pour  out  my  fury  upon 
Sin,  the  strength  of  Egypt." 

About  midway  between  the  modern  San  and  Pelusium  is  a  mound  sup 
posed  by  Wilkinson  (Modern  Egypt,  1,  p.  447)  to  be  the  site  of  the  scrip 
tural  Tahpanhes  or  Tehaphnehes.  Jer.  2  : 16  ;  43  : 7-9  ;  44  : 1 ;  46  : 14  ;  Ezek. 
30  : 18.  It  was  thus  the  Daphne  of  Herodotus  (2.  30,  107),  a  fortified 
place  on  the  Pelusiac  or  eastern  branch  of  the  Nile. 

Hanes  (Isa.  30  : 4)  is  identified  by  some  with  the  Anysis  of  Herodotus 
(2.  137)  and  the  Heracledpolis  of  the  Greeks  in  Middle  Egypt  above  Memphis. 
But  the  Targum  reads  Tahpanhes,  evidently  regarding  Hanes  as  a  con 
tracted  form  of  the  same.  With  this  assumption  the  context  well  agrees, 
which  would  seem  to  indicate  that  Zoan  and  Hanes  were  neighboring 
places. 

Migclol  (Exod.  14  : 2  ;  Jer.  44  : 1 ;  46  : 14  ;  also  in  the  true  marginal  read 
ing  of  Ezek.  29  : 10  ;  30  : 6— from  Migdol  to  Syene]  would  seem  to  have  been 
the  last  town  on  the  Egyptian  frontier  towards  the  Ked  sea. 

Pi-beseth  (Ezek.  30  : 17)  is  the  Bubastis  of  Herodotus  (2.  137, 138)  on  the 


PALESTINE.  24l 

Pelnsiac  branch  of  the  Nile,  near  the  place  where  the  ancient  canal  led  off 
from  the  Nile  to  Arsinoe  at  the  head  of  the  Red  sea.  Here  was  a  celebra 
ted  temple  to  the  goddess  Bubastis,  which  Herodotus  regards  as  the  most 
beautiful  in  Egypt.  The  site,  now  called  Tell  Bcista,  Hill  of  Bastu  is  occu 
pied  by  mounds  consisting  of  the  ruins  of  brick  houses  and  heaps  of 
broken  pottery. 

Pithom  and  Ramescs  or  Eaamses  were  treasure-cities  in  the  land  of  Go- 
shen,  built  by  the  Israelites  for  their  oppressors.  Exod.  1:11.  Of  these 
the  former  is  believed  with  good  reason  to  be  identical  with  the  Patumos 
of  Herodotus  (2.  158),  which  was  near  Bubastis  on  the  east  side  of  the  Pe- 
lusiac  arm  of  the  Nile,  and  not  far  from  the  canal  leading  to  the  Red  sea. 
Rameses,  from  which  place  the  Israelites  took  their  departure  (Exod. 
12  :37),  according  to  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  1,  pp.  54,  55),  "lay  probably  on 
the  valley  of  the  canal  in  the  middle  part,  not  far  from  the  western  ex 
tremity  of  the  basin  of  the  Bitter  Lakes. " 

In  Gen.  41 : 45  we  read  that  Pharaoh  gave  Joseph  to  wife  Asenath  the 
daughter  of  Potipherah  priest  of  On.  The  same  city  is  mentioned  by 
Ezekiel  (chap.  30  : 17)  under  the  form  Aven  (only  a  different  vocalization 
of  the  same  Hebrew  letters) ;  and  is  called  by  Jeremiah  (chap.  43  : 13) 
Beth-shemesh,  house  of  (lie  sun.  On  signifies,  as  Egyptian  scholars  tell  us, 
light  and  the  sun  ;  a  name  given  to  the  city  as  the  chief  seat  of  the  worship 
of  the  sun,  where  there  was  a  splendid  temple  dedicated  to  that  luminary, 
and  an  annual  festival  in  its  honor.  The  Greek  name  is  HeKopoKs,  city  of 
the  sun.  "The  Arabs,"  says  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson  (in  Rawlinson's  He 
rodotus,  2.  8),  "called  it  Ain  SJiems,  fountain  of  the  sun,  from  the  spring 
there,  which  the  credulous  Christians  believed  to  have  been  salt  until  the 
Virgin's  visit  to  Egypt."  The  site  of  On  is  still  marked  by  the  remains  of 
the  massive  walls  that  surrounded  it.  It  stood  on  the  east  side  of  the  Pe- 
lusiac  branch  of  the  Nile  about  twenty  miles  northeast  of  Memphis,  and 
six  miles  northeast  of  the  modern  city  of  Cairo.  In  sacerdotal  dignity  its 
priests  seem  to  have  held  the  first  rank.  Its  priesthood  constituted  a 
numerous  body  distinguished  before  other  Egyptians  for  their  learning. 
Hence  the  city  was  a'place  of  resort  for  foreign  scholars.  Under  this  col 
lege  of  priests,  Solon,  Thales,  Eudoxus,  and  Plato  ah*  studied,  and  through 
thorn  the  wisdorL  rf  Egypt  was  transfused  into  Grecian  philosophy.  Po- 
t//i/t>>r<th  or  Potiphar  (Sepluagint  Peiephres]  is  said  to  signify  belonging  to  the 
sun,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Joseph's  father-in-law  was  a  priest  of 
the  highest  rank.  Of  the  celebrated  temple  of  the  sun,  which  was  ap 
proached  between  two  rows  of  colossal  sphinxes  with  two  obelisks  in  front, 
only  one  obelisk  of  red  granite,  remains  standing.  Thus  signally  are  ful 
filled  the  words  of  Jeremiah  :  "He  shall  break  also  the  images  of  Beth- 
shemosh,  that  is  in  the  land  of  Egypt." 

Sue.-;  11 


242  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Following  up  the  west  bank  of  the  Nile  we  conic,  at  the  distance  of  ten 
miles  above  the  modern  city  of  Cairo,  to  the  site  of  the  celebrated  Mem 
phis,  of  which  the  Hebrew  name  is  Noph  (Isa.  19  : 13  ;  Jer.  2  : 16  ;  46  : 14, 
19  ;  Ezek.  30  : 13,  16),  and  once  Moph  (Hosea  9  :  6),  for  which  our  version' 
puts  the  Greek  form  Memphis.  According  to  Diodorns  Siculus  the  city 
was  seventeen  miles  in  circuit.  Its  position  was  such  that  it  commanded 
the  whole  inland  trade  of  Egypt  between  the  upper  and  the  lower  Nile. 
Of  its  magnificent  temples  our  limits  do  not  permit  us  to  speak.  It  con 
tinued  to  be  the  chief  city  of  Egypt  until  the  founding  of  Alexandria,  after 
which  it  declined  till  it  fell  into  such  utter  decay  that  its  very  site,  buried 
as  it  is  by  drifting  sands,  became  for  a  time  a  matter  of  dispute  among  an 
tiquarians.  The  disclosure  in  modern  times  of  an  immense  number  of 
ruins  of  temples,  palaces,  and  statues,  with  thousands  of  inscriptions,  has  at 
once  identified  the  site  of  this  famous  city,  and  furnished  a  solemn  com 
mentary  on  the  prophetic  words  of  inspiration  :  ' '  Noph  shall  be  waste  and 
desolate  without  an  inhabitant."  In  the  hieroglyphics  on  the  monuments 
Memphis  is  called  the  city  of  the  pyramids,  and  with  good  reason,  for  the 
great  field  of  the  pyramids  which  was  also  the  necropolis  of  Memphis,  lies 
on  the  western  side  of  the  Nile,  extending  past  Memphis  north  and  south. 
See  below  No.  20. 

Thebes,  the  renowned  capital  of  Upper  Egypt,  was  built  on  both  sides 
of  the  Nile  in  latitude  twenty-five  degrees  forty  three  minutes  north.  Ac 
cording  to  Herodotus  (2.  9),  Thebes  was  nine  days'  sail  up  the  river  from 
Heliopolis,  the  distance  being  eighty-one  schoeni,  or  four  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty  furlongs.  This  reduced  to  English  measure  would  give 
about  five  hundred  and  fifty-two  miles.  But  Wilkinson  (in  Rawlinson's 
Herodotus,  2,  p.  12),  says  that  the  distance,  following  up  the  river,  is  only 
about  four  hundred  and  twenty-one  miles  ;  and  that  the  distance  of  Thebes 
from  the  sea,  which  Herodotus  reckons  at  six  thousand  one  hundred  and 
twenty  furlongs  or  about  seven  hundred  miles,  is  by  modern  measurement 
only  five  hundred  and  sixty-six  miles.  The  Hebrew  name  of  this  city  is 
No-<imon  (Nahum  3  :  8,  as  it  is  rightly  given  in  the  margin  of  our  version),  or 
simply  No  (Ezek.  30  : 14,  15).  The  derivation  and  signification  of  the 
word  No  is  obscure.  According  to  Gesenius  it  signifies  the  place  of  Amon, 
thus  corresponding  to  the  Egyptian  name  Ha-amen  or  Pa-amen,  abode  of 
Amen.  In  Jer.  46  :  25  (marginal  rendering)  we  read  :  "Behold  I  will  pun 
ish  Amon  of  No,"  where  the  reference  is  to  the  deity  Amon  (the  Ammon 
of  the  Greeks  and  Romans)  worshipped  in  No.  In  Ezek  30 : 15,  "I  will 
cut  off  the  multitude  of  No  (hamon  No),  there  is  apparently  a  play  upon 
the  similarly  sounding  words  hamon,  multitude,  and  Amon. 

Thebes  excelled  all  the  other  cities  of  Egypt  in  extent  and  the  magnifi 
cence  of  its  temples.  According  to  Strabo  it  covered  an  area  of  five  miles  i« 


PALESTINE.  243 

length  by  three  in  breadth,  a  statement  fully  justified,  according  to  Sir  Gard 
ner  Wilkinson,  by  the  ruins  that  mark  its  former  greatness.  Thebes  was 
one  of  the  most  ancient  cities  of  Egypt.  It  was  known  by  fame  to  Homer, 
who  speaks  of  it  as  having  a  hundred  gates  and  sending  forth  through 
each  two  hundred  war-chariots.  Its  antiquity  is  attested  by  the  fact  that 
the  bases  of  all  its  monuments  are  buried  to  the  depth  of  ten  feet  by  the 
annual  depositions  of  the  Nile.  The  stupendous  ruins  of  the  city,  which 
are  among  the  most  magnificent  in  the  world,  have  been  the  admiration  of 
all  travellers.  They  are  at  the  modern  villages  of  Karnak  and  Luxor  on 
the  eastern  bank  of  the  Nile,  and  Kurneh  and  Medinet  Abu  on  the  west 
ern.  To  give  a  description  of  them  in  detail  would  far  exceed  our  limits. 
The  great  temple  of  Karnak  was  approached  by  an  avenue  of  ram-headed 
sphinxes.  Then  came  a  magnificent  gateway  flanked  by  broad  wings  ex 
tending  along  the  whole  front  of  the  temple,  with  gigantic  statues  and  an 
obelisk  on  either  side.  After  this  was  a  series  of  spacious  courts  with 
magnificent  columns  in  avenues  leading  to  the  temple  proper.  The  first 
court  behind  the  gateway  is  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine  feet  wide 
and  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  long.  Immediately  behind  this 
court  is  the  great  hall  of  the  same  width,  but  one  hundred  and  seventy 
feet  long.  It  was  supported  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  columns,  the 
loftiest  of  which,  forming  the  central  avenue  are  sixty-six  feet  in  height 
and  twelve  feet  in  diameter.  No  existing  ruins  are  more  grandly  pictur 
esque  than  those  of  this  temple ;  and  there  are  many  others  of  less  gigan 
tic  proportions,  but  still  filling  the  mind  with  amazement  by  their  number 
and  extent.  The  walls  of  these  temples,  here  as  elsewhere  in  Egypt,  are 
covered  with  hieroglyphics,  representing  chiefly  the  exploits  of  the  Egyp 
tian  monarchs.  Behind  the  temples  on  the  western  side,  the  desert 
tract  bordering  the  hills  is  filled  with  countless  mummy  pits,  tombs,  and 
sepulchral  grottoes ;  for  here  was  the  grand  burial-place  of  Thebes,  no 
sepulchres  existing  on  the  eastern  side. 

Thebes  was  more  than  once  captured  by  the  Assyrians,  and  to  one  of 
these  events  the  prophet  Nahum  refers  :  "  Art  thou  better  than  No-Amon, 
that  was  situate  upon  the  streams  [branches  of  the  Nile] ,  that  had  the 
waters  round  about  her,  whose  rampart  was  the  sea  [the  name  given  by 
the  Arabs  of  the  present  day  to  the  Nile],  and  her  wall  was  of  the  sea  ? 
Ethiopia  was  her  strength,  and  Egypt  with  endless  multitudes ;  Put  anc\ 
the  Lubirn  were  among  thy  helpers.  Yet  she  also  went  into  exile  in  cap 
tivity  ;  her  children  also  were  dashed  in  pieces  at  the  head  of  all  the  streets  ; 
and  upon  her  nobles  they  cast  lots,  and  all  her  great  men  were  bound 
in  chains."  Chap.  3  :8-10. 

Syene  (whence  the  name  syenite  for  a  well-known  species  of  rock 
abounding  in  that  vicinity)  was  the  last  town  of  Egypt  on  the  southern 
frontier  towards  Ethiopia.  Hence  the  prophet  Ezekiel  describes  the  com- 


244  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

ing  desolation  of  the  whole  laud  thus  :  "I  will  make  the  land  of  Egypt 
utterly  waste  and  desolate  from  Migdol  to  Syene  [according  to  the  true 
marginal  rendering],  even  unto  the  border  of  Ethiopia."  Chap.  29:10; 
30  : 6.  Syene  is  represented  by  the  Arabic  village  Asouan  in  latitude 
twenty-four  degrees  five  minutes  north,  and  just  below  the  first  cataract  of 
tlio  Nile. 

18.  The  Egyptians,  according  to  Herodotus  (2.  123),  were 
"  the  first  to  broach  the  opinion  that  the  soul  of  man  is  immor 
tal,  and  that,  when  the  body  dies,  it  enters  into  the  form  of  an 
animal  which  is  born  at  the  moment,  thence  passing  on  from 
one  animal  into  another,  until  it  has  circled  through  the  forms 
of  all  the  creatures  which  tenant  the  earth,  the  water,  and  the 
air,  after  which  it  enters  again  into  a  human  frame,  and  is  born 
anew.     The  whole  period  of  the  transmigration  is   (they  say) 
three  thousand  years."     Wilkinson,  in  a  note  to  the  above  pas 
sages,  says  that  their  belief  in  this  great  doctrine  is  everywhere 
proclaimed  in  the  paintings  of  the  tombs.     But  he  thinks  that 
the  disgrace  of  entering  the  bodies  of  animals  was  restricted  to 
the  souls  of  wicked  men  alone,  "when,  '  weighed  in  the  balance' 
before  the  tribunal  of  Osiris,  they  were  pronounced  unworthy 
to  enter  the  abode  of  the  blessed."     The  same  doctrine  of  the 
transmigration  of  souls — metempsychosis  is  the  Greek  term — is 
held,  under  various  modifications,  by  the  Brahmins  and  Bood- 
hists  of  India  and  China,  and   may  have  been  derived  from  a 
common  source  with  the  Egyptian  doctrine.     But  the  Greek 
doctrine  of  metempsychosis,  as  held  by  Pythagoras,  Plato,  and 
others,  was  borrowed  from  the  Egyptians,  and  modified  to  suit 
the  Grecian  mind. 

19.  The  extraordinary  care  bestowed  by  the  Egyptians  on 
.the  preservation  of  the  bodies  of  the  deceased  was  connected, 

as  some  think,  with  this  doctrine  of  metempsychosis,  the  idea 
being  to  preserve  the  body  from  decay  till  the  soul  should  again 
reanimate  it.  But  this  view  has  never  been  conclusively  estab 
lished.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  custom  of  embalming 
the  bodies  of  the  dead,  from  whatever  idea  it  may  have  pro 
ceeded,  was  universal;  and  there  was  a  class  of  men  in  Egypt 


PALKSTlNi;. 

who  made  it  their  profession.  Herodotus  (2.  86-88)  and  Dio- 
dorus  Siculus  (1.  91)  describe  three  modes  of  embalming  more 
or  less  perfect  and  costly,  and  the  monuments  show  that  there 
were  other  varieties.  According  to  the  most  perfect  mode,  the 
brain  and  contents  of  the  abdomen  were  removed,  and  the 
cavities  of  the  body  filled  with  myrrh,  cassia,  and  other  costly 
spicery,  after  which  the  body  was  placed  in  natron — subcarbo- 
nate  of  soda — and  covered  entirely  over  for  seventy  days.  AW 
omit  the  description  of  the  cheaper  methods,  simply  remarking 
that  the  placing  the  body  in  natron  for  seventy  days  was  com 
mon  to  all  three.  When  the  process  of  embalming  was  com 
pleted,  the  body  was  washed,  swathed  from  head  to  foot  in 
bandages  of  fine  linen,  smeared  over  with  gum,  and  given  back 
to  the  relatives,  who  enclosed  it  in  a  wooden  case  shaped  in  the 
figure  of  a  man.  Thus  we  have  the  Egyptian  mummy  and 
mummy-case. 

20.  The  Egyptian  tombs  were  more  or  less  elaborate  in  struc 
ture,  according  to  the  rank  and  wealth  of  their  builders.  It  is 
now  generally  thought  that  the  famous  pyramids  of  Egypt  were 
sepulchral  monuments  built  over  the  tombs  of  kings.  The  num 
ber  and  size  of  these  fill  the  beholder's  mind  with  amazement. 
Near  the  western  margin  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  beginning  a 
few  miles  above  Cairo  and  scattered  in  groups  at  short  inter 
vals  for  some  sixty  or  seventy  miles  up  the  river,  are  seen  as 
many  as  sixty-nine  of  these  structures  with  the  ruins  of  many 
more.  Their  form  is  familiar  to  all.  They  have  a  square  base, 
its  four  sides  facing  the  four  cardinal  .points,  and  sloping  up 
wards  so  as  to  draw  towards  a  point  over  the  centre.  The  walls 
had  originally  a  smooth  finish,  but  where  the  outer  casing  has 
been  torn  off  the  corners  of  stones  appear  in  the  form  of  steps 
which  can  be  ascended  without  great  difficulty.  The  great 
pyramid  of  Cheops  had  originally  a  base  of  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-four  feet  and  a  height  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  feet  with 
a  slope  of  fifty-one  degrees  fifty-one  minutes.  But  by  the  re 
moval  of  the  outer  portions  to  furnish  stone  for  the  city  of  Cairo 
these  dimensions  have  been  reduced  to  seven  hundred  and  forty- 


246  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

six  feet  by  four  hundred  and  fifty.  These  structures  are  solid 
throughout,  except  the  chambers  designed  for  the  sarcophagi — 
stone  coffins — with  the  narrow  passage  leading  to  them. 

Around  the  pyramids  were  the  tombs  of  the  subjects,  built 
upon  the  rock  or  excavated  in  it.  In  the  tombs  deep  pits  were 
sunk,  and  the  mummies  deposited  in  chambers  at  the  bottom. 
In  Lower  Egypt  these  structures  were,  from  the  necessity  of  the 
case,  built  of  brick. 

But  this  superabundant  toil  bestowed  on  the  bodies  of  the 
deceased  has  only  exposed  them  the  more  to  desecration.  While 
the  remains  of  those  who  have  been  unostentatiously  committed 
to  the  ground  out  of  which  they  were  taken,  are,  as  a  general 
rule,  left  undisturbed,  the  coffins  of  even  the  Egyptian  kings 
have  been  broken  open  and  despoiled  of  their  contents ;  and 
the  Arabs  of  the  present  day  cut  up  and  burn  for  fuel  the  mum 
mies  on  which  ages  ago  so  much  labor  and  wealth  were  lavish 
ed.  God  will  honor,  in  his  own  divine  way,  the  bodies  of  the 
righteous  at  the  final  resurrection  ;  but  his  providence  pours 
contempt  upon  the  crude  devices  of  man  to  evade  the  dread 
sentence :  "  Dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return." 

21.  Ancient  EtJiiojna  (the  Gusli  of  the  Old  Testament)  is  the 
country  which  stretches  south  from  Egypt  probably  beyond  the 
confluence  of  the  White  and  Blue  Nile,  comprising  the  modem 
Nubia,  Senaar,  and  the  northern  part  of  Abyssinia.  We  do  not 
propose  to  consider  the  geographical  features  of  Ethiopia,  but 
only  its  relations  to  Egypt  so  far  as  these  help  to  elucidate  cer 
tain  passages  in  the  history  of  the  Hebrew  people.  In  2  Chron. 
14 : 9  we  read  that  Zerah  the  Ethiopian,  with  a  host  of  a  thou 
sand  thousand,  and  three  hundred  chariots,  invaded  the  land  of 
Judah  from  the  south ;  and  in  2  Kings  19 : 9,  that  Tirhakah 
king  of  Ethiopia  came  out  to  fight  against  the  king  of  Assyria 
in  Palestine.  The  question  immediately  arises:  How  could 
an  Ethiopian  army  invade  Palestine,  since  to  do  this  it  must 
march  through  the  whole  length  of  Egypt?  In  regard  to  Zerah 
'it  might  be  held  that  he  was  but  an  Ethiopian  general  with 
Ethiopian  and  Libyan  troops  (2  Chron.  16 : 8)  in  the  service  of 


PALESTINE.  247 

the  king  of  Egypt.  But  this  explanation  is  improbable,  ami 
does  not  apply  to  the  case  of  Tirhakah,  who  is  expressly  called 
king  of  Ethiopia.  The  more  natural  explanation  is  that  the 
Ethiopians  were  then  the  stronger  people,  and  that  they  either 
ruled  Egypt  as  a  tributary  kingdom,  or  had  the  Egyptians  for 
their  allies.  We  know  that  the  twenty-fifth  dynasty  consisted 
of  Ethiopian  kings  who,  according  to  Herodotus  (2.  137)  held 
the  dominion  of  Egypt  for  fifty  years.  Tarakos,  the  Tehrak  of 
the  monuments,  was  the  third  king  of  this  dynasty,  and  he  is 
with  good  reason  regarded  as  the  Tirhakah  of  Scripture. 

22.  We  read  in  the  New  Testament  (Acts  8  :  27),  of  "  Can- 
dace  queen  of  the  Ethiopians."     We  learn  from  several  notices 
of  the  ancients  (Pliny,  6.  29;  Strabo,  17.  820  ;  Dio  Cassius,  54.  5) 
that  Candace,  like  Pharaoh,  was  not  the  name  of  an  individual 
sovereign,  but  an  official  title  borne  by  the  successive  queens  of 
the  region,  and  that  the  Ethiopia  here  spoken  of  was  that  part 
of  the  country  called  Meroe  lying  between  the  Nile  and  its  local 
branch,  the  Atbara.     According  to  Josephus  (Antiq.  2 . 10.  2) 
Meroe  was  the  Egyptian  Seba  (Isa.  43 :  3 ;  45 : 14),  the  inhabit 
ants  of  which  were  distinguished  for  their  tallness;  and  Hero 
dotus  3.  20,  speaks  of  the  Ethiopians  as  "the  tallest  and  hand 
somest  men  in  the  whole  world." 

The  Gush  of  Gen.  2  : 13  cannot,  by  any  possibility,  be  the  African  Gush. 
It  must  be  understood  of  some  province  of  Asia. 

II.     THE   AKABIAN  PENINSULA.    . 

23.  In  sacred  geography  that  part  of  Arabia  which  comes 
especially  into  view  is  the  comparatively  small  division  lying 
between   the    two   arms   of   the    Bed  sea,  having   Egypt  on 
the  northwest,  the  Mediterranean  and  Palestine  on  the  north, 
and  the  mountains  of  ancient  Edorn  on  the  northeast.      It  is 
commonly  called  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula,  and  corresponds  nearly 
with  the  Arabia  Pctrcca  of  Ptolemy. 

24.  At  the  headland  called  Has  Muhaniined  the  Red  sea 
divides  into  two  narrow  branches.     Of  these  the  icestern  is  the 
longest  and  widest.     The  ancients  called  it  the  Heroopolitan 


248  SACKED    (.JEOOIIAPIIY. 

Gulf,  from  Herobpolis  near  its  head.  Its  modern  name  is  the 
Gulf  of  Suez.  Its  length  is  said  to  be  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven  miles,  with  an  average  breadth  of  about  twenty  miles. 
Its  general  direction  is  from  northwest  to  southeast.  A.  ship 
canal  across  the  isthmus  of  Suez,  connecting  the  gulf  with  the 
Mediterranean,  has  recently  been  opened  under  the  auspices  of 
the  French  government.  The  eastern  arm,  called  by  the  ancients 
the  JElanitic  Gulf  from  .ZElana  at  its  head,  and  by  the  moderns 
the  Gulf  of  Akabah,  is  not  over  one  hundred  miles  long,  with  a 
breadth  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  miles.  It  occupies  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  great  valley  of  the  Arabah  extending  from  the 
Bed  sea  to  Antioch  (Chap.  4,  No.  1),  which  has  here  a  general 
direction  towards  the  north-northeast.  This  gulf  has  at  present 
no  commercial  importance,  but  it  was  once  a  great  channel  of 
trade,  having  at  its  head  "  Ezion-geber  which  is  beside  Eloth" 
(elsewhere  called  ElatJi,  Dent.  2:8;  2  Kings  14:22;  16:6), 
whence  Solomon's  fleet  sailed  to  Ophir.  1  Kings  9 :  28 ;  2  Chron. 
8:17,18. 

•  The  site  of  Ophir  has  been  for  ages  a  famous  geographical  puzzle. 
Three  regions  alone  can,  with  any  degree  of  probability,  lay  claim  to  the 
honor  of  containing  the  Ophir  of  Scripture,  namely,  the  southern  part  of 
Arabia,  India,  and  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa  ;  and  between  these  it  is  dif 
ficult  to  decide.  The  preponderance  of  evidence  is,  perhaps,  in  favor  of 
Arabia.  The  "ships  of  Tarshish"  which  Jehoshaphat  made  to  go  to  Ophir, 
and  which  were  broken  at  Ezion-geber,  are  generally  admitted  to  have 
been  so  called  simply  from  their  size  and  form — ships  .built  after  the  model 
of  those  used  in  the  trade  with  Tarshish  in  the  southwest  of  Spain.  See 
farther  in  Chap.  10,  No.  30. 

25.  The  Sinai  peninsula  constituted  that  "great  and  terrible 
wilderness"  in  which  the  Israelites,  after  their  departure  from 
Egypt,  sojourned  for  forty  years.  Its  general  geographical 
outlines  may  be  thus  given.  Along  the  western  coast  of  the  sea 
of  Akabah,  at  the  distance  of  a  mile  or  more,  runs  a  range  of 
mountains  described  by  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  1,  p.  155)  as  con 
sisting  mostly  of  precipitous  cliffs  of  granite  from  eight  hun 
dred  to  two  thousand  feet  in  height.  On  the  northeast  side  of 


PALESTINE. 

the  gulf  of  Suez  reckoning  from  its  head,  runs  a  long  parallel 
ridge  of  mountains  of  a  wall-like  form  at  the  distance  of  some 
twelve  or  fifteen  miles  from  it,  which  bears  the  name  of  er-Hahah 
as  far  as  the  mountain  called  Ras  Wady  Ghurundel.  Here  it 
bends  off  towards  the  southeast  and  east,  and  extends,  under 
the  name  of  et-Tih,  that  is,  the  wandering,  quite  across  the  penin 
sula  to  the  gulf  of  Akabah.  About  the  middle  of  the  peninsula 
it  sends  off  two  arms,  one  north  into  the  desert,  the  other  north 
east  to  the  sea  of  Akabah.  Robinson  describes  et-Tih  as  "a 
regular  wall  composed  of  strata  of  sandstone,  with  layers  ap 
parently  of  limestone  or  clay  towards  the  top ;"  and  says  that 
at  its  eastern  extremity  it  "  comes  tumbling  down  towards  the  • 
sea  in  immense  masses  apparently  of  yellow  sandstone,  but 
is  intercepted  by  a  range  of  granite  cliffs  between  it  and  the 
shore" — the  cliffs  of  the  granite  range  described  above. 

North  of  this  mountain-wall  lies  the  desert  et-Tih,  with  a 
general  slope  towards  the  northicest,  except  on  its  eastern  border 
which  sends  its  water  northward  to  the  Dead  sea.  It  is  a  deso 
late  region  of  naked  hills  and  gravelly  plains,  with  only  here  and 
there  a  fountain  and  a  few  stinted  shrubs. 

•  South  of  et-Tih  is  the  great  sandy  plain  called  by  the  Arabs 
Debbet  er-Ramleh  having  on  its  southern  border  the  rugged 
mountains  of  Horeb  which  constitute,  so  to  speak,  the  nucleus 
of  the  peninsula.  Finally,  southwest  of  Horeb  is  the  naked 
gravelly  plain,  called  el-Ka'a,  skirting  the  whole  shore  of  the 
gulf  of  Suez.  What  remains  to  be  said  of  this  peninsula  will 
be  given  in  connection  with  the  joumeyings  of  the  Israelites. 

26.  Upon  leaving  Egypt  the  Israelites,  after  a  journey  of 
three  days,  reached  the  western  arm  of  the  Red  sea,  which  was 
miraculously  divided  to  give  them  a  passage  into  the  wilderness 
of  Arabia.  At  what  particular  point  they  crossed  it  is  a  ques 
tion  that  has  been  much  debated,  and  cannot  be  regarded  as 
settled. 

Upon  the  assumption  that  the  head  of  the  gulf  of  Suez  remains  sub 
stantially  the  same  as  at  the  Exodus,  one  cannot  well  resist  the  conviction 
that  it  must  have  been  south  of  the  ridge  Atakah,  and  not  north  of  it  as 

11* 


250  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Robinson  contends.  With  this  frowning  ridge  which  runs  quite  down  to 
the  sea,  on  their  left,  the  desert  on  their  right,  Pharaoh's  host  behind 
them,  and  the  sea,  here  about  ten  miles  wide,  before  them,  they  would  be 
hopelessly  shut  in  from  all  human  means  of  escape.  Poole  maintains  (in 
Smith's  Bible  Diet. ,  art.  Red  sea)  that  the  head  of  the  gulf  of  Suez  has 
been  essentially  shortened  "  for  a  distance  of  at  least  fifty  miles  from  its 
ancient  head.*"  If  so,  the  attempt  to  ascertain  the  site  of  the  miracle 
would  seem  to  be  utterly  vain. 

27.  After  crossing  the  Ked  sea  the  Israelites  "  went  out  into 
the  ivilderness  of  Shur"  Ex.  15  :  22.  Sliur  signifies  wall.  The 
wilderness  which  bore  its  name  lay  on  the  way  between  Pales 
tine  and  Egypt  (Gen.  16 :  7),  and  was  before  Egypt  on  the  way 
to-  Assyria  having  Havilah  on  the  east.  Gen.  25  : 18  ;  1  Sam. 
15 :  7 ;  27 :  8.  It  is  possible  that  the  wall-like  ridge  er-Kahah 
described  above  is  the  Shur  of  Scripture,  and  that  the  wilder 
ness  of  Shur  is  the  adjoining  desert.  See  in  the  Imperial  Bible 
Diet.,  art.,  Shur. 

The  Havilah  mentioned  in  1  Sam.  15  : 7,  cannot  be  identical  with  the 
Havilah  of  Gen.  2  : 11 ;  for  this  latter  place  lay  north  of  the  Persian  Gulf, 
and  it  is  inconceivable  that  Saul  should  have  smitten  the  Amalakites  over 
such  a  space. 

Upon  entering  the  wilderness  of  Shur  the  Israelites  turned 
southeast  in  the  general  direction  of  the  shore  of  the  Red  sea, 
and  came  in  four  days'  journey  to  Elim  (Numb*  33;  8,  9),  sup 
posed  to  be  the  modern  Wady  Ghurundel,  which  is  compara 
tively  well  supplied  with  water  and  shrubs.  After  another 
day's  march  they  encamped  by  the  Eed  sea.  Numb.  33 : 10. 
Thence  they  entered  "  the  wilderness  of  Sin  which  is  between 
Elim  and  Sinai"  (Ex.  16 : 1),  and  must  be  distinguished  from  the 
iriltlerness  of  Zin  at  Kadesh  (Numb.  33:36,  and  elsewhere). 
Four  days  more  of  journeying  brought  them  to  the  central 
mountains  of  the  peninsula  in  "  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,"  where 
they  abode  more  than  eleven  months  (Ex.  19  : 1 ;  Numb.  10 : 11), 
receiving  from  God  the  law  and  all  the  ordinances  of  the  the 
ocracy. 


PLAIN  E^-RAHAH,   AND  CONVENT  OF  ST.   CATHAMNE:    SINAI. 


VIEW  OF  PAJRT  OF  THE  MAIN  VALLEY  OF  PETRA. 


PALESTINE.  251 

It  has  been  with  biblical  scholars  a  question  what  was  the  distinction 
between  Horeb  and  Sinai.  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  1,  pp.  120,  591)  is  in 
clined  to  adopt  Heugstenberg's  view,  that  Horeb  is  the  general  name  of 
the  group,  and  Sinai  the  designation  of  a  particular  peak,  although  the 
opposite  view  is  held  by  Gesenius  and  others.  The  annexed  plan  of  these 
mountains  will  make  the  accompanying  description  intelligible  to  the 
reader,  and  he  will  see  at  once  that  here  the  conditions  for  the  promulga 
tion  of  the  ten  commandments  in  the  audience  of  all  the  people  are  fully 
met. 

28.  Modern  investigation  leads  with  a  reasonable  degree  of 
certainty  to  the  conclusion  that  the  law  was  given  from  either 
the  northern  or  the  southern  peak  of  the  central  ridge  lying  be 
tween  Wady  el-Leja  on  the  west,  and  the  narrow  Wady  Shueib 
on  the  east.  Of  these  the  lower  northern  summit  is  called  es- 
Sufsafeh,  and  Robinson  is  quite  positive  that  no  other  peak  of 
the  group  can  possibly  fulfil  the  scriptural  conditions.  It  is 
agreed  on  all  hands  that  the  plain  er-Rahali  lying  directly  be 
fore  it,  with  the  adjacent  area  of  Wady  esh-STieikh,  furnishes 
ample  room  for  a  large  encampment.  Eobinson  estimates  the 
whole  plain  at  two  geographical  miles  in  length,  with  a  breadth 
of  from  one- third  to  two-thirds  of  a  mile ;  while  this  space  is 
nearly  doubled  by  a  recess  on  the  west  and  the  broad  level  area 
of  "Wady  esh-Sheikh  on  the  east.  Bib.  Res.,  1,  pp.  95,  96. 
Before  this  spacious  plain  lies  "  the  bold  and  awful  front  of 
Horeb,  rising  perpendicularly  in  frowning  majesty,  from  twelve 
to  fifteen  hundred  feet  in  height."  Ib.,  p.  89.  The  southern 
peak  is  much  higher.  It  is  the  Sinai  of  tradition,  and  bears 
accordingly  the  name  Jebel  Mwsa,  Mountain  of  Moses.  Eobinson 
rejects  the  tradition  with  his  usual  decision  on  the  ground  that 
there  is  not  "  any  spot  to  be  seen  around  it  where  the  people 
could  have  been  assembled."  "  The  only  point  in  which  it  is  not 
immediately  surrounded  by  high  mountains,  is  towards  tire 
southeast,  where  it  sinks  down  precipitately  to  a  tract  of  naked 
gravelly  hills."  Ib.,  p.  105.  This  is  a  question  simply  of  testi 
mony.  Robinson  unfortunately  did  not  visit  this  "  tract  of 
naked  gravelly  hills,"  as  he  and  his  companion  did  the  northern 
plain  with  measuring-line  in  hand.  Another  traveller,  who  tells 


252  SACKKl)    (1  KOd  HA  PHY. 

us  that  he  paced  every  yard  of  both  valleys,  finds  in  Wady 
Sebayeh  on  the  southeast  of  Jebel  Musa  ample  space  for  the  Is- 
raelitish  congregation,  one  where  "  every  eye  would  look  on  one 
object,  and  Jebel  Mousa,  covered  with  cloud  and  fire,  would 
impress  the  whole  concourse."  Rev.  William  Arthur  in  the 
Imperial  Bible  Diet.,  art.  Sinai.  But  Stanley,  who  visited  both 
summits  and  also  Wady  Sebayeh,  with  a  strong  prepossession  in 
favor  of  Jebel  Musa,  confirms  Robinson's  judgment.  "  I  came," 
he  says  (p.  76),  "  to  the  conclusion  that  it  [Wady  Sebayeh  south 
east  of  Jebel  Musa]  could  only  be  taken  for  the  place  if  none 
other  existed.  It  is  rough,  uneven,  narrow.  The  only  advan 
tage  which  it  has  is  that  the  peak,  from  a  few  points  of  view, 
rises  in  a  more  commanding  form  than  the  Ras  Sasafeh  [the 
northern  peak].  No.  If  we  are  to  have  a  mountain  without  a 
wide  amphitheatre  at  its  base,  let  us  have  Serbal  [a  magnificent 
mountain  northwest  of  Sinai];  but.  if  otherwise,  I  am  sure  that 
if  the  monks  of  Justinian  had  fixed  the  traditional  scene  on 
the  Ras  Sasafeh,  no  one  would  for  an  instant  have  doubted 
that  this  only  could  be  the  spot."  In  this  judgment  Porter  also 
acquiesces.  See  Handbook  for  Syria  and  Palestine,  p.  32. 

29.  The  icilderness  of  Sinai,  where  the  Israelites  received  the 
law,  is  of  course  the  wilderness  adjacent  to  Sinai,  and  may  be 
reasonably  regarded  as  embracing  the  sandy  waste  referred  to 
above  (No.  25)  between  the  mountains  of  Horeb  and  the  wall  of 
et-Tih  on  the  north.  After  leaving  this  wilderness  the  Israelites 
came  at  the  third  encampment  to  Hazeroth.  Nunib.  10:33; 
11 :  3,  34,  35.  This  place  seems  to  be  identical  with  the  modern 
Ain-el-Hudherahj  fountain  of  Hitdherah  lying  in  a  frightful  desert 
eighteen  hours  northeast  from  Sinai.  Porter,  Handbook,  1,  p. 
37.  Here  they  seem  to  have  turned  north  (Porter  thinks  by 
fhe  sublime  Wady  Wetir)  across  the  Tih,  which  brought  them 
into  the  wilderness  of  Par  an;  for  of  the  substantial  identity  of 
this  wilderness  with  the  modern  desert  et-  Tih  north  of  the  ridge 
et-Tih  (No.  25  above)  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt.  All 
the  scriptural  notices  of  Paran  (Gen.  21:21;  Numb.  10:12; 
12:16;  13:3,26;  Deut.  1:1;  33:2;  1  Kings  11:18;  Hab.3:3) 


PALE  STINK.  253 

agree  with  this  assumption,  the  wilderness  of  Shur  bordering 
it  on  the  northwest,  and  that  of  Zin  (Numbers  13 : 21  ;  20 : 1  ; 
27:14  ;  33:36;  34:3,4;  Deut.  32:51;  Josh.  15:1,3)  on  the 
northeast. 

30.  Eespecting  the  site  of  Kadesh  there  has  been  much  con 
troversy.     Stanley  places  it  at  Petra  in  the  mountains  of  Edom 
east  of  the  Arabah,  Robinson  and  others  at  the  fountain  Ain  el- 
Weibeh  on  the  western  border  of  the  Arabah  some  twenty-five 
geographical  miles  south  of  the  Dead  sea,  Rowlands  and  Will 
iams  much  farther  west  at  a  remarkable  fountain  in  the  desert 
of  Tih  about  forty-five  miles  south  of  Beer-slieba;  while  others 
are  disposed  to  assume  two  places  of  this  name,  an  eastern  and 
a  western  Kadesh. 

In  favor  of  the  assumption  of  an  eastern  and  a  western  Kadesh  it  might 
be  urged  that  in  the  passages  clearly  referring  to  the  first  encampment  of 
the  Israelites  at  Kadesh — for  they  were  twice  at  Kadesh,  once  in  the  be 
ginning  of  their  wandering,  once  near  its  close — it  is  placed  in  the  wil 
derness  of  Paran,  and  is  several  times  called  Kadesh-barnea  (Numbers 
12:16:  13,  3,  26;  32:8;  Deut,  1  : 2,  19,  46;2:14;  9:23;  Joshual4:6); 
while  in  the  passages  that  certainly  refer  to  the  second  encampment, 
Kadesh  is  uniformly  placed  in  the  wilderness  of  Zin  and  never  called  Ka 
desh-barnea.  Numb.  20  : 1,  13,  14,  22  ;  27  : 14  ;  33  : 36  ;  Deut.  32  ;  51 ; 
Jud.  11 : 17.  But  if  these  considerations  be  deemed  insufficient  to  estab 
lish  the  assumption  of  a  double  ICadesh,  the  middle  of  the  three  sites  above 
named,  that  of  Ain  el-Weibeh,  has,  according  to  present  evidence,  de 
cidedly  the  best  claim.  The  western  site  is  too  far  removed  from  ' '  Mount 
Hor  in  the  edge  of  the  land  of  Edom,"  to  fulfil  the  scriptural  condition 
(Numb.  33  : 37)  of  a  day's  journey  between  that  mountain  and  Kadesh. 
The  eastern  site  advocated  by  Stanley  is  west  of  Mount  Hor  in  the  heart 
of  Mount  Seir,  the  very  region  from  which  the  Edomites  sternly  excluded 
the  Israelites,  and  which  they  were  compelled  to  compass  by  the  way  of  the 
eastern  arm  of  the  Red  sea  that  they  might  reach  the  promised  land.  We 
come,  then,  to  the  conclusion  that  if  there  were  two  places  named  Kadesh, 
Ain  el-Weibeh  was  the  eastern  ;  if  but  one,  Ain  el-Weibeh  was  that  place. 

31.  On  all  the  routes  leading  from  the  west  to  Sinai  numer 
ous  inscriptions  are  found  on  the  rocks  extending  to  the  very 
base  of  that  mountain,  but  not  011  the  proper  mountains  of  the 
group  or  east  of  them.     They  are  more  particularly  abundant 


254  SACRED   GEOGRAPHY. 

in  the  Wady  called  ei-Mukatteb,  that  is,  the  written.  Respecting 
the  age  and  character  of  these  inscriptions  there  has  been  much 
speculation.  The  common  belief  has  been  that  they  were 
made  by  Christian  pilgrims.  But  Prof.  Tuch  of  Leipzig  main 
tains  that  they  are  Arabic;  and  that  the  authors  of  the  in 
scriptions  were  an  ancient  race  of  Arabs  inhabiting  the  pen 
insula.  According  to  Tuch  the  epoch  of  some  of  these  inscrip 
tions  reaches  back  beyond  the  time  of  Diodorus  Siculus,  an 
historian  of  the  age  of  Julius  Caasar  and  Augustus,  who  men 
tions  them  as  already  ancient,  and  is  probably  to  be  extended 
down  to  the  third  or  fourth  century  after  Christ.  See  farther 
in  Robinson's  Bib.  Res.,  1,  pp.  593-597;  Porter's  Handbook  of 
Sinai  and  Palestine,  p.  16,  seq. ;  Stanley's  Sinai  and  Palestine, 
p.  59,  seq. 

It  is  well-known  that  the  Rev.  Charles  Forster  professes  to  have  inter 
preted  these  inscriptions,  and  to  have  found  in  them  the  work  of  the  chil 
dren  of  Israel  during  their  sojourn  in  the  wilderness.  In  the  Imperial 
Bible  Dictionary,  art.  Paran,  the  Rev.  John  Rowlands  maintains  very 
earnestly  the  validity  of  Mr.  Forster's  interpretations,  and  gives  several 
specimens  of  them ;  but  oriental  scholars  generally  dissent  from  this 
view.  One  of  the  longest  of  the  inscriptions  records,  according  to  Mr. 
Forster,  the  plague  of  fiery  serpents  and  the  miraculous  preservation  of 
the  people  by  a  serpent  of  brass  ;  yet,  according  to  the  scriptural  narrative, 
this  event  took  place  in  the  last  year  of  the  wandering,  when  the  people, 
after  Aaron's  death,  "journeyed  from  Mount  Hor  by  the  way  of  the  Red 
sea  to  compass  the  land  of  Edom,"  and  were  now  within  three  stations  of  the 
border  of  Moab  (Numb.  21  :4-ll  ;  33:41-44),  consequently  on  the  east 
side  of  Mount  Seir.  That  an  Israelite  should  be  represented  as  having 
then  recorded  the  plague  of  fiery  serpents  in  a  valley  west  of  Sinai  lo'oks 
like  a  gross  anachronism. 

32.  The  general  adaptation  of  the  rugged  scenery  of  the 
peninsula  to  the  grand  transactions  between  God  and  his 
covenant  people  recorded  by  the  pen  of  Moses  is  finely  illus 
trated  by  Stanley  (Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  20,  21) :  "They  were 
brought  into  contact  with  a  desolation  which  was  forcibly  con 
trasted  with  the  green  valley  of  the  Nile.  They  were  enclosed 
within  a  sanctuary  of  temples  and  pyramids  not  made  with 


PALESTINE.  255 

hands — the  more  awful  from  its  total  dissimilarity  to  any  thing 
which  they  or  their  fathers  could  have  remembered  in  Egypt  or 
in  Palestine.  They  were  wrapt  in  a  silence  which  gave  full  effect 
to  the  morning  and  the  evening  shout  with  which  the  encamp 
ment  rose  and  pitched,  and  still  more  to  the  'thunders  and  the 
voice  exceeding  loud '  on  the  top  of  Horeb.  The  prophet  and 
his  people  were  thus  secluded  from  all  former  thoughts  and  as 
sociations  that 

"  'Separate  from  the  world,  his  breast 
Might  duly  take  and  strongly  keep 
The  print  of  God,  to  be  expressed 
Ere  long  on  Zion's  steep.'  " 

33.  The  same  writer,  in  common  with  Eobinson,  Hitter  and 
all  thoughtful  travellers,  raises  the  question:  "How  could  a 
tribe  so  numerous  and  powerful  as  on  any  hypothesis  the 
Israelites  must  have  been,  be  maintained  in  this  inhospitable 
desert?"  They  were  fed  by  manna,  and  sometimes  had  mirac 
ulous  supplies  of  flesh  and  water.  But  where  did  their  flocks 
and  herds  find  sustenance  ?  There  are  in  this  wilderness  at  the 
present  time  some  oases,  as  at  the  convent  of  Sinai,  in  Wady 
Feiran  northwest  of  Sinai  on  the  route  from  Egypt,  and  at  Tur 
on  the  gulf  of  Suez  where  Wady  Hibran  comes  in  from  Horeb 
(Burckhardt,  Arabia,  2.  362);  but  these  would  be  wholly  inade 
quate  to  the  wants  of  such  a  multitude  as  came  out  of  Egypt. 
Stanley  comes  to  the  conclusion  maintained  also  by  Bitter 
(Erdkunde,  14,  p.  927),  that  there  has  been  in  the  Sinaitic  penin 
sula  a  decrease  of  water  and  vegetation.  No  such  acacia-trees 
(shittim-wood)  are  now  found  in  the  region  as  were  employed 
in  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle,  furnishing  planks  a  cubit 
and  a  half  in  width.  These  belonged  manifestly  to  the  primi 
tive  forests  of  the  peninsula.  It  has  been  supposed  that  the 
removal  of  them  was  followed  by  a  decrease  in  the  amount  of 
rain.  But  however  this  may  be,  we  have  abundant  evidence 
that  this  part  of  Arabia  was  once,  for  some  reason,  more  fertile 
and  populous.  In  the  northeastern  part  are  extensive  ruins  of 
former  habitations  and  enclosed  fields ;  so  also  south  of  Beer- 


•25f>  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

sheba,  where  Robinson  found  ruins  of  former  cities.  Of  Elusa 
he  says :  "  Once,  as  we  judged  on  the  spot,  this  must  have  been 
a  city  of  not  less  than  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants. 
Now  it  is  a  perfect  field  of  ruins,  a  scene  of  unutterable  desola 
tion  ;  across  which  the  passing  stranger  can  with  difficulty  find 
his  way."  Vol.  1,  p.  197.  Of  Eboda  farther  south:  "The  large 
church  marks  a  numerous  Christian  population."  "But  the 
desert  has  resumed  its  rights ;  the  race  that  dwelt  here  have 
perished ;  and  their  works  now  look  abroad  in  loneliness  and 
silence  over  the  mighty  waste."  Ib.,  p.  194.  It  would  not  be 
safe,  therefore,  to  infer  from  the  present  condition  of  the  penin 
sula  its  capacity  to  support  the  flocks  and  herds  of  the  Israel 
ites  more  than  three  thousand  years  ago.  Then,  again,  it  is 
entirely  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  same  divine  power  which 
fed  the  people  in  the  wilderness  with  manna  for  the  space  of 
forty  years,  may  have  graciously  increased  the  amount  of  rain 
during  the  same  period,  and  thus  the  amount  of  sustenance  for 
the  cattle  of  the  Israelites.  Such  an  additional  supply  of  rain 
would  be  sufficient ;  for,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  Arabs, 
in  those  years  when  there  is  plenty  of  rain  grass  springs  up  all 
over  the  face  of  the  desert.  See  in  Robinson,  1,  p.  184. 

For  an  account  of  the  manna  now  produced  in  the  Sinai  peninsula,  as  it 
was  also  in  the  time  of  Joseplms  (Antiq.,  3.  1.  6),  see  Hitter's  Geography 
of  Palestine  1,  pp.  271-292.  It  exudes  through  the  punctures  made  by  a 
certain  insect,  from  the  bark  of  a  species  of  tamarisk  ( Tamarix  gaUica]  in 
drops  which  collect  in  small  globules  on  the  twigs  or  fall  on  the  sand.  It 
has  the  appearance  of  gum,  is  of  a  sweetish  taste,  and  melts  when  expos 
ed  to  the  sun.  It  falls  only  on  certain  years  in  June  and  July,  and  mainly 
in  the  wadys  Sheikh,  Feiran,  and  Ghurundel,  all  of  them  in  the  vicinity  of 
Sinai.  The  eniire  quantity  gathered  is  said  not  to  exceed  five  or  six  hun 
dred  pounds  a  year.  The  question  what  was  the  relation,  if  any,  of  the 
manna  on  which  the  Israelites  fed  to  any  species  of  modern  manna  (for 
there  are  several  species),  is  rather  curious  than  practical ;  since  upon  any 
assumption,  the  quantity  furnished  daily  through  all  the  twelve  months  of 
the  year  was  clearly  miraculous,  as  were  also  several  of  the  attending  cir 
cumstances. 

34.  The  Amcdekites,  descended  from  Amalek  the  grandson 
of  Esau  (Gen.  36  : 12),  and  mentioned  by  way  of  anticipation  in 


PALEST1N  I  257 

the  history  of  Abraham  (Gen.  14 : 7),  were  a  nomadic  people 
having  their  seat  from  Havilah  to  Shur.  1  Sam.  15  : 7.  The 
site  of  the  Havilah  here  referred  to  is  unknown,  but  it  should 
not  probably  be  placed  far  east  of  the  gulf  of  Akabah ;  while 
Shur  bordered  on  the  northeastern  extremity  of  Egypt.  The 
Sinaitic  peninsula,  then,  was  the  proper  range  of  the  Amale- 
kites,  and  with  this  agree  all  the  scriptural  notices  of  them. 
When  Israel  came  out  of  Egypt  they  attacked  the  rear  of  the 
people  in  Kephidim  near  Sinai  (Exod.  17 : 8-16) ;  again  they 
were  encountered  in  "  the  land  of  the  south,"  near  to  Kadesh 
(Numb.  13  :  29 ;  14  : 45) ;  in  alliance  with  the  Midianites  and 
other  eastern  tribes  they  wasted  the  land  of  Israel,  "  till  thou 
come  unto  Gaza  "  (Judg.  6  : 4),  and  entered  it  by  the  way  of  the 
valley  of  Jezreel  in  vast  multitudes  (Judg.  6  : 33) ;  and  finally 
David  encountered  them  in  the  southwest  of  Palestine.  1  Sam. 
30:1. 

In  Numb.  24  :20  Amalek  is  called  "the  first  of  the  nations."  The  ref 
erence  is  to  priority,  not  in  time  but  in  dignity,  a  sense  in  which  the  Hebrew 
word  is  often  used.  Amos  6:6;  Dan.  11  :41,  and  elsewhere  ;  and  there 
is,  moreover,  an  antithesis  between  his  dignity  as  first  of  the  nation,  and 
his  last  end  which  is  destruction.  There  are  several  indications  in  the  Old 
Testament  that  the  Amalekites  were  once  a  powerful  people.  At  the  time 
of  the  exodus  we  find  them  apparently  spread  across  the  whole  peninsula 
from  east  to  west  (Exod.  17  : 8 ;  Numb.  13  :29  ;  14  :43,  45) ;  and  in  alli 
ance  with  the  Moabites,  Ammonites,  and  Midianites  they  ravaged  the  land 
of  Israel,  entering  it  in  countless  multitudes  as  far  north  as  the  valley  of 
Jezreel.  It  would  seem  also  that  they  once  had,  probably  at  an  earlier 
date,  a  settlement  in  the  very  heart  of  Palestine  ;  for  we  read  (Jud.  12  : 15) 
of  "the  mount  of  the  Amalekites  in  the  land  of  Ephraim."  Compare  also 
Jud.  5  : 14,  where  the  true  rendering  is  :  "From  Ephraim  [came  they] 
whose  root"  (that  is,  seat,  fixed  abode]  "is  in  Ainalek."  See  Prof.  Bob 
bins  in  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  for  1855,  p.  623.  The  marginal  gloss,  therefore 
of  our  English  version  to  Numb.  24:20,  "the  first  of  the  nations  that 
warred  against  Israel,"  is  unnecessary. 

35.  The  Kenites  were  the  tribe  to  which  Hobab  Moses'  father- 
in-law  belonged,  and  were  thus  a  branch  of  the  Midianitish 
people.  Numb.  10:  29.  A  part  of  them  accompanied  the  tribe 
of  Judah  into  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  settled  among  the  rocky 


258  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

fastnesses  of  the  southern  wilderness  of  Judali.  Jud.  1:16; 
Numb.  24:21.  Thus  they  were  neighbors  to  the  Amalckites 
and  became  intermingled  with  them.  When  Saul  destroyed 
the  Amalekites  he  spared  them  in  consideration  of  their  good 
offices  bestowed  on  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness  through 
Hobab  the  father-in-law  of  Moses,  and  probably  in  other  ways 
also.  1  Sam.  15 :  6.  From  Jud.  4 : 11  we  learn  that  the  family 
of  Heber  the  Kenite,  a  descendant  of  Hobab,  had  separated 
itself  from  the  rest  of  the  tribe  and  settled  in  Kadesh  of  Naph- 
tali ;  still  maintaining,  however,  its  distinct  nationality  and 
being  on  terms  of  friendship  with  Jabin  the  oppressor  of  Israel. 

We  leave  the  vexed  question  of  the  identity  of   Jethro  and  Hobab 
to  the  commentators,  to  whom  it  properly  belongs. 


PALESTINE.  259 


CHAPTEK    IX. 

COUNTRIES   ON   THE    SOUTHEAST   AND    EAST. 

UNDER  this  head  belong  Edom,  Moab,  Animon,  and  the 
nomadic  or  serai-nomadic  Midianites,  with  some  other  Arabian 
tribes. 

I.     THE   LAND   OF   EDOM. 

1.  The  Edom  of  Hoses'  day  is  repeatedly  called  Mount  Seir, 
or  simply  Seir,  a  range  of  mountains  selected  by  Esau  himself 
as  his  residence  (Gen.  36 :  8,  9 ;  Deut.  2  :  4,  5,  8, 12,  22,  etc.),  and 
extending  along  the  eastern  border  of  the  Arabah  from  the  Dead 
sea  to  the  eastern  arm  of  the  Ked  sea.  Accordingly  we  read 
that  when  the  Israelites  were  refused  a  passage  through  the 
territory  of  Edom  they  passed  by  the  way  of  the  plain  (Arabah), 
Elath,  and  Ezion-geber  around  Edom  into  the  wilderness  of 
Moab  (Deut.  2:8);  and  that  they  journeyed  from  Mount  Hor 
on  the  border  of  Mount  Seir  by  the  way  of  the  Eed  sea  to  com 
pass  the  land  of  Edom.  Numb.  21:4.  The  Arabah,  which 
skirts  the  western  base  of  Mount  Seir  and  in  which  Kadesh- 
barnea  lies,  was  not  properly  reckoned  to  the  Edom  of  Moses' 
times ;  yet  it  was  commanded  by  the  mountains  of  Edom,  and 
it  is  possible  that  the  Edomitcs  advanced  at  times  somewhat 
into  the  desert  west  of  it  (Deut.  1 : 44) ;  but  the  permanent  occu 
pation  of  the  south  country  of  Jud&a  by  the  Edomites  seems  to 
have  taken  place  during  the  Babylonish  exile.  Judas  Macca 
beus,  and  his  successors,  found  them  after  the  captivity  in  pos 
session  of  Hebron,  Adora,  Mareshah,  and  Ashdod.  John  Hyr- 
canus  conquered  them,  and  compelled  them  to  receive  circum 
cision,  but  did  not  dispossess  them  (Josephus,  Antiq.,  12.  8.  6 ; 
13.  9.  1) ;  and  hence  the  whole  south  of  Judaea  was  reckoned  to 
Idumaea.  But  this  later  extension  of  the  term  must  not  be 
transferred  to  the  earlier  ages. 


260  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

2.  Robinson  estimates  the  breadth  of  the  range  of 

Scir  at  not  more  than  fifteen  or  twenty  geographical  miles.     Its 
length  is  said  to  be  about  one  hundred  miles. 

"Along  the  base  of  the  mountain  range  on  the  side  of  the  Arabah  are 
low  calcareous  hills.  To  these  succeed  lofty  masses  of  igneous  rock,  chiefly 
porphyry  ;  over  which  lies  red  and  variegated  sandstone  in  irregular  ridges 
and  abrupt  cliffs,  with  deep  ravines  between."  "  The  average  elevation  of 
the  range  is  about  two  thousand  feet.  On  the  east  is  a  long  unbroken 
limestone  ridge,  higher  than  the  other,  and  declining  gently  to  the  Ara 
bian  desert. "  Handbook  for  Syria  and  Palestine,  p.  42.  These  mountains 
seem  to  enjoy  a  sufficiency  of  rain,  and  are  not  sterile  like  those  on  the 
west  of  the  Arabah.  "  The  Wadys  are  full  of  trees  and  shrubs  and  flow 
ers  ;  while  the  eastern  and  higher  parts  are  extensively  cultivated  and  yield 
good  crops."  "It  is  indeed  the  region  of  which  Isaac  said  to  his  son  : 
*  Behold  thy  dwelling  shall  be  the  fatness  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  dew  of 
heaven  from  above.'"  Robinson,  2,  p.  154. 

3.  The  Arabah  which  skirts  the  mountains  of  Edom  on  the 
west  is  a  part  of  the  great  chasm  already  described  which  ex 
tends  from  the  Red  sea  to  Antioch.     Chap.  4,  No.  1.     It  slopes 
from  a  watershed  not  yet  accurately  determined  northward  to 
the  Dead  sea  and  southward  to  the  sea  of  Akabah.     Its  gene 
ral  width  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Jordan  valley,  but  at  Aka 
bah  it  is  contracted  to  half  that  distance.     It  is  furrowed  in  its- 
northern  part  by  the  deep  Wady  el- Jeib  which  sends  down  to 
the  Dead  sea  torrents  of  water  only  during  the  rainy  season. 
Otherwise  it  is  almost  uninterruptedly  a  frightful  desert.     Eob 
inson,  2,  p.  184. 

4.  Our  limits  do  not  allow  us  to  describe  at  length  the  vari 
ous  objects  of  interest  in  and  around  Mount  Seir.     We  notice 
briefly  only  a  few  of  the  more  remarkable. 

The  central  object  of  interest  is  the  ruins  of  Petra,  the  ancient  me 
tropolis  of  the  region,  lying  in  the  heart  of  Mount  Seir,  in  a  sort  of  irregu 
lar  basin,  through  the  centre  of  which  a  stream  winds  its  way  from  east  to 
west.  It  is  shut  in  east  and  west  by  precipitous  cliffs  of  sandstone,  while 
north  and  south  of  the  stream  the  surface  rises,  at  first  gradually,  after 
wards  more  steeply,  but  not  precipitously.  Deep  and  rugged  ravines 
branch  off  into  the  mountains.  The  whole  area  of  the  basin  available  for 


PALESTINE.  2(U 

building  purposes  is  estimated  by  Robinson  to  be  about  half  a  mile  square. 
These  ruins  are  the  admiration  of  all  travellers,  not  so  much  on  account  of 
their  size  and  magnificence,  as  of  their  unique  character.  They  present 
such  a  collection  of  novelties  as  can  be  seen  nowhere  else  on  this  globe. 
In  the  first  place  there  is  the  romantic  approach  to  Petra  from  the  east 
through  the  chasm  (es-Slk)  called  Wady  Musa,  that  is,  Wady  of  Moses, 
•which  anciently  formed  the  only  avenue  to  the  city  on  this  side.  Of  this 
Stanley  says  it  is  the  most  magnificent  gorge,  beyond  all  doubt,  that  he 
has  ever  beheld  ;  and  Robinson,  that  the  character  of  this  wonderful  spot, 
and  the  impression  which  it  makes,  are  indescribable,  and  that  he  knows 
of  nothing  which  can  present  even  a  faint  idea  of  them.  You  enter  be 
neath  a  noble  arch  thrown  across  high  up  from  one  precipice  to  the  other, 
and  immediately  find  yourself  in  a  narrow  chasm,  here  only  twelve  feet 
wide,  and  nowhere  more  than  three,  or,  at  the  most,  four  times  this  width. 
The  Sik  is  a  full  mile  in  length,  winding  this  way  and  that  like  a  river, 
with  a  limpid  brook  flowing  along  its  whole  course,  and  watering  a  thicket 
of  oleanders  so  abundant  as  almost  to  block  up  the  passage,  and  present 
ing,  when  in  full  bloom,  a  most  gorgeous  appearance.  The  height  of  the 
perpendicular  walls  is  at  first  eighty  or  one  hundred  feet,  and  increases  as 
you  descend  to  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Above  is  seen  a  narrow 
winding  streak  of  blue  sky,  while  green  caper  plants  and  wild  ivy  hang  in 
festoons  over  the  traveller's  head.  The  Sik  opens  at  its  western  extremity 
at  right  angles  with  a  broader  Wady  or  chasm,  coming  down  from  the 
south  and  passing  off  northwest.  And  now,  all  at  once,  the  beautiful 
Khuzneh — a  temple,  apparently,  cut  out  of  the  living  sandstone  rock,  and 
standing  on  the  opposite  side  of  this  chasm  directly  before  the  opening  of 
the  Sik — bursts  like  a  fairy  vision  upon  the  traveller's  view,  as  he  enters 
the  proper  area  of  Petra. 

To  describe  ah1  the  objects  of  interest  in  this  wonderful  place  would  far 
exceed  our  limits.  This  work  has  been  well  done  by  Burckhardt  and  many 
travellers  since  his  day.  See,  among  other  accounts,  those  of  Robinson 
(Res.  2,  pp.  130-145);  Stanley  (Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  88-92);  Porter 
(Handbook  for  Syria  and  Palestine,  pp.  43-53). 

We  can  only  notice  very  briefly  some  general  features  of  the  place.  The 
architecture  of  Petra  is  florid  and  overladen  with  ornament.  According  to 
Robinson  the  predominant  styles  are  Egyptian  and  Roman-Greek — and  the 
monuments  of  the  place  belong  to  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  and 
the  subsequent  centuries.  They  are  not,  in  themselves  considered,  very 
high  specimens  of  art ;  but  two  circumstances  unite  to  give  them  an  inde 
scribable  charm.  One  is  their  singularly  wild  and  romantic  position  ;  the 
other  is  the  endless  variety  of  hues  displayed  by  the  living  rock  in  which 
they  are  hewn.  "  They  present,"  says  Robinson,  ''not  a  dead  mass  of 
dull  monotonous  red ;  but  an  endless  variety  of  bright  and  living  hues, 


262  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

from  the  deepest  crimson  to  the  softest  pink,  verging  also  sometimes  to 
orange  and  yellow."  Stanley  calls  them  "duU  crimson,  indigo,  yellow, 
and  purple;"  "a  gorgeous  though  dull  crimson,  streaked  and  suf 
fused  with  purple."  While  the  proper  site  of  Petra  is  covered  with  the 
foundations  and  ruins  of  an  ancient  city,  the  surrounding  cliffs  and  ravines 
constitute  a  vast  necropolis,  being  filled  with  innumerable  tombs  which 
present  a  great  variety  of  architectural  style  and  ornament. 

It  is  a  question  of  interest  whether  Petra  is  referred  to  in  the  Old  Tes 
tament.  The  name  Petra  signifies  rock,  and  this  answers  to  the  Hebrew 
Sela  mentioned  in  2  Kings  14  : 7,  and  Isa.  16  : 1.  That  Sela  and  Petra  are 
identical  may  be  assumed  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  certainty.  The 
situation  of  Petra  is  graphically  described  by  the  prophets  Obadiah  and 
Jeremiah.  "The  pride  of  thy  heart  hath  deceived  thee,  thou  that 
dwellest  in  the  cliffs  of  the  rock,  whose  habitation  is  high,  that  saith  in 
his  heart,  who  shall  bring  me  down  to  the  ground  ?"  Obad.  3  ;  Jer. 
49  : 16. 

A  few  miles  southwest  of  Petra  rises  the  castellated  summit  of  Nely 
Harun,  the  prophet  Aaron.  That  this  is  the  Mount  Hor,  where  Aaron  died 
and  was  buried  (Numb.  20  :  23-29),  admits  not  of  any  reasonable  doubt. 
Its  situation  answers  to  that  of  the  Mosaic  Hor  ;  it  is  the  most  conspicuous 
object  in  the  region ;  and  the  tradition  connecting  it  with  Aaron's  death 
goes  back  beyond  the  time  of  Josephus,  who  does  not  indeed  name  it,  but 
describes  it  as  a  high  mountain  encircling  Petra.  Antiq.,  4.  4.  7.  Its 
summit  is  said  to  be  five  thousand  three  hundred  feet  above  the  Mediter 
ranean.  It  consisfs  of  two  peaks,  on  the  higher  and  western  of  which  is 
a  work,  erected  over  the  vault  or  grotto  supposed  to  be  the  burial  place  of 
the  first  Levitical  high  priest.  See  farther  in  Robinson,  2,  pp.  519-521. 

In  connection  with  Edom  the  Scriptures  constantly  make  mention  of 
Bozrah.  There  is  a  Bozrah,  as  we  have  seen  (Chap.  5,  No.  7)  far  off  in 
the  Hauran,  at  the  distance  of  eighty  or  one  hundred  miles  from  the  prop 
er  territory  of  Edom.  But  this  cannot  be  reasonably  identified  with  tho 
Bozrah  so  often  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  as  the  capital  of  Idumaca. 
Robinson  regards  el-Busaireh  southeast  of  the  Dead  sea  as  representing 
the  site  of  the  Bozrah  of  Edom  ;  and  in  his  judgment  biblical  scholars  have 
very  generally  acquiesced.  Two  hours  and  three  quarters  north  of  Bozrah 
is  T n f deli,  in  which  Robinson  recognises  the  Tophel  of  Deut.  1:1. 

Dedan  and  Teman  are  mentioned  by  the  prophets  in  connection  with 
Edom.  Jer.  49  :  7,  8,  20  ;  Ezek.  25  : 13  ;  Amos  1  : 12  ;  Obad.  9.  Con 
cerning  these  nothing  can  be  determined  more  definitely  than  that  Teman 
was  a  district  in  the  south  of  Edom  with  perhaps  a  town  of  the  same  name 
(Eusebius  and  Jerome,  Onomasticou),  while  Dedan  was  apparently  at  the 


PALESTINE.  263 

other  extremity.  Hence  we  may  explain  the  words  of  Ezek.  (chap. 
25  : 13)  :  "I  will  also  stretch  out  my  hand  upon  Edom,  and  will  cut  off 
man  and  beast  from  it ;  and  I  will  make  it  desolate  from  Teruan  ;  and  they 
shall  fall  by  the  sword  unto  Dedan  "  (marginal  rendering)  ;  that  is,  I  will 
make  the  land  desolate  through  its  whole  extent  from  Teinan  to  Dedan. 

5.  The  rivalry  between  Edom  and  Israel  began  with  Esau 
and  Jacob,  the  ancestral  founders  of  the  two  nations.  Esau  re 
tired  from  the  face  of  his  brother  Jacob  to  Mount  Seir;  ufor 
their  riches  were  more  than  that  they  might  dwell  together ; 
and  the  land  wherein  they  were  strangers  could  not  bear  them, 
because  of  their  cattle."  Gen.  36  :  6-8.  The  prophets  accuse 
the  Edornites  of  cherishing  towards  their  brethren  the  Israel 
ites  a  perpetual  hatred,  and  of  rejoicing  in  their  calamity,  and 
taking  advantage  of  it  to  aggrandize  themselves  (Ezek.  25  : 12  ; 
35  :  5,  11,  15  ;  Joel  3  : 19  ;  Amos  1 : 11 ;  Obad.  10-14) ;  an  accu 
sation  fully  sustained  by  the  record  of  their  conduct.  When 
the  Israelites  were  passing  from  the  Arabian  desert  into  Pales- 
.tine  the  Edomites  refused  them  a  passage  through  their  terri 
tory,  and  thus  compelled  them  to  pass  around  by  the  way  of 
Elath  and  Ezion-geber  at  the  head  of  the  gulf  of  Akabah. 
Numb.  20  : 14-21 ;  21 :  4.  Upon  the  establishment  of  the  He 
brew  monarchy,  the  conflict  between  Israel  and  Edom  began 
under  Saul  (1  Sam.  14 : 47),  and  was  renewed  in  the  reign  of 
David,  who  defeated  them  with  terrible  slaughter  and  reduced 
them  to  the  condition  of  tributaries.  2  Sam.  8 : 13,  14  ;  1  King 
11 : 15,  16  ;  1  Chron.  18  : 12,  13  ;  Psa:  60,  title.  From  this  time 
to  the  reign  of  Jehoram  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat  the  Edomites 
had  no  king  in  their  own  right,  but  were  ruled  by  a  prefect 
bearing  the  title  of  king  appointed  by  the  king  of  Judah ;  or,  as 
the  sacred  writer  expresses  it  (1  Kings  22  :  47) :  "  There  was  then 
110  king  in  Edom:  a  deputy  was  king."  In  this  tributary  con 
dition  of  Edom  we  have  an  explanation  of  the  fact  that  when 
Jehoshaphat  king  of  Judah  joined  with  Jehoram  king  of  Israel 
in  an  expedition  against  Moab,  the  king  of  Edom.  went  with 
them.  2  Kings  3  :  9.  He  went,  namely,  as  the  deputy  of  Judah. 
But  under  Jehoram,  Jehoshaphat's  son,  the  Edomites  revolted 


261  SACRED   GEOGEAPHY. 

and  appointed  a  king  in  their  own  right,  in  accordance  with 
the  prophetic  words  of  Isaac  (Gen.  27  : 40),  and  though  twice 
defeated  by  the  Jewish  armies,  they  succeeded  in  maintaining 
their  independence.  2  Kings  8:20-22;  2  Chron.  21:8-10; 
2  Kings  14:7;  2  Chron.  25:11,  12.  As  the  power  of  Judali 
waned,  theirs  increased,  and  we  find  them-  present  at  the  de 
struction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldeans  and  exclaiming  with 
malicious  exultation  :  "  Ease  it,  rase  it,  even  to  the  foundation 
thereof."  Psa.  137  :  7. 

During  the  Babylonish  exile  they  took  possession,  as  we 
have  seen,  of  the  south  country  of  Judaea ;  but  were  themselves, 
in  turn,  dispossessed  of  the  southern  part  of  their  own  territory 
by  the  NabathaBans.  See  Robinson,  2,  pp.  158,  159,  and  the 
authorities  to  which  he  refers.  When  the  Idumseans  had  been 
conquered  by  the  Maccabees  and  compelled  by  them  to  receive 
circumcision,  they  were  reckoned  as  Jews :  and  from  them  came 
Herod  the  Great,  and  the  Herods  his  successors,  who  figure  so 
largely  in  the  later  Jewish  history. 

In  the  present  desolate  condition  of  the  ancient  cities  of 
Edom  we  have  a  most  impressive  commentary  on  the  words  of 
Isaiah,  as  recorded  in  the  thirty-fourth  chapter  of  his  proph 
ecy:  "From  generation  to  generation  it  shall  lie  waste;  none 
shall  pass  through  it  for  ever  and  ever." 

II.  THE -COUNTRY  OF  THE  MOABITES. 

6.  We  have  seen  (Chap.  5,  No.  13),  that,  before  the  arrival 
of  the  Hebrew  people,  Sihou  king  of  the  Amorites  had  taken 
from  the  king  of  Moab  all  his  land  north  of  the  Arnon,  and 
that,  upon  the  destruction  of  Sikoii  and  his  people  by  the  Isra 
elites,  this  territory  was  allotted  to  the  two  tribes  of  Reuben 
and  Gad.  We  have  further  seen  .that,  upon  the  decline  and 
fall  of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes,  the  Moabites  reestablished 
themselves  in  this  same  territory.  As  a  part  of  the  inheritance 
of  Israel  its  geography  has  already  been  considered.  What  we 
have  now  to  say  relates  to  the  proper  Mbabitish  country  lying 
south  of  the  Arnon,  which  the  Israelites  were  expressly  forbid- 


PALESTINE.  265 

den  to  enter.  Deut.  2  :  9.  This  was  bounded  on  the  north  by 
the  deep  chasm  of  the  Arnon,  on  the  east  by  the  Arabian  des 
ert,  and  on  the  south  by  Edom.  On  the  west  it  was  bordered 
by  the  Dead  sea,  and  seems  to  have  extended  somewhat  south 
of  it.  Of  the  character  and  face  of  the  country  we  have  but 
little  knowledge,  as  the  traveller  in  these  parts  is  constantly 
exposed  to  robbery  and  murder  at  the  hand  of  the  predatory 
Arabs.  It  is  said  to  be  an  elevated  plateau  like  the  region1 
north  of  the  Arnon,  and  where  the  desert  has  not  encroached 
upon  it,  to  be  naturally  fertile.  That  it  was  once  a  populous 
region  is  attested  by  the  multitude  of  ruins  sprinkled  over  its 
area.  "  The  whole  of  the  plains  are  covered  with  the  sites  of 
towns  on  every  eminence  or  spot  convenient  for  the  construc 
tion  of  one ;  and  as  the  land  is  capable  of  rich  cultivation,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  country,  now  so  deserted,  once  pre 
sented  a  continued  picture  of  plenty  and  fertility."  Irby  and 
Mangles  as  quoted  in  Alexander's  Kitto. 

7.  The  shores  of  the  Dead  sea  have  the  same  bold  and 
precipitous  character  as  farther  north.     The  plateau  which  is 
three  thousand  feet  above  the  water  of  the  lake,  breaks  down  in 
rugged  desolate  cliffs  of  sandstone  and  limestone.     Through 
these  the  Wady  Kerak  descends  to  the  sea  by  a  tremendous 
chasm  lined  with  "beetling  crags,  blackened  by  the  tempests  of 
ages,  in  shape  exactly  resembling  the  waves  of  a  mighty  ocean, 
which,  at  the  moment  of  overleaping  some  lofty  barrier,  were 
suddenly  changed  to  stone,  retaining,  even  in  transformation, 
their  dark  and  angry  hue."     Lynch,  Expedition,  p.  352. 

8.  The  two  most  noted  places  of  this  region  in  scriptural 
times  were  the  following. 

(1.)  Ar  Moab  or  Ir  Moab,  that  is,  City  of  Moab  (Numb.  21:28; 
22:36;  Isa.  15.  :1),  called  also  simply  Ar  (Numb.  21:15;  Deut.  2:9). 
Its  ruins  are  situated  on  a  low  hill  upon  the  plateau  a  few  miles  back 
from  the  Dead  sea,  and  about  midway  between  wadys  Arnon  and  Kerak. 
In  later  times  this  place  was  called  Rabbah,  capital  or  metropolis,  which 
name  it  still  retains.  But  the  scriptural  Kabbah  is  always  Habbah  of  the 
Ammonites. 

S«c.  0«og.  12 


266  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

(2).  Kir  Moab,  fortress  of  Mocib  (Isa.  15  : 1),  called  also  Kir-heres  and 
Kir-hareseth,  brick  fortress  (Jer.  48  :  31,  36  ;  Isa.  16  :  7,  11  ;  2  Kings  3  :  25), 
is  the  modern  Kerak,  standing  on  the  crown  of  a  high  hill  between  the 
two  forks  of  the  Wtidy  Kerak  both  of  which  it  overlooks,  at  the  elevation 
of  three  thousand  feet  above  the  Dead  sea.  Before  it  is  the  sublime  chasm 
of  the  Kerak  running  down  in  a  northwesterly  direction  to  the  Dead  sea, 
which  is  some  ten  miles  distant.  The  position  is  one  of  great  natural 
strength,  and  the  place  was  once  strongly  fortified.  When  Lynch  visited 
it,  in  1848,  he  was  informed  that  the  Christian  population,  comprising1 
three-fourths  of  the  inhabitants,  amounted  to  nine  hundred  or  one  thou 
sand.  They  are  kept  in  subjection  by  the  Moslem  Arabs,  who  live  mostly 
in  tents  without  the  town. 

9.  The  Moabites,  like  the  Edomites,  were  the  kinsmen  of 
the  Israelites  (Gen.  19 : 30-38),  yet  they  appear  through  most 
of  their  history  in  the  character  of  determined  foes.  The  king 
of  Moab  hired  Balaam  to  curse  Israel,  in  the  hope  of  thus  pre 
vailing  against  him.  Numb.,  chaps.  22-24.  The  second  servi 
tude  of  the  Israelites  was  that  under  Eglon  king  of  Moab,  as 
sisted  by  the  children  of  Ammon  and  Anialek.  From  this  they 
were  delivered  by  Ehud,  who  "slew  of  Moab  at  that  time  ten 
thousand  men,  all  lusty,  and  all  men  of  valor."  Judg.  3  : 12-30. 
The  Moabites  are  mentioned  among  the  nations  against  whom 
Saul  fought.  1  Sam.  14  :  47.  David  was  descended  from  Ruth, 
the  Moabitess  (Ruth  4 : 13-22),  and  this  was,  perhaps,  the  rea 
son  why,  during  the  persecution  which  he  suffered  from  Saul, 
he  committed  his  father  and  mother  to  the  care  of  the  king  of 
Moab.  1  Sam.  22  :  3,  4.  But  some  eighteen  or  twenty  years 
afterwards  we  read  that  he  defeated  them  with  great  slaughter, 
and  reduced  them  to  the  condition  of  tributaries.  2  Sam.  8  :  2. 
Upon  the  death  of  Ahab,  to  whose  dominion  Moab  seems  to 
have  fallen  upon  the  division  of  the  kingdom,  the  Moabites  re 
volted  (2  Kings  1:1;  3 : 4,  5),  for  which  act  they  were  visited 
with  terrible  vengeance  by  the  combined  armies  of  Judah,  Israel, 
and  Edom.  2  Kings  3  :  21-27.  Upon  the  decline  of  the  Isra- 
elitish  power  we  find  the  Moabites  again  invading  the  land 
(2  Kings  13  : 20) ;  and  the  prophets  upbraid  them  with  their 
pride  and  enmity  to  the  covenant  people,  and  denounce  upon 


PALESTINE.  267 

them  desolating  judgments  (Isa.  chaps.  15,  16;  Jer.,  chap.  48; 
Ezek.  25 : 8-11 ;  Amos  2:1-3;  Zeph.  2  :  8-11).  The  first  instal 
ment  of  these  judgments,  so  to  speak,  came  by  the  hand  of 
Nebuchadn  zzar.  Since  his  day  they  have  often  been  repeated, 
and  have  reduced  the  land  to  its  present  desolate  condition. 
Yet  there  stands  on  record  for  Moab,  as  also  for  Ammon,  the 
promise  that  God  will  bring  again  her  captivity  in  the  latter  day. 
Jer.  48  :  47  ;  49  :  6. 

In  the  narrative,  2  Kings  3  : 6-27,  we  read  that  water  came  without 
wind  or  rain  "  by  the  way  of  Edom  ;"  that  is,  descending  from  the  moun 
tains  of  Edom  in  the  south,  the  result  apparently  of  heavy  rains  there ; 
and  that  when  the  sun  shone  upon  the  water  "  the  Moabites  saw  the  water 
on  the  other  side  as  red  as  blood."  This  appearance  may  have  been  pro 
duced  by  the  redness  of  the  sun's  rays  shining  in  the  early  morning  through 
a  hazy  atmosphere,  by  the  reflection  of  his  beams  from  the  circumjacent 
red  rocks,  or  by  the  color  which  the  water  itself  had  received  from  the  red 
soil  along  its  path  ;  or  we  may  assume  a  combination  of  all  these  causes. 

III.     THE    COUNTRY    OF    THE    AMMONITES. 

10.  The  territory  of  the  Ammonite^  lay  between  Arnon  and 
Jabbok,  having  the  country  of  Moab  on  the  south  and  south 
west,  and  the  tribes  of  Keuben  and  Gad  on  the  west.  Numb. 
21 :  24;  32  :  33-42 ;  Josh.  13  : 15-28  ;  Judg.  11 : 22.  When  the 
Israelites  approached  the  land  of  Canaan,  they  were  forbidden 
to  appropriate  to  themselves  any  part  of  the  country  at  that 
time  held  by  the  Ammonites  (Deut.  2  : 19) ;  but  the  tribe  of  Gad 
received  "  half  the  land  of  the  children  of  Ammon,  unto  Aroer 
that  is  before  Kabbah"  (Josh.  13  :  25),  of  which  they  had  been 
dispossessed  by  Sihon  king  of  the  Amorites  (Judg.  11 : 12-27). 
The  Ammonites,  thus  crowded  eastward  upon  the  Arabian  des 
ert,  seem  to  have  become,  as  suggested  by  Grove  (in  Smith's 
Bible  Diet.),  partly  a  nomadic  people.  Thus  much  may  be  rea 
sonably  inferred  from  the  relative  fewness  of  their  towns  as  com 
pared  with  those  of  the  Moabites.  Kabbah  was  the  only  place 
of  note  among  them.  Jephthah  is  said,  indeed,  to  have  smitten 
twenty  cities  of  Ammon,  but  no  one  of  them  is  named  except 
Minnith.  Judg.  11 :  33. 


268  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

11.  RdbbaJi,  that  is,  great  city  (Josh.  13  :  25  ;    2  Sam.  11 : 1; 
12  :  27,  29 ;  1  Cliron.  20  : 1 ;  Jer.  49  :  3 ;  Ezek.  25:5;  Amos  1 : 14), 
or,  more  fully,  Eabbali  of  the  children  of  Ammon  (Deut.  3 : 11 ; 
2  Sam.  12  :  26 ;  17:27;  Jer.  49  :  2 ;  Ezek.  21 :  28),  the  metropolis 
of  the  Ammonites,  is  situated  about  nineteen  miles  southeast  by 
east  from  es-Salt  (the  ancient  Ramoth-Gilead),  in  a  broad  valley 
on  a  head-stream  of  the  Jabbok,  which  is  perennial,  and  here 
flows  towards  the  northeast.. 

Kabbah  was  a  place  of  great  military  strength.  The  citadel  lay  on  a  hill 
on  the  northeastern  side  of  the  valley,  between  two  ravines  coming  in  from 
the  north,  and  was  thus  almost  isolated.  When  Joab  had  taken  "the  city 
of  waters  " — so  named  from  the  perennial  stream  flowing  through  it,  called 
also  "  the  city  of  the  kingdom,"  probably  as  containing  the  royal  palace — 
it  was  apparently  this  citadel  that  remained  to  be  captured  to  complete 
the  conquest  of  the  place.  2  Sam.  12  :  26-29. 

Ptolemy  Philadelphia,,  in  the  third  century  before  Christ,  rebuilt  the 
city,  and  named  it  Philadelphia  (Jerome  on  Ezek.  25  : 1);  but  it  retains  in 
modern  Arab jp  the  name  Amman.  It  is  the  Greek  and  Roman  ruins  of 
this  place  that  present  such  a  scene  of  magnificent  desolation.  Tristram, 
who  describes  them  at  considerable  length,  says  :  "In  number,  in  beauty 
of  situation,  and  in  isolation,  they  were  by  far  the  most  striking  and  inter 
esting  I  had  yet  seen  in  Syria.  Yet  it  was  not  old  Kabbah,  but  Philadel 
phia,  the  Eonian  city,  among  whose  prostrate  marbles  we  groped  our  way. 
All  is  Roman  or  Greek,  and  all,  probably,  except  the  citadel,  subsequent 
to  the  Christian  era."  Land  of  Israel,  p.  545.  Here,  among. other  ruins, 
are  the  remains  of  a  large  Christian  church  and  a  theatre  capable  of  scut  ing 
six  thousand  spectators.  "The  citadel,"  says  Porter  (Handbook,  p.  289), 
"  is  a  rectangular  oblong  building  of  great  extent.  The  exterior  walls  are 
nearly  perfect,  and  are  constructed  of  massive  stones  closely  jointed,  with 
out  cement,  bearing  the  marks  of  high  antiquity. " 

12.  •  The  history  of  the  Ammonites,  in  their  relation  to  the 
children  of  Israel,  is  substantially  that  of  their  neighbors  the 
Moabites,  with  whom  they  seem  to  have  been  in  league  in  hiring 
Balaam  to  curse  Israel  (Deut.  23  :  4).     They  joined  with  Moab 
and  Amalek  in  opposing  the  Israelites  (Judg.  3  : 12,  13) ;  made 
war  upon  them  in  the  days  of  Jephthah  (Judg.  11 :  4) ;  and  after 
wards  in  the  days  of  Saul  (1  Sam.  11 : 1-11 ;  14  :  47).     Nahash 
king  of  the  Ammonites  was  on  friendly  terms  with  David,  but 
his  son  Hanun  maltreated  David's  ambassadors,  which  brought 


PALESTINE.  2G9 

upon  him  and  his  kingdom  the  terrible  vengeance  of  that  mon 
arch  (2  Sam.,  chap.  10) ;  and  afterwards,  upon  the  conquest  of 
Rabbah,  David  treated  the  Ammonites  with  great  severity. 
2  Sam.  12  :  20-31.  Among  the  wives  of  Solomon  were  "  women 
of  the  Moabites,  Ammonites,  Edomites,  Zidonians,  and  Hit- 
tites;"  and  they  "turned  away  his  heart  after  other  gods" 
(1  Kings  11 : 1-8),  thus  accomplishing  in  peace  what  the  armies 
of  the  Gentiles  had  failed  to  accomplish  in  war,  even  the  dis 
memberment  of  the  Israelitish  kingdom.  1  Kings  11 : 13.  The 
prophets  denounce  upon  Ammon,  as  upon  Moab,  the  desolating 
judgments  of  God.  The  solemn  threatening,  "  I  will  make  Rab 
bah  a  stable  for  camels,  and  the  Ammonites  a  couching-place 
for  flocks"  (Ezek.  25  :  5),  is  now  literally  fulfilled. 

IV.     THE    MIDIANITES   AND   OTHEK    ARABIAN    TRIBES. 

13.  The  Midianites  were  a  nomadic  or  semi-nomadic  peo 
ple,  descended  from  Abraham  by  Keturah.  Gen.  25  :  2.  The 
boundaries  of  their  territory  cannot  be  definitely  given.  We 
have  seen  (Chap.  8,  No.  35)  that  the  Kenites,  to  whom  Hobab, 
Moses'  father-in-law,  belonged,  were'a  branch  of  the  Midianites. 
Their  range  of  pasturage  in  Moses'  time  seems  to  have  been  the 
peninsula  of  Sinai,  perhaps  the  western  border  of  the  gulf  of 
Akabah,  whence  Moses  led  the  flock  of  Jethro  "  to  the  back 
side  of  the  desert,  and  came  to  the  mountain  of  God,  even  to 
Horeb."  Exod.  3  : 1.  But  a  comparison  of  the  various  passa 
ges  of  the  Old  Testament  referring  to  the  Midianites  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  their  main  seat  was  east  of  Edom,  Moab,  and 
Ammon,  in  the  bordering  desert  of  Arabia  ;  whence  their  course, 
whether  for  trade  or  for  plunder,  was  first  northward  and  then 
westward  across  the  Jordan  valley. 

The  Midianites  and  Ishinaelites  to  whom  Joseph  was  sold  seem  to  have 
entered  Palestine  from  Gilead  by  the  valley  of  Jezreel  (Gen.  37 : 25,  28, 
36).  The  five  kings  of  the  Midianites  who,  in  alliance  with  the  Moabites, 
seduced  to  idolatry  the  Israelites  when  encamped  in  the  plains  of  Moab 
east  of  the  Jordan,  were  dukes  of  Sihou  king  of  the  Amorites  ;  that  is, 
vassals  or  tributary  kings  (Xumb.  31 :  8,  compared  with  Josh.  13  :  21);  and 
consequently  neighbors  to  both  Sihon  and  Moab.  From  the  same  region 


270  SACRED   GEOGRAPHY. 

obviously  came  the  Midianites  who,  accompanied  by  the  Anialeldtes,  crossed 
the  Jordan  in  Gideon's  time,  and  encamped  in  the  valley  of  Jezreel  (Judg. , 
chaps.  6-8).  In  1  Kings  11  : 18  we  find  Hadad  fleeing  from  the  land  of 
Midian  to  Egypt  by  the  way  of  Paran,  "he  and  certain  Edomites  of  his 
father's  servants  with  him,"  because  Joab  was  desolating  the  land  of  Edom. 
Hadad  fled  manifestly  from  that  part  of  Midian  that  bordered  on  Edom, 
but  whether  from  its  eastern  border  or  from  its  Avestern,  where  a  branch 
of  the  Midianites  seem  to  have  dwelt  (see  above),  is  uncertain.  The 
wealth  of  the  Midianites  appears  from  the  abundance  of  the  spoils  which 
the  Israelites  took  of  them  under  Phinehas  (Numb.  31  :  25-47),  and  after 
wards  under  Gideon  (Judg.  8  :  24-27). 

14.  The  relation  of  the  Midianites  to  the  children  of  Israel 
began  with  the  origin  of  the  two  nations,  for  they  were  both 
descendants  of  Abraham.     Among  the  Kenite  branch  of  this 
people  Moses  found  a  home  in  his  exile  from  Egypt,  and  the 
relations  of  the  Kenites  to  the 'Israelites  continued  to  be  friendly, 
as  we  have  seen  above,  Chap.  8,  No.  35.     But  the  Midianites  as 
a  nation  early  appear  among  the  enemies  and  corrupters  of  the 
Hebrew  people.     They  were  the  chief  offenders  in  the  matter 
of  Baal-peor  (Numb.,  chap.  25),  and  it  was  upon  them  that  the 
divine  vengeance  fell  so  heavily  (Numb.,  chap.  31).     Yet  we  find 
them  again  very  numerous  and  powerful  in  the  time  of  Gid 
eon,  some  two  centuries  later.     Then,  with  their  allies  the  Ama- 
lekites,  "they  came  up  with  their  cattle  and  their  tents,  and 
they  came  as  grasshoppers  for  multitude;  for  both  they  and 
their  camels  were  without  number;  and  they  entered  into  the 
land  to  destroy  it."     Judg.  6  :  5.     Their  strength  seems  to  have 
been  permanently  broken  by  the  signal  overthrow  which  they 
experienced  at  that  time,  and  which  is  several  times  referred  to 
in  the  later  Hebrew  history.     Psa.  83  :  9 ;  Isa.  9:4;  10  :  26. 

15.  Various  Arabian  tribes  to  the  east  and  southeast  of  Pal 
estine  are  mentioned  in  Scripture.     Our  limits  do  not  allow  us 
to  discuss  at  any  length  the  difficult  geographical  questions 
connected  with  their  boundaries  and  relative  positions.     We 
notice  only  the  following : 

In  Isa.  60  : 6,  7,  a  group  of  Arabian  tribes  is  mentioned  as  ministering 
to  Zion  in  her  future  enlargement  and  glory — the  dromedaries  of  Midian 


PALESTINE.  271 

and  EphciTi,  all  they  from  Sheba  with  gold  and  frankincense,  the  flocks  of 
Kedar,  the  rams  of  Nebaioth. 

Eplidh  was  the  son  of  Midian  (Gen.  25  : 4),  and  it  is  natural  to  think 
of  the  tribe  of  Ephah  as  lying  beyond  the  Midianites,  and  perhaps  farther 
south. 

Three  persons  bearing  the  name  of  Stieba  are  mentioned  in  the  gene 
alogical  tables  of  Genesis — a  grandson  of  Gush  the  son  of  Ham  (chap. 
10  :  7) ;  a  son  of  Joktan  the  grandson  of  Eber,  descended  through  Arphaxad 
from  Shem  (chap.  10  : 28) ;  a  son  of  Jokshan  Abraham's  son  by  Keturah, 
consequently  a  descendant  from  Eber  also  (chap.  25  : 3).  The  relation 
which  the  descendants  of  these  three  men  held  to  each  other  is  not  known. 
But  it  is  generally  agreed  that  the  Sheba  celebrated  for  its  gold,  frankin 
cense,  spicery,  and  precious  stones,  whose  queen  "came  from  the  utter 
most  parts  of  the  earth  to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon"  (Matt.  12  :42), 
was  the  country  of  the  Arabian  Sabaeans  situated  in  the  southern  part  of 
Arabia  Felix,  between  the  Red  sea  and  the  Persian  gulf.  The  Ethiopians 
of  Seba  are  also  called  Sabeans  in  our  version  (Isa.  45  : 14),  but  these  should 
be  carefully  distinguished  from  the  Arabian  Sabeans  (Job  1  : 15  ;  Joel 
3:8).  In  Ezek.  23:42,  the  true  text  should  be  translated,  not  Sabeans, 
but  drunkards. 

Kedar  was  the  second  son  of  Ishmael.  Gen.  25  : 13.  The  tribe  of  Ke 
dar  is  often  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  as  wealthy  and  powerful,  and 
inhabiting  villages  in  a  rocky  region  (Isa.  21  : 16,  17  ;  42  : 11 ;  Jer.  2  : 10  ; 
49  :  28  ;  Ezek.  27  : 21,  ete.).  Forster  (Geog.  of  Arabia  1,  p.  238,  seq.)  pla 
ces  their  site  in  the  modern  province  of  Hedjaz  on  the  Red  sea  around 
Mecca  and  Medina.  The  NabatJiceans,  descended  from  Nebaioth  Ishmael's 
firstborn  (Gen.  25  : 13),  are  placed  by  the  same  writer  north  of  Kedar  and 
bordering  on  the  Idtimreans,  upon  whose  territory  they  afterwards  en 
croached  as  we  have  seen,  No.  5  above. 

The  Hagarites  or  Hagarenes  (I  Chr.  5  : 10,  19,  20  ;  Psa.  83  : 6),  so-caUed 
from  Hagar  the  mother  of  Ishmael,  are,  in  a  general  sense,  the  Ishmaeli- 
tish  tribes  inhabiting  the  northern  part  of  Arabia.  But  the  particular 
Hagarites  upon  whom  the  Israelitish  tribes  east  of  the  Jordan  made  war, 
dwelt  to  the  east  of  the  land  of  Gilead.  1  Chron.  5  : 10. 

Tema  was  the  ninth  son  of  Ishmael.  Gen.  25  : 15.  His  descendants 
inhabited  a  tract  in  the  northern  part  of  Arabia  still  called  Teima  by  the 
Arabs. 

Dumali  was  the  sixth  son  of  Ishmael.  That  his  posterity  settled  in  the 
vicinity  of  Edom  is  plain  from  the  words  of  Isaiah  (chap.  21  :11)  :  "The 
burden  of  Dumal^.  He  calletli  to  me  out  of  Seir,  Watchman,  what  of  the 
night  ?"  The  name  is  perpetuated  to  the  present  day  in  an  Arabian  town 
about  two  hundred  and  forty  geographical  miles  due  east  of  Petra  (Por 
ter,  in  Alexander's  Krrto),  which  seems  to  have  been  the  centre  of  the  tribe. 


272  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

The  land  of  Uz,  according  to  Forster  (Geog.  of  Arabia,  2,  p.  59,  seq.)  lay 
on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  adjoining  Chaldaea.  But  Porter  (in  Alex 
ander's  Ivitto)  thinks  that  it  was  "  in  Arabia,  bordering  on  Edom  westward, 
on  Trachonitis  northward,  and  extending  perhaps  indefinitely  across  the 
pasture  lands  of  Arabia  towards  the  Euphrates." 

The  reader  who  wishes  to  investigate  at  length  the  difficult  subject  of 
Arabian  geography  can  consult  the  two  volumes  of  Forster  above  referred 
to,  and  the  authorities  there  quoted. 


NORTHEAST  AND  NORTH.  273 


CHAPTEK    X. 

COUNTRIES  ON  THE  NORTHEAST  AND  NORTH. 

HERE  belong  Mesopotamia,  Syria  proper  in  its  several  divis 
ions,  and  Phoenicia. 

I.     MESOPOTAMIA.          0 

1.  The  Hebrew  word  Aram  is  commonly  rendered  Syria  in 
the  Greek  version  of  the  Seventy.  It  signifies  highland,  and 
seems  to  have  been  originally  applied  to  the  mountainous 
region  of  Syria  proper,  and  afterwards  extended  to  the  lower 
regions  on  the  east. 

Abraham  was  in  the  line  of  Arphaxad  (Gen.,  chap.  11).  He  is  called 
the  Hebrew  (Gen.  14  : 13) ;  according  to  some,  as  being  one  of  "the  chil 
dren  of  Eber  "  (Gen.  10  : 21  ;  11 : 15-26)  ;  according  to  others,  as  having 
come  from  the  other  side  of  the  Euphrates — Ibri,  Hebrew,  from  eber,  be 
yond.  But  Bethuel  and  Laban  are  called  Syrians  (Gen.  25  : 20  ;  28  : 5  ; 
31  :  20,  24),  from  their  residence  in  Mesopotamian  Syria  ;  and  once  Jacob  is 
called  a  Syrian  (Deut.  26  : 5)  for  the  same  reason. 

2.  Aram-naharayim,  Aram  of  the  two  rivers,  is  the  Hebrew 
name  given  to  the  vast  region  lying  in  a  general  northwest  and 
southeast  direction  between  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris.  The 
corresponding  Greek  names  in  the  Septuagint  are  Mesopotamia. 
that  is,  country  beticeen  the  rivers  (Gen.  24 : 10  ;  Deut.  2o :  4) ; 
Mesopotamia  of  Syria  (Psa.  60,  title) ;  Syria  of  Mesopotamia 
(1  Chron.  19 :  6) ;  Syria  of  the  rivers  (Judg.  3  :  8).  The  Arabian 
term,  the  Island,  is  not  inappropriate,  since  the  source  of  the 
Tigris  is  only  a  few  miles  distant  from  the  Euphrates  at  Telek. 
The  term  Padan-aram,  plain  of  Aram,  or  simply  Padan  (Gen. 
48:7),  called  also  the  field  of  Aram  (Hosea  12:12),  is  applied 
to  the  northern  part  of  this  region.  The  Septuagint  generally 

12* 


* 

274  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

renders  Padan-aram  and  Padan  by  the  term  Mesopotamia  of 
Syria  (Gen  25:20  ;  28  :  6,  7  ;  33  : 18  ;  35:  9,  26  ;  46  : 15  ;  48  :  7) ; 
but  sometimes  simply  Mesopotamia  (Gen.  28  :  2,  5  ;  31 : 18). 

When  the  Septuagint  adds  to  Mesopotamia  the  term  Syria,  the  design 
apparently  is  simply  to  represent  the  Hebrew  Aram;  not  to  indicate  a 
Syrian  Mesopotamia  lying  between  the  Abana  and  Pharpar,  as  distinct 
from  the  Babylonian  between  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  according  to  the 
theory  of  Dr.  Beke.  There  is  no  valid  ground  for  assuming  a  second  Mes 
opotamia.  See  Porter,  in  Alexander's  Kitto,  art. ,  Aram. 

3.  Mesopotamia  in  its  widest  sense  embraces  a  tract  nearly 
seven  hundred  miles  long  with  a  varying  breadth  of  from  twen 
ty  to  two  huncWsd  and  fifty  miles.  It  extends  from  Telek  on 
the  Euphrates,  in  latitude  thirty-eight  degrees  twenty-three  min 
utes  north,  to  Kurnah  at  the  junction  of  the  Tigris  with  the 
Euphrates,  in  latitude  thirty-one  degrees  north.  The  lower 
part  of  this  region,  which  is  an  alluvial  plain  scarcely  raised 
above  the  level  of  the  river,  will  be  considered  hereafter,  under 
the  head  of  Chaldea  and  Babylonia.  To  upper  Mesopotamia 
or  Padan-aram,  belong  the  scriptural  incidents  connected  with 
Haran,  and  this  was  also  the  seat  of  Cushan-rishathaim's  king 
dom.  This  region  is  described  as  being  in  general  a  vast  plain, 
but  it  has  some  ranges  of  hills,  "  and  in  its  northern  portion  is 
even  mountainous,  the  upper  Tigris  valley  being  separated 
from  the  Mesopotamian  plain  by  an  important  range,  the  Mons 
MHH'IUS  of  Strabo."  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  art.,  Mesopotamia. 
The  most  important  tributary  stream  is  the  Chaboras  now 
called  Klialur,  probably  identical  with  the  CJtcbar,  the  scene 
of  I^zekiel's  visions  (chap.  1:1,  3),  which  rising  in  upper 
Mesopotamia  flows  for  a  while  parallel  to  the  Euphrates,  and 
^hen  turning  westward  enters  it  at  Circesium,  the  Carchemish  of 
Scripture. 

4.  Haran,  where  Terah  stopped  on  his  way  from  Ur  of  the 

Chaldees  to  the  land  of  Canaan  (Gen.  11 : 31),  is  thought  with 

good  reason  to  be  identical  with  the  CharrJiw  of  the  Greeks  and 

Eomans  and  the  Harran  of  the  modern  Arabs.    It  stands  with- 

.  in  the  great  bend  of  the  Euphrates  on  the  banks  of  a  small 


NORTHEAST  AND  NORTH.  275 

liver  called  Belik  which  flows  south  into  the  Euphrates.  Hith 
er  Abraham  sent  his  servant  to  obtain  a  wife  for  his  son  Isaac, 
and  here  Jacob  found  his  wives.  Abraham  calls  it  his  country 
and  his  kindred  (Gen.  24 : 4),  and  this  is  the  place  referred  to, 
"  as  on  the  other  side  of  the  flood "  (Hebrew  river],  where 
Terah  the  father  of  Abraham  and  the  father  of  Nachor  dwelt. 
Josh.  24 : 2.  It  has  been  a  popular  theory,  having  in  its  favor 
a  very  ancient  Jewish  tradition,  that  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  whence 
Terah  went  forth  with  Abraham  and  Lot  to  go  into  the  land  of 
Canaan  (Gen.  11 :  31),  was  identical  with  the  modem  Oorfo,  the 
Adessci  of  the  classic  authors,  situated  about  twenty  miles  north 
west  by  north  from  Haran.  But  there  is  an  increasing  incli 
nation  among  oriental  scholars  of  the  present  day  to  identify 
the  site  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  with  the  extensive  ruins  at  Mu 
gheir  or  Umcjheir,  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  Euphrates  about 
halfway  between  the  ruins  of  Babylon  and  the  Persian  gulf. 
The  inscriptions  disinterred  at  Mugheir  are  said  to  prove  that 
the  ancient  name  of  this  place  was  Ur,  or  rather  Hur.  But 
inscriptions  discovered  at  other  places  make  it  probable  that 
Ur  or  Hur  was  also  a  territory  extending  across  the  Euphrates ; 
and  it  may  be  that  "Ur  of  the  Chaldees,"  indicates  not  a  par 
ticular  city,  but  a  region  of  lower  Mesopotamia.  See  Rawlin- 
son's  Ancient  Monarchies,  1,  p.  19,  seq. 

The  distance  between  Mugheir  and  Haran  is  not  a  valid  objection  ;  for 
the  narrative  implies  that  Terah,  in  going  to  Haran,  left  Chaldaea  the  land 
of  his  nativity,  which  cannot  be  shown  to  have  included  in  Abraham's  and 
Moses'  time  upper  Mesopotamia.  The  natural  route  from  lower  Mesopo 
tamia  to  Canaan  "would  be  first  north  and  t^ien  west  around  the  Arabian 
desert,  so  that  Haran  might  well  be  taken  on  the  way.  If  we  identify  Ur 
not  with  a  territory  but  with  Mugheir  some  six  or  eight  miles  west  of  the 
present  channel  of  the  Euphrates,  it  would  still  belong  virtually  to  lower 
Mesopotamia  ;  so  that  Stephen,  who  did  not  stand  on  geographical  nice 
ties,  would  still  be  substantially  correct  in  placing  it,  as  he  does  (Acts 
7:2),  in  Mesopotamia. 

"  Habor  the  river  of  Gozan  "  (2  Kings  17  :  6  ;  18  : 11)  is  without  doubt 
identical  with  the  modern  Khabur  (see  above) ;  and  on  the  upper  waters 
of  this  stream  we  must  look  for  Halah  and  the  district  of  Gozan,  to  which 


276  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

places  the  king  of  Assyria  transported  a  part  of  the  Israelites.  Hara,  which 
is  added,  1  Chron.  5  :  26,  is  perhaps  identical  with  Haran.  If  not,  its  site 
is  unknown. 

It  does  not  come  within  the  province  of  this  work  to  describe  the  im 
portant  modern  towns  in  upper  Mesopotamia.  Among  these  Diarbekr, 
Jezireh,  and  Mosul  are  on  the  Tigris ;  the  first  near  its  head  waters,  the 
third  two  hundred  and  twenty  miles  below  in  a  southeasterly  direction, 
and  the  second  some  seventy-five  or  eighty  miles  above  Mosul.  Mnrdiu 
and  Oorfa  are  in  the  interior,  the  former  fifty-seven  miles  southeast  of 
Diarbekr  on  the  edge  of  Mount  Masius,  the  latter  about  one  hundred  miles 
southwest  and  towards  the  Euphrates.  ^ 

5.  The  first  servitude  of  tlie  Israelites  was  under  Cushan- 
rishathaim  king  of  Mesopotamia.      Judg.   3  : 8-10.     We   find 
the  Mesopotamians  again  furnishing  the  Ammonites  with  horses 
and  chariots  against  David  (1  Chron.  19 :  6),  but  after  that  the 
name  appears  no  more  in  Scripture. 

II.     SYRIA    PROPER. 

6.  Syriaproper,  excluding  Palestine  and  including  Phoenicia, 
is  bounded  on  the  south  by  Palestine,  on  the  west  by  the  Medi 
terranean,  on  the  north  by  Mount  Arnanus  and  Mount  Taurus, 
and  on  the  east  by  the  Euphrates  and  desert  of  Palmyra.    Por 
ter  (in  Alexander's  Kitto)  gives  its  length  from  the  Litany  on 
the  south  to  the  bay  of  Iskanderun  (gulf  of  Issus)  on  the  north, 
at  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  with  an  average  breadth  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles. 

7.  The  grand  feature  of  Syria,  which  determines  alike  its 
physical  and  political  divisions,  is  the  tico  miglitij  parallel  chains 
of  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon,   with  their  lower  -continuations 
towards  the  north ;  that  of  Lebanon  quite  to  the  northern  ex 
tremity  of  the  region  with  two  remarkable  breaks,  that  of  Anti- 
Lebanon  to  a  point  near  the  bend  of  the  Orontes,  with  an  inter 
ruption  over  against  the  southern  break  in  the  western  chain. 
The  valley  lying  between  these  chains  is,  as  already  remarked 
(Chap.  4,  No.  1),  a  continuation  of  the  great  chasm  extending 
from  the  Red  sea  to  Antioch. 


NORTHEAST    AND    NORTH.  277 

8.  In  describing  the  chain  of  Lebanon  we  begin  with  the  deep 
gorge  of  the  Leontes,  its  lower  southern  continuation  having 
been  already  considered  in  the  geography  of  Palestine.  It  runs 
parallel  with  the  coast  in  a  northeasterly  direction  about  ninety 
miles  to  the  great  valley  of  the  Nahr  el-Kebir  (the  Eleutherus 
of  the  ancients)  which  connects  the  plain  of  Hamath  with  the 
Mediterranean,  and  is  thought  with  good  reason  to  be  "  the  en 
tering  in  of  Hamath."  *See  Eobinson's  Bib.  Kes.,  3,  pp.  568,  569. 
The  base  of  Lebanon  is  said  to  be  about  twenty  miles  in  width. 
Its  loftiest  summits  are  towards  the  north.  Of  these  the  highest 
is  Dahar  el-Kudib  about  twenty-five  miles  from  the  northern  ex 
tremity,  with  an  elevation,  according  to  Yan  de  Yelde;  of  ten 
thousand  and  fifty-one  feet.  South  of  this,  at  the  distance  of 
twenty-three  miles,  is  the  rounded  summit  of  Jebel  Sunnin,  eight 
thousand  and  five  hundred  feet  high.  From  this  point  the  range 
decreases  in  height  towards  the  south.  The  mountain  is  com 
posed  of  Jura  limestone.  Its  eastern  declivity  is  steep,  with  few 
streams,  and  mostly  without  inhabitants  or  tillage.  Robinson, 
Phys.  Geog.,  p.  339.  The  western  declivity,  on  tTie  contrary,  is 
more  gradual,  furrowed  every  where  by  deep  and  rugged  ravines, 
between  which  appear  lofty  cliffs  of  white  rock.  It  teems  with 
villages,  and  is  cultivated  more  or  less  to  the  top,  the  tillage 
being  carried  on  by  a  succession  of  terraces  rising  one  above 
another. 

The  word  Lebanon  signifies  White  Mountain.  Robinson  thinks  that 
the  name  is  derived  not  from  its  snows,  but  from  the  whitish  appearance 
of  the  mountain  as  the  light  is  reflected  from  its  rocky  surface.  In  sum 
mer  snow  is  found  only  in  the  ravines,  where  it  presents  the  appearance  of 
radiant  stripes.  The  views  of  the  mountain  from  below  and  above  are  ex 
ceedingly  different.  When  one  looks  upward  from  below  the  vegetation  of 
the  terraces  is  not  seen,  "so  that  the  whole  mountain  side  appears  as  if 
composed  only  of  immense  rugged  masses  of  naked  whitish  rock-,  severed 
by  deep  wide  ravines  running  down  precipitously  to  the  plain.  No  one 
would  suspect,  among  these  rocks,  the  existence  of  a  vast  multitude  of 
thrifty  villages,  and  a  numerous  population  of  mountaineers, -hardy,  indus 
trious,  and  brave."  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  493.  But  the  view  from 
afave  is  rich  and  picturesque.  "  The  tops  of  the  little  stair-like  terraces 
are  seen,  all  green  with  corn,  or  straggling  vines,  or  the  dark  foliage  of 


278  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

the  mulberry.  The  steeper  banks  and  ridges  have  their  forests  of  pine  and 
oak  ;  while  far  away  down  in  the  bottom  of  the  glens,  and  round  the  vil 
lages  and  castellated  convents,  are  large  groves  of  gray  olives."  Porter,  in 
Alexander's  Kitto.  The  northern  extremity  of  Lebanon  is  sharply  defined, 
the  chain  terminating  abruptly  at  the  valley  of  the  Kebir.  A  lower  side 
ridge  runs  along  the  eastern  base  of  the  main  chain  from  the  town  of 
Zahleh  (about  latitude  thirty-three  degrees,  fifty-one  minutes  north)  to  its 
northern  extremity. 

According  to  Robinson  "the  oak,  walnut,  p^ane,  silver  poplar,  acacia, 
and  various  other  trees  are  not  infrequent.  The  olive  and  the  mulberry 
are  widely  cultivated  ;  the  one  for  its  oil,  the  other  as  food  for  silkworms. 
The  wine  of  Lebanon  was  celebrated  of  old.  At  present  extensive  vine 
yards  surround  many  of  the  villages,  the  vines  being  left  to  run  upon  the 
ground.*  The  fruit  is  mostly  eaten,  or  is  converted  into  raisins  and  dibs 
(syrup)  ;  a  small  part  only  is  made  into  wine,  which  is  still  accounted  of 
superior  excellence."  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  343.  The  glory  of  Lebanon  in  an 
cient  days  was  its  magnificent  forests  of  cedar.  These,  though  immensely 
diminished,  have  not  yet  disappeared.  The  principal  grove  is  at  the  head 
of  "Wady  Kadisha  in  a  vast  recess  in  the  central  ridge  of  Lebanon  two 
hours  and  three  quarters  from  Ehden.  Above  it  rise  the  loftiest  summits 
of  Lebanon  streaked  with  perpetual  snow.  The  grove  is  now  scarcely 
half  a  mile  in  circumference,  and  contains  about  four  hundred  trees  of  all 
sizes — perhaps  a  dozen  very  ancient  and  venerable.  One  or  two  of  the 
oldest  are  more  than  forty  feet  in  girth  with  short  and  irregular  branches. 
There  are  other  cedar  groves  on  the  higher  slopes  of  Lebanon  north  of  the 
Kadisha  and  elsewhere.  See  in  Porter's  Handbook,  pp.  549-551.  The 
cedar  has  been  for  ages  too  rare  to  be  employed  in  building.  In  the 
Scriptures  it  is,  as  all  know,  the  standing  image  of  strength,  majesty,  and 
beauty. 

9.  Parallel  with  Lebanon  runs  the  chain  of  Anti-Lebanon, 
beginning  at  Banias  and  terminating  over  agamst  the  northern 
end  of  Lebanon  some  fifteen  miles  south  of  Hums  (Emesa).  It 
is  described  by  Robinson  as  "  made  up  of  two  parts,  lying  north 
and  south  of  the  parallel  of  Damascus ;  or  rather  as  divided  at 
a  point-  somewhat  north  of  that  parallel."  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  345. 
The  northern  part,  running  parallel  with  Lebanon,  is  called 
Ji/H-f  esh-Shurky,  that  is,  East  imnuihi'm.  It  is  less  lofty  than 
Lebanon,  "  and  in  contrast  with  that  mountain,"  says  Robinson, 
"  having  its  steepest  declivity  on  the  west  towards  the  Buk£a 
(valley  of  Coele-Syria)  almost  without  streams  or  villages,"  while 


CEDAHS  OF  LEBANON. 


^-•-- 


RUINS  OF  BAALBEC. 


NORTHEAST  AND  NORTH.  279 

• 

"the  eastern  declivity  is  quite  gradual;  or  rather  this  eastern 
side  is  characterized  by  successive  lower  ridges  with  intervening 
open  tracts,  or  terraces,  running  parallel  with  its  course,  and 
presenting  towards  the  east  steep  declivities  and  sometimes 
perpendicular  precipices."  Porter  says  (in  Alexander's  Kitto) 
that  "  with  the  exception  of  the  little  upland  plains,  and  a  few 
of  the  deeper  valleys,  this  ridge  is  incapable  of  cultivation." 
"  Vegetation  is  abundant  among  the  rocks,  and  though  the  in 
habitants  are  few  and  far  between,  immense  flocks  of  sheep  and 
goats  are  pastured  upon  the  mountains,  and  wild  beasts — bears, 
boars,  wolves,  jackals,  hyaenas,  foxes — are  far  more  abundant 
than  in  any  other  part  of  Syria  or  Palestine."" 

The  southern  part  of  Anti-Lebanon,  which  trends  a  little 
more  to  the  southwest,  is  called  Jebd  esh- Sheikh,  Chief  mountain, 
and  is  the  Hermon  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  has,  according  to 
Porter  (Handbook,  p.  430),  three  summits,  or  rather  its  general 
summit  has  three  peaks,  the  loftiest  of  which  is,  according  to 
Van  de  Velde,  nine  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy-six  feet 
in  height.  Its  lower  slopes  are  thinly  clothed  with  oak  forests. 
The  central  cone  of  gray  limestone  is  naked,  and  glittering  with 
snow  through  the  winter  months.  In  summer  the  snow  remains 
only  in  the  ravines. 

Porter  describes  Hermou  as  the  centre  and  culminating  point  of  Anti- 
Lebanon,  whence  a  number  of  ridges  radiate  like  the  ribs  of  a  half-open 
fan.  The  first  and  loftiest  of  these  ridges  is  Jebel  esh-Shurky  already 
described  ;  the  last  and  lowest,  reckoning  from  west  to  east,  runs  nearly 
east  (elsewhere  he  says  more  accurately  northeast  by  east),  skirting  the 
magnificent  plain  of  Damascus  on  its  northern  border,  and  continued  on 
ward  to  Palmyra,  These  ridges  are  of  bare  whitish  limestone,  and  present 
"a  series  of  terraces  on  plateaus  with  cliffs  from  one  hundred  to  one  thou 
sand  feet.  The  scenery  on  these  steppes  is  dreary  and  desolate.  The 
gravelly  soil,  in  many  places  strowii  with  flints,  is  as  bare  as  the  cliffs  that 
bound  them.  Yet  they  are  intersected  by  several  rich  and  beautiful  glens, 
so  deep,  however,  that  their  verdure  and  foliage  cannot  be  seen  from  a  dis 
tance. 

There  is  ground  for  thinking  that  some  one  of  tho  southern  peaks  of 
Hermon  was  the  scene  of  the  transfiguration  ;  for  it  took  place  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Cresurea  Philippi.  Stanley,  Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  391,  392; 
Porter's  Damascus,  1,  p.  306. 


280  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

• 

10.  Between  these  two  mighty  ramparts  lies  the  noble  valley 

called  by  the  modern  Arabs  el-Bukaa,  that  is,  deft,  deep  plain. 
This  was  appropriately  named  by  the  ancients  Code-Syria, 
Hollow  Syria,  or  the  Syrian  Hollow.  It  is  from  three  to  seven  miles 
wide  and  seventy  miles  long,  running  in  a  direction  from  south 
to  northeast.  Its  surface  is  said  to  be  quite  flat,  and  its  soil 
rich,  and  abundantly  watered  by  streams  from  the  mountain 
sides.  Its  watershed  is  a  few  miles  north  of  Baalbec,  with  an 
elevation  above  the  level  of  the  ocean  of  some  three  thousand 
feet.  Thence  its  waters  flow  north  into  the  Orontes,  and  south 
into  the  Litany.  A  low  spur  running  out  from  the  northern 
extremity  of  Jebel  esh-Sheikh  towards  the  southwest  passes 
obliquely  across  the  Buka'a  towards  the  southern  end  of  Leb 
anon,  thus  gradually  narrowing  the  main  valley  to  a  point ; 
while  on  the  eastern  side  of  this  spur,  as  it  diverges  from  Jebel 
esh-Sheikh  is  formed  a  higher  and  narrower  valley  known  as 
Wady  ct-Tebn,  which  enters  the  plain  of  Banias  at  the  north 
west  corner.  In  this  valley,  as  has  already  been  shown  (Chap. 
4,  No.  4),  is  the  remotest  perennial  source  of  the  Jordan  near 
Hasbeiya.  AVady  et-Teim  has  an  open  connection  at  its  north 
ern  extremity  into  the  Buka'a  by  a  low  watershed.  Robinson, 
Phys,  Geog.,  p.  348. 

The  term  Coele-Syria  was  sometimes  used  by  the  ancients  in  a  more 
extended  sense,  as  including  the  whole  valley  of  the  Jordan  as  well  as  that 
between  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon,  and  also  the  bordering  habitable 
region  on  the  east.  Thus  Joseplms  places  in  Coele-Syria  the  Ammonites 
and  Moabites  (Antiq.,  1.  11.  5),  and  Ptolemy  Damascus  and  Gerasa,  and 
even  Scythopolis  on  the  west  of  the  Jordan,  perhaps  because  this  latter 
city  was  reckoned  as  belonging  not  to  Samaria  but  to  the  Decapolis  east 
|  of  the  Jordan.  But  Strabo  (16.  2.  16)  accurately  defines  Ccele-Syria 
proper  as  lying  between  the  two  parallel  mountains  Lebanon  and  Anti- 
Lebanon.  So  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  5.  17. 

11.  The  southern  half  of  the  Buka'a  is  drained  by  the  Lita 
ny  (the  Leontes  of  the  ancients)  the  watershed  lying  a  little  north 
of  Baalbec ;  but  the  remotest  perennial  fountain  is  a  few  miles 
south  of  that  place,  below  which  it  is  fed  by  numerous  rivulets 
from  the  springs  at  the  base  of  the  two  mountains.     The  valley 


NORTHEAST  AND  NORTH.  281 

contracts  towards  the  south  in  the  manner  above  described 
(No.  10),  till  the  channel  becomes  a  deep  rocky  gorge  down 
which  the  river  rushes,  tumbling,  foaming  and  roaring  along  its 
impetuous  course.  Then  turning  westward  in  about  latitude 
thirty-three  degrees  twenty  minutes  north  it  breaks  its  way  to 
the  Mediterranean,  which  it  enters  a  few  miles  north  of  Tyre 
under  the  name  of  Nahr  el-Kasimiyeh. 

The  stupendous  chasm  of  the  Litany  has  been  the  admiration  of  all 
travellers.  The  rocks  near  Burghuz  rise  not  less  than  nine  hundred  feet 
above  the  stream,  and  the  high  perpendicular  cliffs  approach  so  near 
together  in  some  spots  that  the  branches  of  trees  from  opposite  sides  are 
said  to  meet  and  interlock.  "At  the  bottom,  like  a  silvery  ribbon,  the 
current  rushes  from  rapid  to  rapid,  foaming  among  the  rocks,  and  decked 
•with  the  gay  blossoms  of  the  oleander  along  its  margin."  At  one  spot 
there  is  a  natural  bridge  formed  by  the  falling  of  masses  of  rock  from 
above,  leaving  a  channel  for  the  stream  a  hundred  feet  below  them.  See 
farther  in  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  3,  pp.  385-387. 

At  the  great  bend  of  the  Litany,  where  it  turns  westward  towards  the 
Mediterranean,  perched  on  the  summit  of  a  naked  ridge,  which  rises  almost 
perpendicularly  from  the  right  bank  of  the  river  to  a  height  of  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  feet,  stands  the  celebrated  fortress  esh-SJiuklf  (the  Belfort 
of  the  crusaders),  overtopping  the  neighboring  hills,  and  commanding  an 
extensive  view  of  the  surrounding  country.  See  in  Porter's  Handbook, 
pp.  538,  539 ;  Robinson,  3,  pp.  49-53. 

12.  Between  the  northern  termination  of  Lebanon  and  the 
range  Jebel  en-Nusairiyeli  (the  Bargylus  of  the  ancients),  which 
may  be  regarded  as  the  continuation  of  Lebanon,  lies  a  valley 
of  some  extent,  constituting  the  natural  entrance  from  the  sea- 
coast  to  Hamath  (see  below  "No.  15),  and  which  is  justly  regard 
ed  by  Kobinson  (3,  pp.  568,  569),  Stanley  (Sinai  and  Palestine, 
p.  399),  Porter  (Syria  and  Damascus,  2,  pp.  354-359),  and  oth 
ers  as  the  Scriptural  "  entering  in  of  Hamqjli"  The  range  Jebel 
en-Nusairiyeh,  beginning  north  of  this  entrance,  extends  north 
along  the  valley  of  the  Orontes  to  the  point  where  this  river 
bends  to  the  southwest  to  enter  the  Mediterranean.  From  its 
northern  extremity  it  throws  off  a  coast-range  towards  Laodicea, 
the  highest  peak  of  which  is  the  Mount  Casius  of  the  ancients, 
having  an  elevation  of  more  than  five  thousand  feet. 


282  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  the  Orontes  there  is,  north  of  Anti- 
Lebanon,  a  wide  interruption,  constituting  the  rich  plain  of  Hums 
(Emesa),  not  less  than  thirty  miles  in  width,  and  stretching  off 
towards  the  east  in  a  boundless  tract  of  level  country,  which 
gradually  loses  itself  in  the  eastern  desert.  North  of  this  plain 
begins  an  irregular  range  of  mountains  running  parallel  to  the 
western  range  en-Nusairiyeh,  quite  to  the  bend  of  the  Oron 
tes,  the  two  enclosing  a  magnificent  valley  called  el-GJial).  Its 
width  is  given  by  Robinson  at  about  five  miles  in  the  southern 
part,  but  less  towards  the  north;  and  its  length  from  Antioch 
to  the  plain  north  of  Lebanon  at  about  eighty-five  miles. 

13.  There  is  a  singular  correspondence  between  the  course  of 
the  Leontes  already  described  and  that  of  the  Orontes  (the  mod 
ern  Naln*  el-Asy),  which  drains  the  northern  part  of  the  Buka'a 
and  its  continuation  northward  in  the  Ghfib.     Like  the  Leontes, 
as  it  approaches  the  end  of  its  course  it  suddenly  turns  west 
ward  and  then  southwestward,  and  passing  through  a  narrow 
gorge  below  Antioch,  "roars  over  a  succession  of  rapids  and 
shallows,  which  render  it  unnavigable  even  for  steam-vessels" 
(Robinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  p.  353),  till  it  reaches  the  plain  towards 
the  sea. 

14.  North  of  the  Orontes  the  single  range  of  Amanus  con 
stitutes  a  true  continuation  of  Lebanon  and  Bargylus.     East  of 
it  is  a  hilly  elevated  tract  extending  quite  to  the  Euphrates. 

The  plain  along  the  shore  between  Amanus  and  the  sea  is  quite  narrow, 
and  here  is  a  celebrated  pass  called  the  Gates  of  Syria-Cilicia.  It  was  in 
the  narrow  plain  of  Issus,  at  the  head  of  the  gulf  of  Issus,  that  Alexander 
the  Great  gained  his  celebrated  victory  over  Darius,  B.  c.  333. 

15.  Looking  now  at  the  great  Syrian  valley  from  the  south 
ern  extremity  of  Lebanon  to  Antioch  as  a  whole,  we  notice  the 
places  of  chief  interest  along  its  course. 

Belli- Rehob  overlooked  a  valley  near  to  Laish  (Judg.  18  : 28,  29),  and 
was  apparently  the  capital  of  a  Syrian  territory  (2  Sam.  10  :  G).  Robinson 
(Bib.  Res.,  3,  pp.  371,  372)  and  Porter  (Handbook,  p.  421)  suggest  that  the 
site  of  this  place  is  to  be  found  in  the  ruins  of  a  strong  fortress  at  Huiwt, 


NORTHEAST  AND  NORTH.  283 

on  the  western  border  of  the  plain  of  Huleh.  The  same  authors  would 
identify  Abel  (2  Sam.  20  : 14,  15,  18),  called  also  Abel-beth-Mtaclmh  (1  Kings 
15  :  20  ;  2  Kings  15  :  29)  and  Abel-maim  (2  Chrou.  16  :  4),  with  the  modern 
Abil,'&  little  northeast  of  Hunln.  The  name  Abel-beth-maachali,  that  is 
Abel  of  Beth-maachah,  would  designate  it  as  a  town  of  the  region  of  Betli- 
maochak,  or  Syria  of  Maacliali  (1  Chron.  19  :6),  which  Porter  supposes  to 
have  extended  on  the  northern  border  of  Palestine  from  the  fountains  of 
the  Jordan  northeast  to  the  plain  of  Damascus.  See  in  Alexander's  Kitto, 
art.,  Maachah.  The  above-named  authors  would  further  identify  the  site 
of  the  scriptural  Ijon  (1  Kings  15  :  20  ;  2  Chron.  16  : 4)  with  Tell  Dibbln, 
on  the  margin  of  a  romantic  little  plain  called  Jferj  Ayun,  Avhich  lies  be 
tween  Wady  et-Teim  and  the  fortress  esh-Shukif.  Robinson  is  inclined 
to  identify  "  Baal-gad  in  the  valley  of  Lebanon  under  Mount  Hermou" 
(Josh.  11 : 17  ;  12  : 7)  with  Banias.  Bib.  Res.,  3,  pp.  409,  410. 

Passing  up  Wady  et-Teim,  we  come,  at  the  distance  of  six  hours  from 
Banias,  to  the  modern  town  of  H&sbeiya,  situated  on  both  sides  of  a  deep 
glen  which  falls  down  from  a  side-ridge  of  Hernion  westward  into  Wady 
et-Teim,  well  known  as  a  Protestant  missionary  station,  and  as  the  scene 
of  a  terrible  massacre  in  1860,  when  about  one  thousand  unarmed  victims 
were  murdered  in  cold  blood.  The  population  of  the  place  before  this 
massacre  was  estimated  at  five  thousand,  four  thousand  of  whom  were 
Christians.  Proceeding  still  farther  up  the  wady,  and  .turning  eastward, 
we  come  to  the  smaller  village  of  Rdslieiya,  lying  high  up  on  a  ridge  of 
Herman. 

The  most  remarkable  ruins  in  the  valley  of  Coele-Syria  are  those  of 
Baalbec,  in  about  latitude  thirty-four  degrees  north,  a  few  miles  south  of 
the  water-shed  which  separates  the  head-streams  of  the  Leontes  and  the 
Orontes*  Here  are  the  magnificent  remains  of  two  temples,  one  of  them 
of  colossal  proportions.  The  diameter  of  its  columns  is  at  base  seven  feet 
six  inches  ;  their  height,  including  base  and  capital,  seventy-five  feet,  with  an 
entablature  above  of  fourteen  feet.  Of  the  stones  in  the  western  wall,  one  is 
sixty-four  feet  long,  another  sixty- three  feet  eight  inches,  and  a  third  sixty- 
three  feet.  These  stupendous  ruins  have  been  described  at  length  by 
various  travellers.  For  a  concise  account  of  them  the  reader  may  consult 
Porter's  Handbook,  pp.  526-534 ;  Robinson,  3,  pp.  506-518.  The  histor 
ical  notices  appended  by  Robinson  (pp.  518-527)  are  particularly  valuable. 
The  Greek  name  of  Baalbec  is  Heliopolis,  that  is,  city  of  the  sun;  and  it 
implies  that  the  place,  like  its  namesake  in  Egypt,  was  consecrated  to  the 
sun  as  its  chief  divinity. 

Relics  of  many  other  heathen  temples  are  found  in  this  valley ;  as  at 
Mejdel  and  Zekweh  a  little  south  of  the  fountains  of  Anjar,  at  Deir  el- 


284  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Glmzal,  north  of  An  jar,  etc.  Robinson  suggests  (3,  p.  .519)  that  the  prophet 
Amos  alludes  to  this  valley  with  its  heathen  temples  under  the  name  of  the 
valley  of  Avert  (English  version,  plain  of  Averi),  that  is,  valley  of  vanity. 
Compare  Amos  5:5:  "  Beth-el"  (that  is,  the  house  of  God]  " shall  become 
vanity"  (Heb.  Aven}. 

Passing  on  north  beyond  Baalbec,  we  begin  to  descend  along  the  course 
of  the  Orontes.  At  about  latitude  thirty-four  degrees  thirty-one  minutes 
north  we  come  to  Ribleh,  the  Riblah  of  the  Old  Testament,  lying  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  river.  At  present  it  is  a  poor  mud  village  of  some  forty 
or  fifty  houses.  The  biblical  student  must  regard  this  place  with  sad  inter 
est  ;  for  here  Pharaoh-necho  put  Jehoahaz  in  bands,  "that  he  might  not 
reign  in  Jerusalem"  (2  Kings  23  :33),  and  here  afterwards  Nebuchadnez • 
zar  gave  judgment  upon  Zedekiah,  slew  his  sons  before  his  eyes,  put  out 
his  eyes,  bound  him  with  fetters  of  brass,  and  carried  him  to  Babylon 
(2  Kings  25  :  6,  7). 

Passing  on  northward  across  the  great  and  fertile  plain  at  the  north  of 
Anti-Lebanon  (No.  12  above),  we  come  to  Hums  (the  ancient  Emesa],  lying 
in  the  centre  of  the  plain.  It  is  a  clean  and  compact  town  of  about  twenty 
thousand  inhabitants.  The  houses  are  built  of  basalt-stone,  and  most  of 
the  streets  are  paved  with  the  same  materials.  The  Orontes  flows  past  the 
city  at  the  distance  of  about  a  mile  to  the  west.  No  notice  of  it  occurs  in 
the  Bible. 

Proceeding  still  down  the  valley  of  the  Orontes,  after  a  ride  of  between 
seven  and  eight  hours  we  reach  Hamah,  the  Hamatli  of  Scripture,  and  the 
Epipliania  of  the  Greeks.  It  is  built  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and  con 
tains  about  thirty  thousand  inhabitants.  Four  bridges  span  the  stream, 
and  a  number  of  huge  wheels  turned  by  the  current — one  of  them  seventy 
feet  in  diameter — raise  the  water  into  aqueducts,  whence  it  is  distributed 
through  the  city.  "  They  have,"  says  Porter  (Handbook,  p.  588),  "  an  odd 
look  and  an  odder  sound,  turning  lazily,  emptying  their  shallow  buckets, 
and  groaning  all  the  while  as  if  in  agony."  Hamath  and  "the  entering  in 
of  Hamath  "  were  the  tvell-known  northern  limits  assigned  to  the  Israelitish 
territory  (Numb.  34:8;  Josh.  13:5;  Judg.  3:3),  although  the  actual 
northern  boundary  fell  far  short  of  them  (Chap.  1,  Nos.  3-5). 

Aniiocli,  once  a  renowned  and  wealthy  city,  holding  the  third  place  in 
the  Roman  empire,  lies  in  the  plain  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Orontes,  after 
it  has  made  its  great  bend  to  the  southwest.  It  has  now  dwindled  down 
to  an  Arab  town  of  some  six  thousand  inhabitants.  We  learn  from  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  that  Antioch  was  the  centre  of  Gentile  Christianity. 
For  this  it  was  admirably  adapted  by  its  situation,  having  ready  access 
down  the  narrow  valley  of  the  Orontes  to  the  Mediterranean,  up  the  valley 


NORTHEAST  AND  NORTH. 

of  the- same  river  to  Southern  Syria  and  Palestine,  across  the  plain  east 
ward  to  the  Euphrates,  and  through  the  passes  of  the  Amanus  to  Asia^ 
Minor.  At  Antioch  the  disciples  were  first  called  Christians  (Acts  11 :  26); 
to  this  place  Barnabas  brougnt^Saul  (Acts  11  :  25,  26)  and  thence  the  great 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles  departed  on  each  of  his  missionary  tours  (Acts  13  : 1, 
2  ;  15  :  35,  36  ;  18  :  22,  23).  Next  to  Jerusalem,  therefore,  Antioch  was  the 
most  important  centre  of  primitive  Christianity.  "  The  name  CHRISTIAN, 
invented  here  eighteen  centuries  ago,  is  still  borne  by  a  few  hundreds  of  its 
people,  though  the  spirit  of  apostolical  Christianity  has  long  since  deserted 
it.  Nothing  in  fact  seems  to  remain  of  the  Antioch  of  olden  times  but 
that  wanton  licentiousness  for  which  it  was  celebrated  ;  and  the  name,  in 
its  Arabic  form,  Antakieh. "  Porter,  Handbook,  pp.  568,  569. 

Sdeucia,  the  port  from  which  Paul  and  Barnabas  sailed  on  the  apostle's 
first  tour  (Acts  13  : 4),  stood  on  the  seacoast  about  one  hour  north  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Orontes.  Its  ruins  cover  an  area  about  four  miles  in  circuit, 
the  path  to  them  winding  through  shrubberies  of  myrtle  and  oleander. 
See  in  Porter's  Handbook,  pp.  565,  566. 

16.  Passing  to  the  eastern  side  of  Anti-Lebanon,  we  have  at 
its  base  the  celebrated  pla i n  and  city  of  Damascus.  We  have 
already  seen  (No.  9  above)  how  from  Hermon  as  a  central  point 
a  number  of  ridges  radiate  like  the  ribs  of  a  half-open  fan. 
The  last  and  lowest  of  these,  reckoning  around  from  west  to 
east,  is  of  chalky  limestone,  almost  pure  white,  and  entirely 
naked.  It  runs  in  the  direction  of  east-northeast  onward  to 
Palmyra,  forming  the  northwestern  boundary  of  the  plain  of 
Damascus,  above  which  it  rises  some  seven  hundred  feet.  On 
the  south  side  of  the  plain  are  two  low  ridges  of  hills  between 
which  flows  the  Aicaj,  supposed  to  be  the  Pharpar  of  Scripture. 
"  Far  away  to  the  east  may  be  seen  a  little  group  of  conical 
hills,  called  the  Tellul.  If  a  line  be  drawn  through  these  north 
and  south,  till  it  meets  the  other  sides,  forming  with  them  a 
triangle,  the  plain  ofDamascus  will  be  circumscribed.  That  por 
tion  of  it,  however,  which  alone  is  inhabited  and  in  part  culti 
vated,  is  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  three  lakes  into  which  the 
rivers  of  Damascus  empty  themselves.  In  form  it  is  a  rectan 
gular  triangle,  its  base  on  the  south  side  being  about  twenty- 
eight  miles  long ;  its  perpendicular  on  the  east  seventeen ;  and 
its  hypothenuse,  along  the  foot  of  Anti-Lebanon,  thirty-three. 


286  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

Its  area  is  thus  about  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  square  geo 
graphical  miles."    Porter,  Five  Years  in  Damascus,  1,  pp.  26,  27. 

17.  The  fertility  of  this  magnificent  plain,  depends  wholly 
upon  the  two  rivers  which  come  down  from  the  eastern  slope  of 
Anti-Lebanon.  The  largest  and  most  northerly  of  these  is  the 
Bamda,  the  Chrysorrlwas  of  the  ancients.  It  rises  high  up  on 
the  mountain  where  its  two  ridges,  Jebel  esh-Sheikh  and  Jebel 
esh-Shurky  meet  (No.  9  above),  rushes  down  its  side  in  a  south 
easterly  course,  and,  after  breaking  by  a  wild  ravine  through  the 
lowest  ridge  described  above,  enters  the  plain  and  flows  due 
east  across  it  at  the  distance  of  eight  miles  from  its  southern 
boundary.  The  city  lies  on  its  southern  bank,  and  its  waters 
are  distributed  by  numerous  canals  through  it  and  the  plain 
lying  around  it.  "Without  the  Barada,"  says  Porter  (Five 
Years  in  Damascus,  1,  p.  27),  "  the  city  could  not  exist,  and  the 
plain  would  be  a  parched  desert,  but  now  aqueducts  intersect 
every  quarter,  and  fountains  sparkle  in  almost  every  dwelling, 
while  innumerable  canals  extend  their  ramifications  over  the  vast 
plain,  clothing  it  with  verdure  and  beauty."  What  remains  of 
the  waters  of  the  Barada  passes  on  and  is  lost  in  the  middle  and 
northernmost  of  the  three  lakes  east  of  Damascus, 

The  second  and  most  southerly  stream  is  the  Awaj.  It  is 
formed  by  the  junction  of  several  small  streams  that  rise  in  the 
ravines  of  Jebel  esh-Sheikh,  and  flowing  eastward  in  a  serpen 
tine  course  it  winds  through  a  deep  glen  filled  with  thickets  of 
poplars  and  willows,  and  bordered  by  green  meadows  and  corn 
fields.  The  stream  is  deep  and  rapid,  and  about  one-third  the 
size  of  the  Barada.  It  contributes  by  the  canals  taken  from  it 
to  the  irrigation  of  the  region,  and  what  remains  of  it  finds  its 
way  to  the  southern  lake  east  of  the  city.  Porter's  Handbook, 
,p.  505.  It  is  said  that  in  dry  seasons  its  waters  do  not  reach 
the  lake. 

There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  these  two  streams  are  the  Aba- 
na  and  Pharpar  of  Scripture  (2  Kings  5:12);  for  they  are,  as  Robinson 
remarks  (Bib.  Res.,  3,  p.  447),  the  only  independent  streams  of  any  size 
within  the  territory  of  Damascus.  The  Abana  (or,  as  the  Hebrew  text 
reads  the  Amana)  as  being  "  the  largest  and  most  important  stream  would 


NORTHEAST  AND  NORTH.  287 

naturally  be  named  first  (Robinson,  ubi  supra),  and  would  thus  answer  to 
the  modern  Barada,  the  Pharpar  being  the  Awoj.  This  latter  stream 
flows,  it  is  true,  some  seven  miles  south  of  the  city ;  but  it  contributes  its 
share  to  the  irrigation  of  the  plain,  and  may  well  be  called  a  river  of  Da 
mascus.  Naamau's  scornful  comparison:  "Are  not  Abana  and. Pharpar, 
rivers  of  Damascus,  better  than  all  the  waters  of  Israel  ?"  was  perhaps 
simply  an  expression  of  national  pride.  Yet,  looking  at  these  rivers,  as 
he  did,  only  on  the  human  side,  he  might  well  prefer  them  to  the  Jordan; 
for  they  cover  a  vast  plain  with  verdure  and  f ruitf  ulness,  while  the  Jordan 
pursues  its  solitary  course  down  a  desert  valley  only  to  lose  itself  in  the 
Dead  sea,  the  image  of  desolation  and  death. 

18.  As  one  approaches  Damascus  from  tlie  west,  the  road 
winds  through  the  denies  of  Anti-Lebanon,  and  then  passes  over 
a  series  of  broad  ten-aces  supported  by  long  continuous  walls  of 
whitish  limestone,  bare,  barren,  and  stony,  presenting  a  scene 
of  frightful  desolation.  On  passing  the  crest  of  the  last  ridge, 
the  whole  plain  and  city  of  Damascus  burst  at  once  on  the 
traveller's  view  presenting  a  scene  of  surpassing  beauty  and 
grandeur,  the  impression  of  which  is  deepened  by  contrast  with 
the  desolation  left  behind.  On  the  south  bank  of  the  Barada, 
about  two  miles  distant  and  five  hundred  feet  below,  appears 
the  city  in  the  bosom  of  a  luxuriant  plain  filled  with  immense 
groves  of  every  species  of  fruit-trees.  "  The  glory  of  Damascus 
are  its  gardens  and  forests  of  fruit-trees,  which  surround  the 
city  for  miles,  and  almost  hide  it  from  view.  Vegetables  of  all 
kinds  are  abundant  and  cheap.  The  profusion  of  water  is  favor 
able  to  their  cultivation ;  and  also  especially  to  the  growth  of 
fruit-trees.  Almost  every  species  of  fruit  is  produced  around 
Damascus,  either  in  the  plain  or  in  the  valley  of  the  Barada. 
Besides  the  olive,  we  either  saw  or  heard  expressly  named  the 
f  oh1  owing,  viz.,  oranges,  lemons,  citrons  (in  the  courts  of  the 
houses),  apples,  pears,  quinces,  peaches,  apricots,  almonds, 
plums,  prunes,  grapes,  figs,  pomegranates,  mulberries,  walnuts, 
hazel-nuts,  pistachios,  etc."  Robinson,  Bib.  Kes.,  3,  p.  45'2. 
The  same  author  describes  at  length  the  arrangements  for  the 
artificial  irrigation  of  the  plain. 

"  The  buildings  of  Damascus  are  almost  all  of  snowy  white- 


288  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

ness,  and  this  contrasts  well  with  the  surrounding  foliage.  The 
gardens  and  orchards,  which  have  been  so  long  and  so  justly 
celebrated,  encompass  the  city,  and  extend  on  both  sides  of  the 
Barada  some  miles  eastward.  They  cover  an  area  of  at  least 
twenty-five  miles  in  circuit,  and  make  the  environs  an  earthly 
paradise."  "  But  the  moment  the  traveller  leaves  the  environs 
and  enters  the  gate  of  Damascus  the  illusion  is  gone."  To  an 
American  or  European  "  this  city  must  appear  filthy,  irregular, 
and  even  half  ruinous.  The  streets  are  narrow  and  tortuous; 
the  houses  on  each  side  like  piles  of  mud,  stone,  and  timber, 
heaped  together  ii'ithout  order''  The  bazars  are  among  the  curi 
osities  of  Damascus.  They  are  thronged  with  a  medley  of  per 
sons  representing  every  eastern  nation,  in  every  variety  of  cos 
tume,  "  talking,  bargaining,  disputing,  and  sometimes  swearing 
at  the  top  of  their  lungs."  Porter's  Five  Years  in  Damascus,  1, 
p.  28,  seq. ;  Robinson's  Bib.  Res.,  3,  p.  453,  seq.  To  the  pages 
of  these  writers,  and  of  other  travellers  who  have  visited  this 
ancient  city,  the  reader  must  be  referred  for  a  more  detailed 
account  of  this  city. 

The  present  population  is  estimated  as  high  as  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  souls.  By  far  the  largest  part  of  the  inhab 
itants  are  of  the  Mohammedan  faith.  Damascus  is,  indeed,  one 
of  the  great  centres  of  Mohammedan  bigotry,  as  was  painfully 
manifested  by  the  bloody  massacre  of  July,  1860,  when  between 
two  and  three  thousand  of  the  resident  Christians  perished. 
See  in  Porter's  Giant  Cities  of  Bashan,  Appendix. 

19.  The  plain  of  Damascus  slopes  gently  towards  the  east- 
southeast  for  about  twenty  miles.  Here  in  its  deepest  depression 
is  a  broad  basin  containing  the  three  lakes  which  receive  what 
remains  of  the  waters  of  the  Barada  and  Awaj.  They  lie,  with 
relation  to  each  other,  in  the  direction  of  north-northeast  and 
south-southwest.  The  northernmost,  which  is  also  the  most 
easterly  and  is  called  East  lake,  is  estimated  by  Porter  to  be 
eight  and  a  half  miles  long,  with  an  extreme  breadth  of  four 
miles;  the  middle  lake,  six  and  a  half  miles  long,  with  a  breadth  of 
five  and  a  half  miles ;  the  southern  lake,  upwards  of  five  miles  long, 


NORTHEAST    AND    NORTH.  289 

by  about  four  and  a  half  in  breadth.  They  are  all  of  a  marshy 
character,  their  surface  being  covered  partly  by  tracts  of  clear 
water,  and  partly  by  thickets  of  tall  reeds  twenty  feet  in  height, 
which  make  it  difficult  to  determine  their  outlines  with  precis 
ion.  In  dry  seasons  the  water  of  the  southern  lake  entirely 
fails.  The  marshes  of  these  lakes  are  the  favorite  haunts  of 
wild  swine  and  water-fowl.  "  The  numbers  of  wild  fowl,"  says 
Porter,  "  were  beyond  conception.  They  rose  up  in  clouds  be 
fore  me  as  I  advanced,  and  sweeping  round  for  a  few  minutes, 
settled  down  again  at  a  little  distance.  Geese,  ducks,  storks, 
herons,  and  water-fowl  of  endless  variety,  appeared  on  every 
side."  See  a  fuh1  description  of  these  lakes  in  his  Five  Years  in 
Damascus,  vol.  1,  chap.  9. 

20.  Of  all  existing  cities  Damascus  is  first  mentioned  in 
Scripture.  It  is  named  in  Abraham's  day  (Gen.  14 : 15 ;  15 :  2), 
and  seems  to  have  reached  the  zenith  of  its  power  as  an  inde 
pendent  state  in  the  time  of  the  Israelitish  kings.  At  a  later 
period  it  fell,  like  all  the  surrounding  kingdoms,  under  the  power 
of  the  Assyrians;  and,  subsequently,  of  the  Babylonian,  Per 
sian,  Grecian,  and  Roman  empires.  In  A.  D.  635  Damascus 
came  into  the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans,  in  whose  power, 
though  with  many  changes  of  masters,  it  has  remained  to  the 
present  day. 

The  Syrians  of  Damascus  are  named  among  those  who  made  war  upon 
David  and  were  defeated  by  him  with  great  slaughter  (2  Sam.  8:5,  6 ; 
1  Chron.  18  : 5,  6) ;  and  they  subsequently  appear,  now  in  league  with 
Judah  against  Israel  (1  Kings  15:  18-20;  2  Chron.  16  :2-4),  now  at  war 
with  Israel  alone  (1  Kings,  chap.  20  ;  2  Kings,  chaps.  6  and  7  ;  10  :  32,  33; 
13  : 24,  25;  1-4:27,  28),  now  withstanding  the  combined  armies  of  Judah 
and  Israel  (1  Kings,  chap.  22  ;  2  Kings  8  :28,  29);  and  finally  in  league 
with  Israel  against  Judah  (2  Kings  15  :  37 ;  16  : 5,  6  ;  Isa.  7  : 1-9).  It  was 
upon  the  occasion  of  this  last  alliance  that  Ahaz  called  to  his  aid  the  Assy 
rian  monarch  (2  Kings,  16 : 7-9  ;  2  Chron.  28  : 16-21),  a  fatal  step  which 
involved  him  and  his  successors  in  calamity,  as  foretold  by  the  prophet 
Isaiah  (chap.  8  : 7,  8);  for  "  Tiglath-pilueser  king  of  Assyria  came  unto  him 
and  distressed  him,  but  strengthened  him  not."  The  Assyrians  became 
more  formidable  oppressors  of  Judah  than  the  Syrians  against  whom  their 
help  was  invoked. 

Sac.  Oeog.  13 


290  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

In  New  Testament  times  Damascus  became  celebrated  as  the  scene  of 
the  apostle  Paul's  conversion  and  baptism.  It  was  as  "he  came  near  Da 
mascus"  that  the  Saviour  appeared  to  him  in  glory ;  into  that  city  he  was 
led  by  the  hand,  there  he  was  baptized,  there  he  began  his  work  as  an 
apostle  of  Christ ;  and  from  its  walls  he  was  let  down  in  a  basket.  Acts, 
chap.  9.  A  street  still  runs  in  a  straight  direction  through  the  city  from 
west  to  east,  and  concerning  its  identity  with  "the  street  which  is  called 
Straight,"  there  cannot  be  a  reasonable  doubt. 

21.  "We  learn  from  Ezekiel  (chap.  27:18)  that  Damascus 
traded  with  Tyre  "in  the  wine  of  Helbon  and  white  wool."     It 
has  been  customary  to  identify  Helbon  with  Haleb,  that  is,  Aleppo, 
in  the  northeastern  part  of  Syria.     But,  as  Robinson  remarks, 
(Bib.  Res.,  3,  p.  472),  "Aleppo  produces  no  wine  of  any  reputa 
tion,  nor  is  Damascus  the  natural  channel  of  commerce  between 
Aleppo  and  Tyre."     There  is  a  Helbon  near  Damascus,  de 
scribed  at  some  length  by  Porter  (Five  Years  in  Damascus,  1, 
pp.  323-336),  which  fulfils  the  conditions  of  the  scriptural  Hel 
bon.     It  lies  011  the  eastern  slope  of  Anti-Lebanon  about  ten 
miles  north  of  Damascus,  in  a  deep  and  wild  glen,  the  sides  of 
which  are  covered  with  vineyards ;  and  the  vintners  of  Damas 
cus  regard  the  grapes  of  Helbon  as  the  best  in  this  part  of 
Syria.    We  may  reasonably  regard  this,  and  not  Aleppo,  as  the 
Helbon  of  Ezekiel. 

22.  Among  the  different  divisions  of  Aram  mentioned  in  the 
Old  Testament  is  one  called  Aram-Zobali  (Psa.  60,  title),  but 
elsewhere  simply  Zolmli.     It  was  on  the  way  to  the  Euphrates 
(2  Sam.  8:3;    1  Chron.  18  : 3)  ;    in  the  vicinity  of  Damascus 
(1  Kings  11 :  23,  24;  2  Sam.  8  :  5  ;  1  Chron.  18 : 5) ;  and  near  to 
Hamath  (2  Sam.  8  : 10 ;  1  Chron.  18  : 10).     It  must,  then,  have 
been  north  of  Damascus  and  east  of  Hamath,  extending  from 
the  latter  place  northeast  and  east  towards,  if  not  quite  to,  the 
Euphrates.     "  It  would  thus  have  included  the  eastern  flank  of 
the  mountain-chain  which  shuts  in  Coele-Syria  on  that  side,  the 
high  land  about  Aleppo,  and  the  more  northern  portion  of  the 
Syrian  desert."     Rawlinson,  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary. 

23.  Abilene  (Luke  3 : 1)  was  a  district  so  called  from  Abila 
(the  Abila  of  Lysanias)  eighteen  Roman  miles  northwest  of 


NORTHEAST  AND  NOKTH.  291 

Damascus  towards  Baalbec,  where  the  river  Barada  issues  from 
a  wild  chasm.  The  district  lay  accordingly  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  Anti-Lebanon,  extending  apparently  as  far  south  as  Itunea. 
See  farther  in  Robinson's  Greek  Lexicon. 

24.  The  sacred  record  informs  us  (1  Kings  9 : 18 ;  2  Chron. 
8  : 4)  that  among  other  cities  built  by  Solomon  was  "  Tadmor  in 
the  wilderness."  This  is  the  place  known  to  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  as  Palmyra,  both  names  signifying  city  of  palms.  Its 
magnificent  ruins  are  in  the  Syrian  desert  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  northeast  of  Damascus,  in  a  fruitful  and  well 
watered  oasis.  Its  situation  about  midway  between  the  Euphra 
tes  and  the  Orontes  gave  it  great  importance  as  a  commercial 
depot  and  resting-place  for  the  carrying  trade  between  the  coast 
and  the  interior  of  Asia. 

The  ruins  of  Palmyra  produce  a  very  striking  effect  when  seen  at  a  dis 
tance  across  the  sandy  plain.  Thousands  of  Corinthian  columns  of  white 
marble,  some  erect  and  others  fallen,  cover  an  extent  of  about  a  mile  and 
a  half,  and  present  the  appearance  of  a  forest.  "It  is,"  says  Porter  (Hand 
book,  p.  512),  "a  strange  scene.  Syria  has  nothing  to  compare  with  it. 
Ruins  so  extensive,  so  desolate,  so  bare,  exist  nowhere  else.  Long  lines  of 
columns,  irregular  clumps,  and  single  pillars,  rising  up  out  of  huge  piles 
of  white  stones  ;  fragments  of  gateways,  and  arches,  and  walls,  and  porti 
cos  ;  aud  the  vast  pile  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  away  beyond  them  all." 
No  traces  of  the  city  built  by  Solomon  can  be  detected ;  for  the  splendid 
ruins  that  now  strew  the  plain,  bear  the  impress  of  the  later  Roman  age. 
For  a  detailed  account  of  these  ruins,  with  an  accompanying  plan  and 
historical  sketch,  see  Porter's  Five  Years  in  Damascus,  1,  pp.  149-248. 

III.     PHCENICIA. 

25.  The  boundaries  of  Phoenicia  east  and  west  are  definitely 
fixed  by  nature.  It  is  a  narrow  strip  of  territory  lying  between 
the  western  base  of  Lebanon  and  the  Mediterranean.  It  is 
necessary  to  distinguish  between  Phoenicia  Proper  and  Phoe 
nicia  in  the  wider  sense  of  the  term.  Phoenicia  Proper  was,  ac 
cording  to  Kobinson  (Bib.  Kes.,  2,  p.  473),  a  narrow  undulating 
plain  extending  from  Eas  el-Abyad,  the  most  northern  point  of 
Palestine  three  hours  south  of  Tyre,  to  the  Nahr  el-Auwaly,  the 
Bostrenus  of  the  ancients,  an  hour  north  of  Sidon.  The  plain 


292  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

thus  defined  is  about  twenty-eight  miles  in  length,  with  an  aver 
age  breadth  of  about  a  mile ;  except  that  near  Sidon  the  breadtli 
is  two  miles,  and  about  Tyre  the  mountains  retire  to  the  dis 
tance  of  five  miles. 

26.  Writers  of  the  Eoman  age  use  the  term  Phoenicia  in  a 
wider  sense.     They  place  its  northern  limit  at  or  near  the  river 
Eleutherus  about  latitude  thirty-four  degrees  forty-one  minutes 
north ;  and  extend  its  southern  limit  so  as  to  include  the  town 
of  Dor  south  of  Carmel,  and  Strabo  even  the  whole  coast  to 
Pelusium  in  Egypt.     The  whole  of  Phoenicia  Proper   is  well 
watered  and  has  a  fertile,  though  poorly  cultivated  soil.     The 
region  north  of  the  Bostrenus  is  said  to  be  bleak  and  barren. 

27.  From  the  necessity  of  their  position  the  Phoenicians 
were  a  commercial  rather  than  an  agricultural  people.     On  the 
one  hand  the  narrow  strip  of  arable  land  between  Lebanon  and 
the  sea  was  utterly  insufficient  to  furnish  grain  for  the  teeming 
myriads  of  their  population,  so  that  they  were  dependent  on 
Palestine  for  this  indispensable  article.     Ezek.  27  : 17.     On  the 
other,  the  Mediterranean  opened  to  them  a  boundless  field  of 
commerce  along  the  coasts  of  Western  Asia,  of  Europe,  of  North 
Africa,  and  through  the  straits  of  Gibraltar  of  Western  Africa 
also.     In  Solomon's  day  Tyrian  sailors  went  in  company  with 
his  servants  in  the  fleet  which  he  built  at  Eloth  on  the  Red  sea 
(1  Kings  9 : 26-28),  and  thus  the  riches  of  Arabia,  India,  and 
Eastern  Africa  were  opened  to  them.     Whether  the  Phoenicians 
had  made  use  of  this  or  any  other  part  of  the  Red  sea  at  an 
earlier  date  we  have  no  means  of  knowing.     The  Phoenicians 
became  thus  the  navigators  and  merchants,  and  Tyre  the  empo 
rium  of  commerce,  for  all  the  neighboring  countries.     Caravans 
came  from  all  quarters  bringing  the  products  of  the  different 
regions,  and  receiving  in  exchange  the  wares  that  Tyre  had 
gathered  from  many  distant  lands. 

According  to  Herodotus  (4.  42)  it  was  Phoenician  sailors  in  a  fleet  fitted 
out  by  the  Egyptian  king  Necos,  who  first  circumnavigated  Africa.  Ne- 
cos,  he  tells  us,  sent  Phoenician  sailors  with  vessels,  commanding  them  to 
sail  down  behind  Libya,  to  enter  the  northern  sea  by  the  pillars  of  Hercu- 


NORTHEAST  AND  NOETH.  293 

les,  i.  e.,  the  Mediterranean  by  the  straits  of  Gibraltar),  and  so  reach  Egypt. 
This  he  informs  ns  they  accomplished  in  the  space  of  three  years,  bringing 
back  the  report,  which  Herodotus  thinks  incredible,  that  they  had  the  sun  to 
their  right;  that  is,  on  their  north  side.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  any 
good  reason  for  discrediting  this  account,  as  is  done  by  some,  who  assume 
that  the  report  of  the  Phoenician  sailors  respecting  the  sun's  position  as 
they  went  around  Africa  was  a  matter  of  shrewd  inference,  not  of  expe 
rience.  We  are,  perhaps,  too  ready  to  limit  the  power  of  the  ancients  in 
this,  as  in  several  other  respects. 

28.  In  the  arts  and  sciences  the  Phoenicians  manifestly  ex 
celled  the  Hebrews.  In  all  that  pertained  to  the  building  and 
navigation  of  vessels  this  will  be  at  once  conceded.  Their  supe 
rior  skill  in  hewing  timber  and  in  working  in  brass  was  acknowl 
edged  by  Solomon;  for  he  had  Tyrian  workmen  in  both  these 
departments.  1  Kings  5:6;  7  : 13, 14.  Tyrian  purple  was  cel 
ebrated  throughout  the  ancient  world ;  and  it  was  the  testimony 
of  the  Greeks  themselves  that  they  received  the  sixteen  letters 
of  their  original  alphabet  from  the  Phoenicians  through  Cadmus. 
The  Phoenicians,  says  Herodotus. (5.  58),  introduced  into  Greece, 
upon  their  arrival,  a  great  variety  of  arts,  and  among  the  rest, 
that  of  writing.  It  does  not  follow  from  this  that  the  Phoeni 
cians  themselves  invented  letters.  They  may  have  received 
them  from  Assyria.  But  a  comparison  of  the  ancient  Greek 
and  Phoenician  alphabets  shows  at  once  their  common  origin, 
and  makes  the  report  of  Herodotus  altogether  credible.  A  like 
comparison  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  alphabet  as  exhibited  on 
coins  with  the  alphabet  of  the  Phoenicians  reveals  also  the  sub 
stantial  identity  of  the  two.  At  this  we  need  not  be  surprised, 
when  we  consider  that  the  Phoenician  and  Hebrew  are  so  closely 
related  to  each  that  they  may  be  properly  considered  as  only 
two  dialects  of  the  same  common  tongue. 

The  substantial  identity  of  the  Hebrew  and  Phoenician  is  shown  by  the 
testimony  of  ancient  scholars,  as  Jerome  and  Augustine  ;  by  the  relics  of 
Phoenician  literature  that  have  come  down  to  us — a  passage  of  Carthaginian, 
for  example,  preserved  to  us  in  one  of  the  comedies  of  Plautus ;  by  the 
fact  that  Phoenician  and  Carthaginian  proper  names  may  be  explained 
from  the  Hebrew ;  and,  lastly,  by  the  Phoenician  inscriptions  which  can 
be  explain ed  from  the  Hebrew. 


294  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

29.  In  David's  and  Solomon's  time  the  most  friendly  rela 
tions  existed  between  the  Phoenicians  and  the  Hebrew  people. 
Hirani  king  of  Tyre  was  ever  a  lover  of  David  (2  Sam.  5:11; 
1  Kings  5:1),  and  we  have  seen  the  friendly  alliance  between 
him  and  Solomon.     After  the  division  of  the  kingdom  the  Tyri- 
ans  appear  in  an  unfriendly  character.     Their  merchants  are 
accused  of  selling  the  children  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  to  the 
Grecians,  and  delivering  them  up  as  captives  to  the  Edomites. 
Joel  3  :  4-6 ;   Amos  1 : 9.     Ezekiel  names   (chap.  27 : 13)  among 
the  articles  of  traffic  between  Tyre  and  Javan,  Tubal,  and  Me- 
shech,  "  the  persons  of  men ;"  and  doubtless  the  Tyrian  mer 
chants  were  willing  to  enrich  themselves  by  the  trade  in  slaves 
as  they  had  opportunity. 

30.  We  add  a  brief  notice  of  the  Phoenician  cities. 

The  site  of  Tyre,  the  renowned  emporium  of  Phoenicia,  was  originally 
a  rocky  island  between  six  and  seven  miles  north  of  Ras  el-Abyad,  lying 
parallel  to  the  shore,  and  distant  from  it  about  half  a  mile,  with  a  length  of 
less  than  one  mile  and  a. breadth  of  half  a  mile.  But  in  the  famous  siege 
of  Alexander  the  Great,  he  carried  wit  a  causeway  from  the  main  land  to 
the  island,  thus  converting  it  into  a  peninsula.  On  the  north  side  of  this 
causeway,  and  protected  by  the  northern  end  of  the  island,  was  formed 
after  Alexander's  day  the  harbor  of  Tyre,  enclosed  by  a  wall  running  from 
the  north  end  of  the  island  in  a  curve  towards  the  main  land.  But  the 
sands  of  ages  drifting  into  it  have  filled  it  so  that  at  present  only  boats  can 
enter  it,  while  by  the  same  drifting  sands  the  original  narrow  causeway 
has  attained  a  breadth  of  about  half  a  mile. 

The  origin  of  Tyre  is  lost  in  hoary  antiquity.  It  is  mentioned  in  the 
book  of  Joshua  (chap.  19  : 29)  as  a  "strong  city"  (Heb.,  "city  of  the  fort 
ress  of  Tyre"),  an  appellation  which  its  subsequent  history  shows  to  have 
been  well  deserved.  The  Hebrew  and  Phoenician  name  of  Tyre  is  Sdr, 
that  is,  rock,  a  name  perpetuated  in  the  modern  Arabic  Sur.  There^  was  a 
city  on  the  main  land,  thirty  stadia  south  of  the  island,  called  according 
to  the  ancients  Old  Tyre  (Palcetyrus),  which  is  commonly  assumed  to  have 
been  the  original  Tyre.  But  the  relation  of  the  continental  to  the  insular 
city  is  very  uncertain.  According  to  Josephus  (Antiq.,  8.  2.  7),  in  Hiram's 
day  Tyre  was  on  the  island.  Every  vestige  of  old  Tyre  was  destroyed  by 
Alexander,  who  used  its  materials  in  the  construction  of  his  causeway. 

Tyre  seems  to  have  reached  the  zenith  of  its  prosperity  before  the  Bab 
ylonish  captivity,  perhaps  in  the  time  of  David  and  Solomon,  when  it  must 
K&ve  been  greatly  strengthened  by  the  alliance  of  the  Hebrew  people. 


NORTHEAST  AND  NORTH.  295 

According  to  Josephus  (Antiq.,  9.  14.  2),  the  Assyrian  king  Shalinanezer 
besieged  the  island  city  five  years  in  vain.  The  same  author  records  the 
fact  (Antiq.,  10.  11.  1 ;  against  Apion,  1.  21)  that  Nebuchadnezzar  besieged 
Tyre-  thirteen  years,  but  without  stating  the  issue.  According  to  the 
prophecy  of  Ezekiel  (chap.  26),  he  must  have  been  successful,  and  his  fail 
ure  to  receive  wages  for  this  service  (Ezek.  29  : 18)  must  be  understood  as 
meaning  that  when  the  city  fell  into  his  hands  he  found  it  empty  of  valu 
able  booty.  See  further,  Fairbairn  on  Ezekiel,  in  loco.  Alexander  the 
Great  captured  Tyre  B.  c.  332,  after  a  siege  of  seven  months  in  the  manner 
above  described.  Yet  Tyre  continued  to  be  a  flourishing  city  down  to  the 
time  of  the  Crusaders,  who  held  possession  of  it  for  more  than  a  century 
and  a  half.  After  the  disastrous  battle  of  Hattin,  in  A.  D.  1187,  this  city 
was  almost  the  only  place  of  importance  that  maintained  itself  against  the 
Saracens ;  but  it  was  finally  abandoned  to  their  power  A.  D.  1291.  Since 
that  day  its  decline  and  ruin  have  been  so  complete  as  to  satisfy  in  a  literal 
way  the  terrible  predictions  of  the  Hebrew  prophets:  "The  Lord  hath 
given  a  commandment  against  the  merchant  city  to  destroy  the  strong 
holds  thereof"  (Isa.  23  : 11)  ;  "  They  shall  destroy  the  walls  of  Tyrus,  and 
break  down  her  towers ;  I  will  also  scrape  her  dust  from  her,  and  make 
her  like  the  top  of  a  rock  ;"  "  Thou  shalt  be  a  place  to  spread  nets  upon  ; 
thou  shalt  be  built  no  more."  Ezek.  26:4,  5,  14.  The  modern  town 
stands  upon  the  junction  of  the  island  and  isthmus.  It  contains  from  three 
to  four  thousand  inhabitants.  There  is  but  one  gate ;  the  houses  are 
mostly  hovels,  with  narrow,  crooked,  filthy  streets  ;  and  all  their  navy 
consists  of  a  few  crazy  fishing-boats.  A  walk  around  the  ruins  of  Tyre  is 
indescribably  mournful.  "Ruins  on  the  top  of  ruins  cover  the  peninsula, 
and  are  strown  among  the  waves  round  it.  There  was  a  Phoenician  Tyre 
and  a  Roman  Tyre  and  a  mediaeval  Tyre,  each  built  on  the  ruins  of  its 
predecessor ;  and  now  there  is  a  modern  Tyre  such  as  we  have  described 
it,  standing  over  them  all."  "Passing  around  the  southern  point,  we  are 
struck  with  the  aspect  of  desolation — broken  columns  half-buried  in  the 
sand,  huge  fragments  of  sea-beaten  ruins,  and  confused  heaps  of  rubbish, 
with  a  solitary  fisherman  spreading  his  net  over  them,  or  a  few  workmen 
digging  up  building-stones."  Porter's  Handbook,  p.  371.  The  city  lies 
only  upon  the  eastern  part  of  the  island.  Its  western  shore  is  a  ledge  of 
ragged  rocks,  strown  "from  one  end  to  the  other  along  the  edge  of  the 
water  and  in  the  water,  with  columns  of  red  and  gray  granite  of  various 
sizes,  the  only  remaining  monuments  of  the  splendor  of  ancient  Tyre." 
Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  464. 

In  the  twenty-seventh  chapter  of  Ezekiel  we  have  a  wonderfully  graphic 
description  of  the  commerce  of  ancient  Tyre  and  the  wealth  that  flowed 
into  her  from  all  quarters.  Of  the  different  countries  named  as  furnishing 
her  with  their  peculiar  commodities,  Bashau,  Egypt,  Aram  (ver.  16,  in 


296  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

some  manuscripts,  Edom),  Judah,  and  in  connection  with  this  country 
Minnith,  Damascus  and  Helbon,  Arabia  and  Kedar,  Sheba,  Raamah,  and 
Haran  have  been  already  sufficiently  described  ;  while  the  isles  of  Chittim, 
Zidon,  Arvad,  Gebal,  Persia,  Can n eh,  and  the  places  named  in  verse  23 
will  come  up  for  consideration  hereafter.  We  add  a  few  words  respecting 
the  other  places. 

Senir  (ver.  5),  called  also  Shenir  (Deut.  3:9;  Cant.  4  :  8  of  our  version), 
is,  according  to  Deut.  3  : 9,  the  name  given  by  the  Amorites  to  Mount 
Herman;  yet  not  the  whole  range  of  Anti-Lebanon,  but  rather  a  particular 
part  of  it,  as  appears  from  the  fact  that  Senir  is  mentioned  along  with 
Hermon  in  1  Chron.  5:23  and  Cant.  4:  8.  According  to  Abulfeda,  as 
quoted  by  Gesenius,  it  was  the  part  of  Anti-Lebanon  north  of  Damascus. 

The  second  clause  of  verse  6  may  be  rendered,  "They  have  made  thy 
benches  of  ivory  inlaid  in  [wood  of]  ashurim  ;"  that  is,  ashurim-trees,  these 
being  some  species  of  pine  or  box. 

The  isles  of  Elishah  (ver.  7),  or,  as  the  Hebrew  phrase  may  be  trans 
lated,  the  coasts  of  Elishah,  are  by  some  identified  with  Elis  in  the  Pelopon 
nesus,  by  others  with  jEolia  on  the  western  coast  of  Asa  Minor,  and  by 
others  still  with  Hellas  generally,  that  is,  Greece,  which  is  the  more  proba 
ble  opinion. 

In  verse  10,  Lud  and  Phut  are  named  among  the  countries  that  furnish 
Tyre  with  mercenary  soldiers.  PJnd  (rendered  Put  Nahum  3  : 9  ;  1  Chron. 
1:8;  elsewhere  Libyans  or  Libya,  Jer.  46  :  9  ;  Ezek.  30  : 5  ;  38  :  5)  was  the 
son  of  Ham  (Gen.  10  : 6),  and  his  descendants  may  well  be  the  Libyans  or 
Mauritanians  of  North  Africa.  Lud,  when  coupled  as  here  with  Phut,  is 
not  to  be  understood  of  the  Lydians  in  Asia  Minor,  but  of  the  Ludim, 
an  African  people  descended  from  Ham  (Gen.  10  : 13),  and  neighbors  to 
Phut. 

Of  the  Gammadim  (ver  11)  nothing  is  known. 

Tarshish  (ver  12)  may  be  assumed  with  much  certainty  to  have  been  the 
Tartessus  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  situated  on  an  island  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Bcetis,  the  modern  Guadalquivir,  in  the  southwest  of  Spain.  The 
articles  of  commerce  named  as  coming  from  that  place — "silver,  iron,  tin, 
and  lead  " — are  in  harmony  with  this  'view.  Of  those  brought  by  the  "  navy 
of  Tarshish"  in  Solomon's  day — "gold,  silver,  ivory,  and  apes,  and  pea 
cocks  "  (I  Kings  10  :  22  ;  2  Chron.  9  :  21)— all  except  the  last  could  certainly 
be  obtained  in  Spain  or  on  the  adjacent  coasts  of  Europe  and  Africa  ;  and 
as  to  the  Hebrew  word  translated  peacocks,  it  occurs  nowhere  else  in  Scrip 
ture,  and  its  true  meaning  is  very  doubtful.  In  1  Kings  22  : 48,  the 
"ships  of  Tarshish"  made  at  Ezion-geber  on  the  Bed  sea  to  go  to  Ophir 
may  be  well  enough  understood  to  mean  ships  of  a  particular  model,  such 
as  were  used  in  the  navigation  to  Tarshish.  When  the  author  of  the  books 
of  Chronicles  speaks  of  the  same  ships  as  made  "to  go  to  Tarshish" 


PALESTINE.  297 

(2  Chron.  20  :  36),  he  seems  to  have  assumed  the  identity  of  the  voyages  to 
Ophir  (1  Kings  9  :  26-28  ;  10  : 11 ;  2  Clirou.  8  : 17,  18  ;  9  : 10)  and  to  Tar 
shish.  1  Kings  10:  22  ;  2  Chron.  9  :  21.  But  a  fleet  sailing  from  Ezion-geber 
could  not  take  the  true  Tarshish  of  Spain  on  its  route  except  by  the  cir 
cumnavigation  of  Africa ;  a  feat  which  we  cannot  well  suppose  to  have 
been  accomplished  regularly  once  in  three  years  in  Solomon's  time.  More 
over,  of  the  products  brought  home  in  the  fleet  that  went  to  Ophir  and  in 
the  navy  of  Tarshish,  gold  is  the  only  common  article.  Gold  was  the 
peculiar  product  of  Ophir,  as  silver  was  of  Tarshish.  Jer.  10  : 9.  We 
seem,  then,  shut  up  to  the  conclusion  that  Tarshish  was  approached  by 
the  Mediterranean  and  Ophir  by  the  Red  sea.  For  harmonizing  all  the 
passages  that  speak  of  these  two  places,  we  must  patiently  wait  for  more 
light  than  we  have  at  present.  The  question  is  discussed  very  fully  by 
Keil,  in  his  work  "On  the  Hiram-Solomon  Voyages  to  Ophir  and  Tar 
shish."  t 

In  verses  13  and  14,  Javan,  Fiibal,  and  Meshech  are  named  as  trading 
with  Tyre  in  "the  persons  of  men  and  vessels  of  brass;"  and  Togarmahin 
"horses,  horsemen,  and  mules."  It  is  generally  agreed  that  Javan  repre 
sents  first  the  lonians  on  the  western  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  and  then  the 
Greeks  generally.  Tubal  and  Meshech  are  almost  always  coupled  in  Scrip 
ture,  as  in  the  present  passage.  See  Gen.  10  :  2  ;  Ezek.  32  :  26  ;  38  : 2,  3. 
Herodotus  in  like  manner  couples  the  Moschiiind  Tibareni  (3,  94  ;  7.  78),  and 
there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  of  the  identity  of  the  two  couplets.  The 
Moschi  occupied  the  southeastern  shores  of  the  Black  sea  north  of  Arme 
nia,  and  the  Tibareni  the  region  immediately  west  of  them.  Togarmah  is 
in  all  probability  the  Hebrew  name  of  Armenia,  or  a  region  of  Armenia,  a 
country  abounding  in  horses  and  mules.  Strabo,  11.  529. 

Dedan  is  mentioned  (ver.  15)  as  bringing  horns  of  ivory  and  ebony  ; 
and  again  (ver.  20)  Dedan  appears  as  the  merchant  of  Tyre  in  precious 
clothes  for  chariots.  The  character  of  the  products  indicates  that  in  the 
first  passage  the  Cushite  Dedan  is  meant  (Gen.  10  :  7),  whose  settlements  are 
thought  to  have  been  on  the  Persian  gulf  towards  India  ;  and  in  the  second 
the  Jokshanite  Dedan  (Gen.  25  : 3),  whose  country  bordered  on  the  north 
of  Edorn.  See  Chap.  9,  No.  4. 

Pannag  (ver.  17)  is  the  name  not  of  a  country,  but  of  a  product,  the 
nature  of  which  is  uncertain.  Among  the  proposed  renderings  that  of 
sweet  pastry  is  as  probable  as  any  other. 

The  rendering  of  ver.  19  should  probably  be  :  "Vedan  and  Javan," 
etc.,  both  these  being,  as  their  products  indicate,  Arabian  places  not  men 
tioned  elsewhere. 

The  other  chief  city  of  ancient  Phoenicia  was  Zidon  or  Sidon  a  name 
which  signifies  Fishing-town,  and  which  is  perpetuated  in  the  modern 
Saida.  Zidon  is  situated  about  twenty  miles  north  of  Tyre,  on  a  small 

13* 


298  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

promontory  which  juts  out  obliquely  into  the  sea  in  a  southwesterly  direc 
tion.  "  Sidon,"  says  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  480),  "was  the  most  ancient 
of  all  the  Phoenician  cities :  and  is  mentioned  in  the  Pentateuch,  and  in 
the  poems  of  Homer,  which  Tyre  is  not."  This  may  explain  the  fact  that 
in  ancient  times  the  Tyrians  were  included  under  the  name  Zidonian,  but 
not  the  Zidonians  under  the  name  Tyrian.  From  the  manner  in  which  the 
book  of  Judges  speaks  of  Laish  as  "  far  from  the  Zidonians  "  (chap.  18  :  7), 
it  would  seem  that  Zidon  was  reckoned  at  that  time  as  the  capital  of  the 
land.  But  Tyre  very  early  took  the  precedence  of  it.  In  its  history 
Zidon  underwent  the  same  vicissitudes  as  Tyre,  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the  great  powers  that  successively  ruled  the  region.  The  present  popula 
tion  of  the  place  is  estimated  at  about  seven  thousand  souls.  Its  environs 
are  very  beautiful.  Gardens  and  orchards  fill  the  plain  to  the  foot  of  Leb 
anon,  a  distance  of  nearly  two  miles. 

Between  Tyre  and  Sidon  stood  the  ancient  town  of  Zarepliath  (1  Kings 
17  : 8-24),  the  Sarepta  of  the  New  Testament  (Luke  4  :26),  celebrated  as 
the  place  where  the  prophet  Elijah  was  fed  by  the  widow  woman  during 
the  great  famine  in  Ahab's  day.  The  ancient  town  lay  on  the  shore,  but 
Svrqfend,  its  modern  representative,  stands  high  up  on  the  side  of  a  pro 
jecting  hill  half  an  hour  inland. 

Two  other  places  on  the  coast  north  of  Phoenicia  T?roper  are  named  by 
Ezekiel  in  the  chapter  above  referred  to.  These  are  Gebal  (ver.  9)  and 
Arvad  (ver.  8,  11).  Gebal,  the  Byblus  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  and 
the  Jebeil  of  the  modern  Arabs,  was  situated  on  the  coast  about  eight  hours 
north  of  Beirut.  The  inhabitants  called  Gibliies  (in  our  version,  stone- 
squarers,  1  Kings  5  : 18)  were  celebrated  for  their  skill  in  architecture  and 
ship-building  (1  Kings  5  : 18  ;  Ezek.  27  :  9).  The  ruins  of  this  place,  says 
Porter  (Handbook,  p.  552),  "  far  exceed  in  extent  and  grandeur  the  mod 
ern  buildings."  Arvad,  the  Aradus  of  the  ancients,  was  situated  on  a 
rocky  island  now  called  Rudd,  eleven  hours  north  of  Tripoli,  and  about  two 
and  a  half  miles  from  the  shore.  The  ruins  here  indicate  a  place  of  great 
strength.  See  in  Porter's  Handbook,  p.  560. 

The  above  sketch  is  restricted  to  places  mentioned  in  the  Bible.  Beirut 
the  Beryius  of  the  ancients,  beautifully  situated  on  a  promontory  that  runs 
out  into  the  Mediterranean,  though  not  the  largest  is  the  most  thriving 
town  in  Syria,  the  most  important  in  its  commercial  relations,  and  the 
centre  of  modern  missionary  operations  for  the  region.  But  neither  this 
place,  nor  Tarabulus,  the  Tripoli*  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  about  seven 
teen  hours  farther  north,  properly  comes  within  the  scope  of  biblical 
geography. 


ASIA  MINOR  AND  GREECE.  299 


CHAPTEE   XI. 

M.INOR    AND     GREECE. 

OUR  notice  of  the  regions  not  immediately  bordering  on 
Palestine  must  be  necessarily  very  cursory.  Their  geography 
will  be  considered  only  so  far  as  it  is  illustrative  of  the  sacred 
record.  We  begin  with  Asia  Minor  and  Greece. 

1.  The  comparatively  modern  term  Asia  Minor  is  applied  to 
the  large  oblong  peninsula  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Black 
sea,  the  sea  of  Marmora  and  the  Dardanelles,  on  the  west  by 
the  Grecian  Archipelago,  the  (2Egean  sea  of  the  ancients),  on 
the  south  by  the  Mediterranean  and  Syria,  and  on  the  east  by 
the  courses  of  the  Euphrates  and  Choruk.     But  in  the  New 
Testament  the  term  Asia  is  used  in  a  more  restricted  sense  of 
the  Roman  province  of  Asia  bordering  on  the  JEgean  sea,  includ 
ing  according  to  the  ancient  geographers  Caria,  Lydia,  Mysia, 
and  Phrygia,  although  in  New  Testament  usage  Phrygia  is 
expressly  distinguished  from  it  (Acts  2:9;  16  : 6).     Asia  Minor 
is  a  very  beautiful  region,  presenting  a  wonderful  diversity  of 
climate,  soil,  and  productions.     It  has  a  girdle  of  mountains 
running  parallel  to  the  coast  on  three  of  its  sides,  and  including 
in  the  interior  an  elevated  plateau  whose  waters  are  cut  off  from 
access  to  the  sea  and  lose  themselves  in  salt  lakes  and  marshes. 

In  the  Apocryphal  books  of  Maccabees  the  term  Asia  is  used  in  a  loose 
and  indefinite  way.  Thus  in  1  Mac.  8  :  6  it  denotes  tlie  kingdom  of  Anti- 
ochus  the  Great ;  and  in  1  Mac.  12  :  39  ;  13  : 32  ;  2  Mac.  3  :  3  that  of  the 
kings  of  Autioch  who  possessed  only  Cilicia.  In  no  passage  of  the  New 
Testament  can  it  be  shown  to  include  more  than  the  Roman  province 
above  named. 

2.  The  term  Greece  (Hellas).is  used  but  once  in  the  New 
Testament  (Acts  20  : 2),  where  it  excludes  Macedonia ;  but  we 
here  employ  the  term  Greece  in  its  widest  extent  as  including 


300  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

the  above  named  province.  The  general  geography  of  this 
magnificent  region  we  leave  to  the  department  of  classical  liter 
ature  ;  simply  remarking  that,  as  Syria  constitutes  the  connect 
ing  link  between  Palestine  and  Asia  Minor,  so  does  Asia  Minor 
between  Syria  and  Greece.  Indeed,  in  the  JEgean  sea,  sprin 
kled  all  over  with  beautiful  islands,  the  two  regions  of  Asia 
Minor  and  Greece  meet  and  are  blended  in  one. 

Asia  Minor  comes  into  notice  not  at  all,  or  only  very 
obscurely,  in  the  Old  Testament,  while  Greece,  often  with  the 
regions  of  Europe  lying  west  of  it,  is  loosely  designated  under 
the  terms  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles  (Gen.  10 : 5),  the  isles  of  Chittim 
(Jer.  2:10;  Ezek.  27 : 6),  the  land  of  Chittim -(Iso,.  23:1),  Chit 
tim  (Numb.  24:24;  Isa.  23:12;  Dan.  11:30),  Javan  (Dan. 
8  :  21 ;  Isa.  66 : 19  ;  Ezek.  27:13;  Zech.  9 : 13),  the  isles  of  Elishah 
(Ezek.  27  :  7),  the  isles  of  the  sea  (Isa.  24  : 15),  or  more  commonly 
the  simple  term  the  isles  (Psa.  72  : 10 ;  97  : 1 ;  Isa.  41 :  5,  etc.), 
to  which  are  made  so  many  glorious  promises  pertaining  to  the 
latter  day. 

The  Hebrew  term  rendered  isles  (lyim)  signifies  not  only  islands,  but 
maritime  coasts,  and  by  a  farther  extent  of  application  the  regions  west  of 
them  of  which  the  Hebrews  had  but  an  imperfect  knowledge.  Javan  and 
Elishah  represent  in  the  above  passages  the  Greek  people  generally.  See 
above,  Chap.  10,  No.  30.  Chittim  is  thought  to  have  originally  denoted  the 
Phoenician  colonists  of  Cyprus,  and  then,  by  a  wider  application,  the 
islands  and  coasts  of  Greece  and  even  Italy.  See  in  Gesenius'  Hebrew 
Lexicon  the  article  Chittim. 

But  while  the  notices  of  Asia  Minor  and  Greece  in  the 
Old  Testament  are  so  few  and  indefinite,  in  the  New  Testa 
ment  these  two  regions  appear  among  the  chief  seats  of  mission 
ary  activity,  and  as  such  they  possess  great  interest  for  the 
biblical  student.  The  Roman  provinces  into  which  they  were 
divided  may  be  best  learned  from  the  map  accompanying  this 
volume.  The  notices  of  the  cities  referred  to  in  the  New  Tes 
tament  may  be  conveniently,  arranged  under  the  following 
heads:  The  seven  churches  in  Asia  addressed  in  the  Apoca 
lypse,  the  three  missionary  tours  of  the  apostle  Paul  and  his 


ASIA  MINOR  AND  GREECE.  301 

companions,  and  certain  additional  incidental  notices  gathered 
from  the  epistles  and  the  Apocalypse. 

3.  The  seven  t-lnn-rhes  in  Asia  first  claim  our  attention.  Their 
general  position  and  relation  to  each  other  may  be  thus  stated. 
For  the  three  extreme  points  we  take  Ephesus,  Laodicea,  and 
Pergamos.  Ephesus  lay  on  the  coast  of  the  2Egean  sea  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Cayster,  a  trifle  south  of  the  thirty-eighth  parallel 
of  north  latitude.  Nearly  east  of  Ephesus  at  the  distance  of 
about  ninety  miles  (as  laid  down  on  the  maps)  was  Laodicea  on 
a  small  river  in  the  valley  of  the  Maeander.  North  of  Ephesus, 
at  a  somewhat  smaller  distance,  was  Pergamos,  about  three 
miles  north  of  the  rivfcr  Caicus  and  twenty  miles  from  its  mouth. 
If  now  we  start  from  Ephesus  and  pass  north  to  Pergamos  we 
take  Smyrna  on  the  way,  situated  near  the  head  of  the  gulf 
which  bears  its  name,  and  furnished  with  one  of  the  finest  har 
bors  in  the  world.  Passing,  again,  from  Pergamos  to  Laodicea 
in  a  general  southeasterly  direction  we  come  first  to  Thyatira, 
then  to  Sardis,  then  to  Philadelphia.  Thus  we  take  all  the 
seven  cities  in  the  same  order  in  which  they  are  named  in  the 
Apocalypse,  which  is  the  natural  order  of  enumeration. 

Epliesus  was  in  the  time  of  the  apostles  the  metropolis  of  the  province 
of  Asia  and  the  great  emporium  of  trade  for  all  the  adjacent  region.  The 
city  was  renowned  for  the  great  temple  of  Diana,  which  stood  in  a  conspic 
uous  place  at  the  head  of  the  harbor.  The  old  temple  was  burnt  in  the 
night  when  Alexander  the  Great  was  born,  and  another  structure  was 
raised  by  the  cooperation  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  Asia.  The  length  of 
this  temple  was  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet,  its  breadth  two  hun 
dred  and  twenty,  and  its  columns  were  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  in 
number.  The  "silver  shrines"  made  by  Demetrius  and  his  associates 
(Acts  19  : 24=)  seem  to  have  been  small  models  of  the  temple  of  Diana  with 
her  statue.  But  Ephesus  has  a  deeper  interest  for  the  Christian  scholar 
as  being,  according  to  the  uniform  tradition  of  the  ancients,  the  place 
where  the  apostle  John  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life,  and  where  he  prob 
ably  wrote  his  gospel  and  epistles.  See  in  Companion  to  the  Bible,  chap. 
29,  No.  33.  With  the  exception  of  a  small  Turkish  village  the  whole 
site  presents  only  a  mass  of  ruins,  the  vastuess  of  which  attests  the  for 
mer  magnificence  of  the  place.  The  solemn  threatening  that  the  candle 
stick  of  Ephesus  should  be  removed  out  of  its  place  (Rev.  2  : 5)  was  long 
ago  fulfilled. 


302  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

South  of  Epliesus  at  the  distance  of  about  thirty-six  miles  was  the  sea 
port  of  Miletus,  whither  Paul  summoned  the  elders  of  the  Church  of  Eplie 
sus  that  they  might  receive  his  final  charge,  having  "determined  to  sail 
byEphesus,"  that  is,  to  sail  past  the  place  without  visiting  it  (Acts  20: 16, 17). 
After  the  conquest  of  this  city  by  the  Saracens  it  fell  into  decay  and  is  now 
in  ruins. 

While  Epliesus  has  become  only  a  mass  of  ruins,  Smyrna,  though  it 
has  often  suffered  from  earthquakes  and  conflagrations,  still  remains  a 
great  city  and  the  centre  of  commerce  for  the  Levant.  The  present  pop 
ulation  of  the  city  is  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  forty 
thousand  of  whom  are  Greeks,  and  five  thousand  Franks. 

Pergamos  was  the  most  northern  of  the  seven  churches.  It  is  called 
"the  place  where  Satan's  seat  is,"  and  "where  Satan  dwelleth"  (Rev. 
2  :13),  on  account  of  the  preeminent  hostility  todCkrist  there  manifested  ; 
but  whether  this  was  connected,  as  some  have  supposed,  with  the  worship 
of  ./Esculapius  the  tutelary  god  of  the  place,  cannot  be  determined.  Per 
gamos  was  celebrated  in  ancient  times  for  its  library  amounting  to  two 
hundred  thousand  volumes.  The  ancients  inform  us  that  skins  prepared 
for  manuscripts  received  from  this  place  the  name  pergamenai,  whence  our 
word  parchments.  Under  the  modern  name  Bergamo  this  city  contains  a 
population  of  some  fourteen  thousand  souls,  of  whom  about  three  thou 
sand  are  Greeks. 

Passing  southeast  from  Pergamos  we  come  to  Thyatira,  on  the  con 
fines  of  Lydia  andMysia,  celebrated  in  ancient  times  for  the  art  of  dyeing 
(Acts  16  : 14),  which  still  prevails  there,  large  quantities  of  scarlet  cloth 
being,  it  is  said,  still  sent  weekly  to  Smyrna.  Tliyatira  lies  to  the  left 
of  the  direct  road  from  Pergamos  to  Sardis,  but  may  be  easily  taken  on  the 
way.  The  road  between  Pergamos  and  Thyatira  is  said  to  be  exceedingly 
beautiful,  passing  over  a  mountainous,  but  fertile  and  well- watered  region 
abounding  in  oaks  and  acacias.  (Imperial  Bible  Diet. )  Its  present  pop 
ulation  is  reckoned  at  about  seventeen  thousand. 

Sardis,  the  next  place  in  order,  lay  on  the  banks  of  the  Pactolus,  a 
branch  of  the  Hernius,  east  of  Smyrna,  and  about  twenty-seven  miles 
south-southeast  of  Thyatira.  Sardis  was  anciently  the  capital  of  Lydia, 
and  was  celebrated  alike  for  its  wealth  and  the  debauchery  of  its  inhabit 
ants.  The  treasures  of  Croesus,  its  last  king,  were  so  immense  that  his 
name  has  become  the  synonym  of  riches.  But  under  him  the  Lydian  em 
pire  was  overthrown  by  Cyrus  king  of  Persia.  Sardis  is  now  only  a  mass 
of  ruins,  in  which  appear  many  vestiges  of  its  former  splendor.  There  is 
a  sad  harmony  between  its  present  condition  and  the  spiritual  state  of  the 
Sardian  church  eighteen  centuries  ago,  which  had  a  name  that  it  lived,  but 
was  dead.  Rev.  3  : 1. 

Philadelphia  stood  about  twenty -five  miles  southeast  of  Sardis  on  an 


ASIA  MINOR  AND  GREECE.  303 

extensive  and  beautiful  plain,  but  exceedingly  subject  to  earthquakes  by 
which  the  place  has  been  several  times  destroyed.  Some  have  supposed 
tiiat  there  is  an  allusion  to  the  instability  of  every  material  thing  in  Phila 
delphia  in  the  promise  made  to  that  church  :  ' '  Him  that  overcometh 
will  'I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God,  and  he  shall  go  no  more 
out."  Rev.  3  : 12.  The  modem  town  is  ill-built  and  dirty,  containing  a 
population  of  about  fifteen  thousand,  of  whom  three  thousand  are  Greek 
Christians. 

The  last  place  in  order  is  Laodicea,  of  which  nothing  now  remains  but 
a  desolate  area  covered  with  the  relics  of  the  former  city.  The  Turks  call 
these  ruins  Eski-hissar,  old  castle. 

In  the  near  vicinity  of  Laodicea  stood  Colosse  and  Hierapolis,  the  former 
in  an  easterly,  the  latter  in  a  northeasterly  direction.  Hence  all  three 
cities  are  grouped  together  by  the  apostle  in  Col.  4  : 13,  and  hence  also  he 
directs  (Col.  4  : 16)  that  his  epistles  to  Colosse  and  Laodicea  be  interchang 
ed.  The  three  cities  are  said  to  have  been  destroyed  by  an  earthquake  not 
long  after  the  date  of  these  epistles. 

4.  PauTs  first  missionary  tour.  Of  this  we  Lave  the  record 
in  Acts,  chaps.  13  and  14. 

He  sailed  with  Barnabas  and  John  Mark  from  Seleucia  on  the  Syrian 
coast  (Chap.  10,  No.  15)  to  the  beautiful  island  of  Cyprus  lying  near 
tlie  northeastern  angle  of  the  Mediterranean.  Salamis  on  the  eastern  end 
of  the  island  (chap.  13  : 5)  would  be  the  natural  place  of  landing  for  a 
vessel  coming  from  Seleucia.  Thence  the  apostles  proceeded  westward 
through  the  whole  length  of  the  island  to  Paplios  in  its  southwestern  ex 
tremity,  a  distance  of  perhaps  one  hundred  miles.  Paphoswas  celebrated 
for  the  worship  of  Venus,  to  whose  honor  a  magnificent  temple  was  here 
erected.  Paplios  was  the  scene  of  Paul's  encounter  with  Elyrnas  the  sor 
cerer  (chap.  13  : 8-11),  which  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  the  proconsul 
Sergius  Paulus." 

From  Paplios  Paul  and  Barnabas  sailed  northwest  to  Aticdia  in  the  bay 
of  Pamphilia  (compare  chap.  14  : 25),  whence  they  proceeded  north  about 
seven  miles  to  Pe)-ga,  the  metropolis  of  the  province.  It  was  here  that 
John  Mark  left  them  and  returned  to  Jerusalem,  an  act  for  which  he  was 
severely  censured  by  Paul,  chap.  15  : 38.  Hence  the  course  of  the  apostles 
was  northward  to  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  as  Luke  designates  the  place  (chap. 
13  : 14),  though  it  stood  on  the  southern  border  of  Phrygia.  Here  they 
had  great  success,  but  were  driven  by  the  persecution  of  the  Je^  to  Ico- 
niwm  about  forty -five  miles  southeast  of  Antioch  in  the  province  of  Lyca- 
onia,  and  thence  to  Lystra  and  Derbe  in  the  southern  part  of  Lycaonia. 
At  Lystra  one  of  those  strange  vicissitudes  befell  Paul  that  are  not  uncom 
mon  in  the  lives  of  eminent  preachers.  The  people  who  were  just  now 


304  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

ready  to  worship  him  and  Barnabas  as  gods,  because  of  the  miraculous 
healing  of  a  cripple  (chap.  14  : 8-18)  were  persuaded  by  the  Jews  from 
Antioch  and  Iconinm  to  allow  the  apostle  to  be  stoned  and  dragged  out  of 
the  city  as  dead,  ver.  19.  But  he  was  resuscitated,  apparently  in  a  mirac 
ulous  way,  and  with  Barnabas  retraced  his  course  through  Derbe,  Icouium, 
Antioch,  and  Perga,  to  Attalia  (chap.  14  : 20-25)  completing  the  mission 
ary  work  which  had  been  begun;  for  this  backward  journey  was  no  hasty 
flight.  They  preached  the  gospel  all  along  the  path  of  their  return,  con 
firming  the  souls  of  the  disciples  and  ordaining  elders  in  every  city.  After 
an  eminently  fruitful  journey,  they  sailed  from  Attalia  to  Antioch  in  Syria, 
the  place  whence  they  had  been  sent.  Among  the  other  important  results 
of  this  missionary  tour  was  the  assembly  of  the  apostles  and  elders  at  Je 
rusalem  to  determine  the  relation  of  the  Gentile  Christians  to  the  Mosaic 
law.  See  Acts,  chap.  15. 

5.  Paul's  second  missionary  tour  (Acts  15 :  36 — 18 :  22),  in 
which  he  rejected  Mark  and  chose  Silas  for  his  companion  in 
travel,  is  invested  with  special  interest  from  the  fact  that  he  now 
for  the  first  time  passed  out  of  Asia  into  Greece. 

This  time  he  entered  Asia  Minor  by  land  around  the  gulf  of  Issus  at 
the  northeastern  angle  of  the  Mediterranean.  Of  course  the  first  province 
that  he  entered  beyond  the  limits  of  Syria  was  Cilicia.  Thence  he  pro 
ceeded  to  Derbe  and  Lystra,  where  he  found  Timothy,  whom  he  caused 
to  be  circumcised  and  took  with  him  (chap.  1G  :  1-3).  .  After  preaching  the 
gospel  in  Phrygia  and  Galatia,  central  provinces  of  Asia  Minor,  they  pur 
posed  to  turn  westward  into  Asia  proper,  that  is,  the  province  of  Asia,  but 
were  forbidden  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  do  so.  Chap.  16  :  6.  Having  reach 
ed  the  border  of  Mysia,  which  belonged  to  the  province  of  Asia,  they  at 
tempted  to  pass  northeast  into  the  province  of  Bithynia,  "but  the  Spirit 
suffered  them  not"  (ver.  7).  "And  they  passing  by  Mysia  came  down  to 
Troas"  (ver.  8).  They  passed  by  Mysia  in  the  sense 'of  not  stopping  to 
preach  in  Mysia  ;  for  they  could  not  reach  Tfoas,  on  the  seacoast  of  Mysia 
over  against  the  island  of  Tenedos,  except  by  journeying  through  Mysia. 

Arrived  at  Troas,  the  mystery  of  their  having  been  forbidden  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  preach  in  Asia  and  Bithynia  was  explained.  It  was  God's 
plan  that  they  should  carry  the  gospel  into  Macedonia,  and  thither  they 
were  summoned  by  a  vision  (ver.  9).  So  sailing  from  Troas  they  passed 
by  the  ^sland  of  Samothrace,  and  thence  to  Neapolis,  the  port  of  Philippi 
in  the  province  of  Macedonia.  The  ancient  name  of  Philippi  was  Crenides 
(Fountains) ;  but  Philip  of  Macedon  fortified  it  and  called  it  after  his  own 
name.  It  lay  along  the  bank  of  a  river  about  twelve  Roman  miles  north 
west  of  Neapolis.  Philippi  is  called  "  a  chief  city  [not  '  the  chief  city'  as  iu 


ASIA    MINOR  AND  GREECE.  305 

our  version]  of  that  part  of  Macedonia,  and  a  colony."  It  received  the. 
latter  name  on  account  of  the  colony  sent  thither  by  Augustus.  See -in 
Conybeare  and  Howsou,  chap.  9.  After  the  tumult  at  Pliilippi  which  led 
to  the  abuse  and  imprisonment  of  Paul  and  Silas  (ver.  19-40) ,  they  pro 
ceeded  south  westward  to  Amphipolis,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Strymon, 
and  thence  by  Apollonia  to  TJiessalonicq.  The  latter  place,  now  called  Salo- 
niki,  lay  at  the  head  of  the  Thermaic  gulf,  now  called  the  gulf  of  Saloniki, 
somewhat  less  than  one  hundred  miles  from  Philippi.  The  great  success  of 
the  apostle  at  Thessalonica,  and  the  deep  sincerity  of  the  converts  there 
made,  appear  throughout  his  two  epistles  to  the  Thessaloniaus.  But  his 
old  enemies  the  Jews,  who  followed  him  every  where,  raised  a  persecution 
against  him,  so  that  the  disciples  thought  it  prudent  to  send  him  off  by 
night  to  Berea  about  forty-five  miles  southwest  of  Thessalonica.  After  a 
short  but  fruitful  ministry  here,  the  Jews  from  Thessalonica  raised  a  tumult, 
and  the  brethren  sent  away  Paul. 

We  next  find  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  at  Athens,  the  centre  of 
ancient  literature,  philosophy  and  the  fine  arts.  The  city  is  described  as 
full  of  idols  (Eng.  vers.,  wholly  given  to  idolatry,  chap.  17  : 16),  and,  as  Hacket 
remarks  (Commentary  on  Acts),  "A  person  could  hardly  take  his  position 
at  any  point  in  ancient  Athens,  where  the  eye  did  not  range  over  temples, 
altars,  and  statues  of  the  gods,  almost  without  number."  Mars-Hill  or 
Areopagus,  whither  the  apostle  was  conducted  that  he  might  address  the 
assembly,  was  a  rocky  eminence  near  to  the  Acropolis,  on  the  top  of  which 
is  still  to  be  seen  the  seat  of  the  judges  and  parties  hewn  in  the  rock. 
See  in  Robinson's  Bib.  Res.,  1,  pp.  7,  8.  It  was  here,  with  the  Acropolis 
and  the  numberless  temples  and  altars  of  the  city  in  full  view,  that  the 
apostle  delivered  his  celebrated  address  to  the  philosophers  of  Athens. 

"We  next  find  the  apostle  at  the  rich  and  dissolute  city  of  Corinth,  the 
capital  of  Achaia  proper,  situated  on  the  isthmus  that  connects  the  Pelo 
ponnesus  with  the  main  land,  and  thus  having  the  benefit  of  two  harbors  ; 
that  of  Cenchrea  on  the  east,  and  that  of  Lechseum  on  the  west.  Here  he 
labored  a  year  and  six  months,  gathering  a  flourishing  church,  distinguish 
ed  for  its  Christian  gifts  (1  Cor.  1  : 5-7),  but  not  free  from  the  contamina 
tion  of  the  vices  for  which  Corinth  was  so  notorious  (1  Cor.  chaps.  5,  6 ; 
10  :  7,  8  ;  11 :  21 ;  2  Cor.  12  :  21).  At  the  close  of  his  labors  in  this  his  first 
visit  to  Corinth  the  apostle  sailed  for  Syria,  making  a  short  visit  to  Ephe- 
sus  on  the  way  (chap.  18  : 19-21),  and  proceeding  thence  to  Crcsarea  and 
so  to  Antioch. 

6.  Paul's  third  missionary  tour.  Of  this  we  have  a  record  in 
Acts  18  : 23 — 21 : 15.  He  seems  to  have  passed,  as  on  his  second 
tour,  from  Antioch  into  Cilicia ;  thence  northwest  into  Galatia, 
and  thence  westward  into  Phrygia.  Chap.  18:23.  From  the 


306  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

high  inland  regions  of  Galatia  and  Phrygia  he  descended  to 
Epliesus  on  the  seacoast,  and  made  this  city  the  centre  of  his  mis 
sionary  labors  for  the  space  of  three  years  (chap.  20 : 31),  teach 
ing  first  in  the  Jewish  synagogue,  according  to  his  usual  custom, 
and  afterwards  "  disputing  daily  in  the  school  of  one  Tyrannus" 
(chap.  19:9).  The  extraordinary  success  that  attended  his 
labors  gave  occasion  to  the  great  uproar  of  which  Demetrius  the 
silversmith  was  the  leader.  After  this  the  apostle  made  a  second 
visit  to  Macedonia,  and  passed  thence  south  into  Greece,  that 
is,  Achaia,  where  he  wrote  from  Corinth  the  epistle  to  the  Ro 
mans.  See  Companion  to  the  Bible,  Chap.  30,  No.  7.  It  was 
his  purpose  to  sail  from  Achaia  to  Syria;  but  to  avoid  the 
machinations  of  his  enemies  he  returned  into  Macedonia,  and 
sailed  from  Philippi  (that  is,  from  Neapolis  its  port)  to  Troas. 
Acts  20:  3-6. 

We  have  only  a  very  general  notice  of  this  second  visit  to  Greece. 
From  a  reference  to  it  in  Roin.  15  : 19,  it  appeal's  that  he  extended  his 
labors  to  lllyricum,  a  Roman  province  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Adriatic, 
north  of  Epirus,  and  west  of  Macedonia.  Dalmatia,  whither  Titus  was 
sent  at  a  subsequent  time  (2  Tim.  4 : 10)  constituted  a  part  of  this  prov 
ince,  lying  midway  between-  the  northern  and  southern  extremities  of  the 
gulf. 

The  course  of  the  apostle  from  Troas  to  Patara,  whence  he  sailed  to 
Tyre,  is  minutely  traced  by  Luke  (chap.  20  : 13 — 21  : 1).  After  the  meeting 
by  night  at  Troas,  when  Eutychus  fell  from  the  third  loft,  but  was  mirac 
ulously  restored  by  Paul  (chap.  20":  9,  10),  the  apostle  proceeded  on  foot 
to  Assos  on  the  ^Egean  sea,  a  place  about  nine  miles  south  of  Troas,  and 
separated  on  the  south  from  the  island  of  Lesbos  by  a  narrow  strait.  Here 
lie  embarked  with  his  company,  and  they  proceeded  to  Miti/lene,  the  capital 
of  the  island  of  Lesbos ;  thence  to  the  island  of  Chios  off  the  coast  oppo 
site  to  Smyrna ;  thence  to  the  island  of  Samos  southwest  of  Epliesus  ;  and 
thence,  by  the  promontory  of  Trogytiium  opposite  to  Samos,  to  Miletus 
(see  above,  No.  3),  where  he  delivered  his  final  charge  to  the  elders  of 
Epliesus.  His  course  thence  was  by  Coos  or  Cos,  a  small  island  off  the 
coast  of  Caria,  and  Rhodes,  another  island  near  the  southwestern  angle  of 
Asia  Minor,  to  Patara,  a  city  of  Lycia  on  the  southwest  coast.  Hence 
they  sailed  for  Tyre  on  the  Syrian  coast,  and  proceeded  south  by  Ptole- 
mais  and  Czmsarea  to  Jerusalem. 


ASIA  MINOR  AND  GREECE.  307 

7.  The  remaining  scriptural  notices  of  the  regions  now  un 
der  consideration  may  be  conveniently  given  in  connection  with 
PauTs  voyage, from  Ccesarea  to  Home  (Acts,  chaps.  27,  28). 

They  embarked  in  a  ship  of  Adramyttium  (chap.  27  :  2)  a  maritime  town 
on  the  gulf  of  Adramyttium  opposite  Lesbos  ;  proceeded  northward  along 
the  Syrian  coast  by  Sidon  (ver.  3)  ;  and  then  sailed  "under  Cyprus,"  that 
is,  under  the  lee  of  the  island,  probably  leaving  it  on  the  left  hand  as  they 
proceeded  westward.  Passing  along  the  southern  coast  of  Asia  Minor  by 
Cilicia  and  Pamphylia  they  came  to  Myra,  a  city  of  Lycia  east  of  Patara, 
where  Paul  and  his  companions  were  transferred  to  a  ship  of  Alexandria 
bound  for  Italy.  Passing  by  the  promontory  of  Cnidos  in  the  southwest 
ern  angle  of  Asia  Minor  between  Rhodes  and  Cos,  they  proceeded  in  a 
southwesterly  direction  till  they  sailed  under  Crete,  that  is  in  the  lee  of 
Crete  over  against  Salmone  a  promontory  on  its  eastern  extremity.  "And 
hardly  passing  it"  (more  literally,  sailing  along  it  with  difficulty),  "we 
came,"  says  Luke,  "to  a  place  which  is  called  The  Fair  Havens,  nigh 
whereunto  was  the  city  of  Lasea."  Fair  Havens  was  a  roadstead  on  the 
southern  coast  of  Crete.  Crete  is  a  large  island  of  the  Mediterranean  lying 
south  of  the  .2Egean  sea.  Its  length  is  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles,  with 
a  breadth  varying  from  six  to  thirty-six  miles.  The  visit  of  the  apostle  to 
this  island,  when  he  left  Titus  in  charge  of  the  churches  there  planted 
(Titus  1:5),  certainly  did  not  take  place  in  connection  with  the  present 
voyage.  Probably  it  was  between  his  first  and  second  imprisonment  at 
Rome.  See  Companion  to  the  Bible,  chap.  30,  No.  40. 

According  to  Smith  (Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul)  a  northwest 
erly  wind  prevented  the  ship  from  passing  directly  westward  north  of 
Crete,  and  compelled  her  to  run  south  to  Salmone,  and  then  along  the 
southern  shore  of  the  island  under  its  lee.  She  could  thus  proceed  as  far 
as  Fair  Havens,  a  short  distance  east  of  Cape  Matala,  where  the  shore 
trends  suddenly  to  the  north,  and  the  advantage  of  a  lee  shore  ceases. 
Paul  advised  that  the  ship  should  winter  in  Fair  Havens,  because  it  was 
too  late  for  safe  navigation.  The  fast  was  already  past.  This  was  the 
great  day  of  atonement  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  month  Tisri,  and  about 
the  time  of  the  autumnal  equinox,  after  which  time  sailing  was  regarded 
as  dangerous.  But  the  centurion  followed  the  advice  of  the  master  and 
owner  of  the  ship,  and  attempted  to  reach  Phenice,  a  harbor  on  the  south 
of  Crete  farther  west,  but  the  exact  site  of  which  is  a  matter  of  dispute. 
The  result  is  well  known  to  the  reader.  Caught  in  a  violent  northeasterly 
gale  she  was  carried  past  the  island  Clauda  into  the  open  sea,  and  after 
fourteen  days  wrecked  on  the  island  of  Melita,  the  modern  Malta,  a  small 
island  south  of  Sicily.  The  quicksands  (Syrtis)  lay  on  the  coast  of  Africa 
southwest  from  Crete,  towards  which  a  northeasterly  wind  would  drive 


308  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

the  ship.  To  avoid  this  "they  lowered  the  gear,"  as  Smith  translates, 
"and  so  were  driven  "  (ver.  17).  It  does  not  appear  that  they  absolutely 
took  in  all  sail.  We  must  rather  suppose  that  they  "lay  to"  under  a 
very  low  sail,  turning  the  bow  of  the  vessel  towards  the  direction  of  the 
wind,  so  that  the  wraves  might  strike  her  obliquely. 

After  a  delay  of  three  months  the  apostle  and  his  companions  sailed 
from  Melita,  and  passing  by  Syracuse  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Sicily,  and 
Rhegium  on  the  strait  between  Sicily  and  Italy,  landed  at  Puteoli,  a  mari 
time  town  of  Italy  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  bay  of  Naples.  Thence 
they  proceeded  northwest,  on  the  great  Roman  road  through  Appii  Forum 
and  the  Three  Taverns  to  Rome.  For  a  full  and  able  account  of  this  voy 
age  the  reader  may  consult  "The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,  by 
James  Smith,  Esq.,  of  Jordanhill." 


THE  EASTERN  EMPIRES.  309 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE   ^ASTERN 

THE  geography  of  each  of  the  three  great  empires  of  Assyria, 
Chaldcea,  and  the  Medes  and  Persians  might  well  fill  a  volume 
by  itself.  As  in  the  case  of  Asia  Minor  and  Greece,  we  restrict 
ourselves  to  those  geographical  relations  between  these  empires 
and  Palestine  which  come  up  for  consideration  in  the  scriptural 

record. 

I.    ASSYRIA. 

1.  Chaldoea  was  older  than  Assyria.  But  the  Assyrian  em 
pire  comes  before  the  Chaldaean  in  its  relations  to  the  Hebrew 
people,  and  for  this  reason  the  first  place  belongs  to  it  in  the 
present  brief  sketch.  The  Hebrew  name  for  Assyria  is  Asshur. 
We  must  distinguish  between  Assyria  Proper  and  the  Assyrian 
empire.  Originally  Assyria  seems  to  have  been  a  country  of 
moderate  size  lying  chiefly  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Tigris 
below  the  mountains  of  Armenia.  Its  limits  were  gradually  ex 
tended  till  it  embraced  the  whole  region  between  the  mountains 
of  Armenia  on  the  north  and  the  country  about  Bagdad  on  the 
south— from  north  latitude  thirty- seven  and  a  half  degrees  to 
thirty-three  and  a  half  degrees.  On  the  northeast  it  had  the 
high  range  of  Zagros,  or  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan,  and  on 
the  west  the  Mesopotamia!!  desert,  or,  according  to  some,  the 
Euphrates.  On  the  north  was  Armenia ;  on  the  east  beyond 
the  Zagros  mountains  Media,  and  south  of  Media,  Elani  or 
Persia,  and  on  the  south  between  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  was 
Babylonia.  The  extent  of  the  Assyrian  empire  is  thus  given  by 
Rawlinson  (in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.) :  "  On  the  west  the  Mediter 
ranean  and  the  river  Halys  appear  to  have  been  the  boundaries ; 
on  the  north  a  fluctuating  line,  never  reaching  the  Euxine 


310  SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

nor  extending  beyond  the  northern  frontier  of  Armenia ;  on  the 
east,  the  Caspian  sea  and  the  Great  Salt  desert;  on* the  south, 
the  Persian  gulf  and  the  desert  of  Arabia." 

2.  Six  Assyrian  monarchs  are  named  in  the  Old  Testament, 
Pul,   Tiglath-pileser,   Shalmaneser,   Sargon,  Sennacherib,    and 
Esar-haddon;  after  whom  Assyria  gives  place  to  Chalda3a  in 
the  sacred  record. 

Menahem  king  of  Israel  who  reigned  from  about  B.  c.  772  to  762,  had 
smitten  Tiphsah,  that  is,  Thapsacus  on  the  Euphrates  the  eastern  limit  of 
Solomon's  dominion  (2  Kings  15  : 16),  "because  they  opened  not  to  him." 
This  was  apparently  the  occasion  of  Pul's  marching  against  him  ;  when 
Menahem,  finding  himself  unable  to  resist,  gave  to  Pul  a  thousand  talents 
of  silver,  thus  acknowledging  himself  as  tributary  to  the  Assyrian  empire. 
This  is  the  first  time  that  Assyria  appears  in  the  sacred  record,  although  it  is 
said  that,  according  to  the  monuments,  Jehu  had  paid  tribute  a  century 
before.  The  name  of  Pul  has  not  been  identified  on  the  Assyrian  inscrip 
tions.  It  is  said  to  be  Babylonian  rather  than  Assyrian  in  form  ;  and  some 
think  that  he  was  a  Babylonian  monarch  holding  rule  for  the  time  being 
in  Assyria.  Tiglath-pileser  or  Tiglath-pilneser  next  appears  in  sacred  his 
tory.  The  monuments  give  him  no  pedigree.  Hence  it  is  inferred  that  he 
was  a  usurper  and  the  founder  of  a.  new  dynasty.  Under  him  the  captiv 
ity  of  the  ten  tribes  was  begun  (2  Kings  15  : 29).  Ahaz  king  of  Judah 
hired  the  same  monarch  to  deliver  him  from  the  Syrians,  by  which  false 
step  he  brought  himself  and  his  kingdom  into  a  state  of  vassalage  to 
Assyria  (2  Kings  16  : 7-9  ;  2  Chron.  28  : 20,  21) ;  and  this  was  the  beginning 
of  great  calamities  as  foretold  by  Isaiah  (chap.  7  : 17 — 8  :  8).  Shalmaneser, 
the  successor  of  Tiglath-pileser,  completed  the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes 
(2  Kings,  chap.  17  ;  18  :9-12).  The  next  monarch,  as  the  monuments  in 
form  us,  was  Sargon,  the  father  of  Sennacherib,  who  is  mentioned  only  in 
Isa.  20  : 1.  Then  come  the  two  invasions  of  Judah  by  Sennacherib  in 
Hezekiah's  day  (2  Kings  18  : 13,  seq.).  Of  the  former  of  these  the  Assyrian 
monuments  give  a  full  account.  See  in  Herzog's  Encyclopaedic,  20,  pp. 
224,  225.  But  respecting  his  second  expedition,  which  ended  so  disas 
trously  to  Sennacherib,  they  are  silent.  Of  Esar-haddon  his  son  nothing  is 
recorded  except  that  he  sent  colonists  to  Samaria  (Ezra  4  : 2),  and  after  him 
the  Assyrian  monarchy  disappears  from  Scripture.  From  the  beginning 
of  Tiglath-pileser's  reign,  B.  c.  753  to  the  death  of  Sennacherib,  B.  c.  696, 
is  a  period  of  fifty-seven  years. 

3.  We  have  abundant  evidence  that  this  whole  region,  now 
in  great  part  desolate,  once  teemed  with  a  dense  population. 


THE  EASTERN  EMPIIIES.  311 

"  Mounds  of  earth,"  says  Layard  (Nineveh  and  Babylon,  p.  636), 
"  covering  the  ruins  of  buildings  or  the  sites  of  fenced  stations 
and  forts,  are  scattered  far  and  wide  over  the  plains.  When 
the  winter  rains  furrow  the  face  of  the  land,  inscribed  stones, 
graven  pottery,  and  masses  of  brickwork,  the  certain  signs  of 
former  habitations,  are  everywhere  found  by  the  wandering 
Arab.  All  these  settlements  depended  almost  exclusively  on 
artificial  irrigation.  Hence  the  dry  beds  of  enormous  canals 
and  countless  water-courses  which  are  spread  like  a  network 
over  the  face  of  the  country.  Even  the  traveller  accustomed  to 
the  triumphs  of  modern  science  and  civilization  gazes  with  won 
der  and  awe  upon  their  gigantic  works,  and  reflects  with  admi 
ration  upon  the  industry,  the  skill,  and  the  power  of  those  who 
made  them."  The  Assyrians  were  of  Shemitic  origin,  and  are 
supposed  to  have  come  originally  from  Babylonia,  whence  their 
religion  and  worship  were  in  great  measure  derived.  In  mate 
rial  civilization  they  had  made  good  progress,  as  the  remains  of 
their  ancient  cities  show.  "  They  are  found  to  have  understood 
and  applied  the  arch;  to  have  made  tunnels,  aqueducts,  and 
drains ;  to  have  used  the  lever  and  the  roller ;  to  have  engraved 
gems ;  to  have  understood  the  arts  of  inlaying,  enamelling,  and 
overlaying  with  metals;  to  have  manufactured  glass,  and  been 
acquainted  with  the  lens;  to  have  possessed  vases,  jars,  bronze 
and  ivory  ornaments,  dishes,  bells,  ear-rings — mostly  of  good 
workmanship  and  elegant  forms — in  a  word,  to  have  attained 
to  a  very  high  pitch  of  material  comfort  and  prosperity."  Eaw- 
linson,  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary.  Yet,  as  the  same  writer 
remarks,  their  government  was  rude,  their  religion  coarse  and 
sensual,  and  their  conduct  in  war  cruel,  as  is  abundantly 
shown  by  the  revolting  scenes  depicted  on  their  monuments — 
some  of  them  being  described  in  the  Bible. 

4.  The  ruins  of  the  Assyrian  cities  exist  in  the  form  of  huge 
mounds  of  rubbish.  The  excavation  of  these  in  modern  times 
has  made  surprising  disclosures  of  their  ancient  magnificence, 
for  the  details  of  which  the  reader  must  be  referred  to  the  works 
of  Layard,  the  Eawlinsons,  Oppert,  etc. 


SACKED  GEOGRAPHY. 

We  read  in  Gen.  10  : 11,  12  (according  to  our  version):  "Out  of  that 
land  [the  land  of  Shiuar]  went  forth  Asslnir,  and  builded  Nineveh,  and 
the  city  Eehoboth,  and  Calah,  and  Eesen  between  Nineveh  and  Calah  : 
the  same  is  a  great  city."  Another  proposed  rendering  is  :  "  Out  of  that 
land  he  [Nimrod]  went  to  Asshur,  and  builded  Nineveh,"  etc.  Which  of 
these  two  renderings  should  be  preferred  fs  a  question  which  we  cannot 
stop  to  discuss,  our  inquiry  being  concerning  the  identification  of  the 
places  here  named.  About  sixty  miles  below  Mosul,  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Tigris,  are  the  ruins  called  Kalah-Sherghat,  or  Kileh-Sherghat,  on  the 
bricks  and  pottery  of  which  are,  according  to  Porter  (in  Alexander's  Kitto, 
art.,  Calah)  t  the  names  and  titles  of  the  earliest  known  Assyrian  kings. 
The  mound  is  one  of  the  largest  in  Assyria,  measuring  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
in  circuit  and  sixty  feet  in  height.  The  ruins  called  Nimrud  (Nimrod)  are 
about  twenty  miles  below  Mosul,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river.  Opposite 
to  Mosul,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  same  river,  are  the  two  mounds  of 
Koynujik  and  Neby  Yunus  (Prophet  Jonas).  Northeast  of  Koyunjik,  at 
the  distance  of  about  eleven  miles,  are  the  ruins  called  Kharsabad;  and 
northeast  of  Nimrud,  at  the  distance  of  about  fifteen  miles,  those  that 
bear  the  name  Kcramles.  Thus  it  appears  that  the  four  mounds  of  Koy- 
iiDJik,  Khorsabad,  Keramles,  and  Nimrud  constitute  the  four  corners  of  a 
sort  of  quadrangle,  or  rather  trapezium,  enclosing  a  space  of  two  hundred 
and  sixteen  square  miles.  Layard  suggests  that  this  is  the  quadrangle  of 
ancient  Nineveh  described  by  Diodorus  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  stadia  in 
length,  ninety  in  breadth,  and  four  hundred  and  eighty  in  circumference. 
If  so,  it  was  probably  a  later  extension  of  the  term  Nineveh.  The  Nine 
veh  of  Moses'  day  we  may  reasonably  regard  as  having  occupied  the  site  of 
Koyunjik  and  Neby  Yunus ;  Calah  that  of  Kalah-Sherghat,  sixty  miles 
below ;  and  Eesen  that  of  Nimrud.  In  the  book  of  Jonah  Nineveh  is 
described  as  "an  exceeding  great  city  of  three  days'  journey  "  (chap.  3  :  3). 
If  we  are  at  liberty  to  understand  these  words  of  the  circuit  of  the  quadran 
gle  above  described,  they  correspond  well  to  its  dimensions.  But  no  deci 
sive  evidence  appears  that  this  quadrangle  was  ever  enclosed  by  walls,  and 
in  other  respects  the  explanation  is  not  very  satisfactory.  Diodorus  (2.  3) 
describes  the  walls  of  Nineveh  as  one  hundred  feet  high,  and  so  broad  that 
three  chariots  might  be  driven  on  them  abreast.  Upon  the  walls  stood 
fifteen  hundred  towers,  each  two  hundred  feet  in  height. 

5.  The  prophets  foretell  the  utter  and  perpetual  desolation  of 
the  Assyrian  empire  and  Nineveh:  "He  will  stretch  out  his 
hand  against  the  north,  and  destroy  Assyria;  and  will  make 
Nineveh  a  desolation  and  dry  like  a  wilderness.  And  flocks 
shall  lie  down  in  the  midst  of  her,  all  the  beasts  of  the  nations: 


THE  EASTERN  EMPIRES.  313 

both  the  cormorant  and  the  bittern  shall  lodge  in  the  upper 
lintels  of  it ;  their  voice  shall  sing  in  the  windows ;  desolation 
shall  be  in  the  thresholds;  for  he  shall  uncover  the  cedar-work. 
This  is  the  rejoicing  city,  that  dwelt  carelessly,  that  said  in  her 
heart,  I  am,  and  there  is  none  beside  me !  how  is  she  become  a 
desolation,  a  place  for  beasts  to  lie  down  in!  every  one  that 
passeth  by  her  shall  hiss  and  wag  his  hand."  Zeph.  2  : 13-15. 
Compare  also  Isa.,  chap.  10,  and  the  book  of  Nahum  through 
out.  That  the  desolation  of  Assyria  had  been  begun  in  Eze- 
kiel's  day  we  learn  from  the  magnificent  description  of  its  fall 
in  the  thirty-first  chapter  of  his  prophecies.  "  I  made  the  na 
tions,"  says  Jehovah  (ver.  16),  "  to  shake  at  the  sound  of  his 
fall,  when  I  cast  him  down  to  hell  with  them  that  descend  into 
the  pit."  The  completeness  of  this  desolation  through  many 
successive  centuries  is  a  solemn  pledge  to  the  world  that  ah1 
God's  threatenings,  as  well  as  his  promises,  shall  be  fulfilled  in 
their  season. 

6.  We  notice  very  briefly  some  other  places  mentioned  by 
the  sacred  writers  in  connection  with  Assyria. 

In  2  Kings  17  :6,  "  Halah  and  Habor,  the  river  of  Gozan"  are  named 
as  places  to  which  the  king  of  Assyria  transported  a  part  of  the  captive 
Israelites.  In  1  Chron.  5  : 26,  Hara  is  added.  All  these  places  are  proba 
bly  to  be  sought  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Chaboras  in  Mesopotamia. 
See  above,  Chap.  10,  No.  5.  In  2  Kings  17  :  24,  we  read  that  the  king  of 
Assyria  brought  colonists  from  Babylon,  Cuthah,  Ava,  Hamath,  and  Seph- 
arvaim,  and  placed  them  in  Samaria  instead  of  the  Israelites  i  and  in 
2  Kings  19  : 12,  13,  Rabshakeh  names  among  the  places  destroyed  by  the 
same  king,  Gozan,  Haran,  Rezeph,  the  children  of  Eden  which  were  in 
Thelasar,  Hamath,  Arpad,  Sepharvaim,  Hena,  and  Ivah.  Of  Gozan  and 
Haran  in  Mesopotamia  and  Hamath  in  Syria  on  the  Orontes  we  have 
already  spoken  ;  and  Babylon,  Sepharvaim,  and.  Cuthah  will  come  up  for 
consideration  hereafter.  Ava  and  Ivah  are  probably  identical,  and  their 
site  to  be  sought  in  Syria  or  Mesopotamia.  Rezeph  is  thought  to  be  iden 
tical  with  Resepha  of  Ptolemy,  a  city  in  the  region  of  Palmyra  west  of  the 
Euphrates.  Of  Cuthah  and  the  children  of  Eden  in  Thelasar  we  know  noth 
ing  definite.  From  its  connection  in  the  context,  the  region  would  seem  to 
have  been  in  Upper  Mesopotamia.  Arpad  is  always  mentioned  in  con 
nection  with  Hamath.  Hence  we  infer  that  it  was  one  of  the  lost  cities  of 
Syria.  Of  Hena  nothing  definite  is  known. 


314  SACKED   GEOGRAPHY. 


II.     CHALD^EA  AND  BABYLONIA. 

7.  As  in  the  case  of  Assyria,  we  must  here  also  distinguish 
carefully  between  the  ancient  countries  of  Chaldaea  and  Baby 
lonia  and  the  Chaldaean  or  Babylonian  empire.  Chaldcea  proper 
Avas,  according  to  Strabo  (16.  1.  6)  and  Ptolemy  (5.  20)  a  coun 
try  at  the  head  of  the  Persian  gulf  and  bordering  on  Arabia.  It 
was,  therefore,  the  southern  part  of  Babylonia  (as  the  whole  region 
was  called  south  of  Assyria  and  Mesopotamia),  and  lay  between 
the  Arabian  desert  on  the  west  and  Susiana  beyond  the  Tigris 
and  Shat-el-Arab  on  the  east.  But  the  term  Chaldaea  came 
afterwards  to  be  used  in  a  wider  sense  of  the  Babylonian  king 
dom  generally.  The  term  Chaldaeans  (Heb.  Chasdim)  is  also  em 
ployed  in  a  special  sense  (Dan.  2  :  2,  4)  for  learned  men,  particu 
larly  astrologers,  a  usage  which  prevails  among  profane  writers 
also,  and  had  its  origin  in  the  fact  that  the  Babylonians  were 
especially  devoted  to  the  study  of  astronomy  and  astrology. 
See  in  Alexander's  Kitto  the  article  on  Chaldaean  Philosophy. 

The  region  now  under  consideration  must  be  regarded  with  deep  inter 
est  by  the  biblical  student.  There  is,  as  lias  been  already  shown  (Chap. 
10,  No.  4),  an  increasing  inclination  among  biblical  scholars  to  find  here 
Ur  of  the  Chakkes.  Here  also,  as  we  learn  from  Gen.  10  : 10,  was  the  land 
of  Shinar,  embracing  the  level  plain  between  the  lower  Tigris  and  the 
Euphrates,  the  site  of  Babylon,  Erech,  Accad,  and  Calneh,  where  we  find 
the  human  family  not  long  after  the  deluge,  occupied  in  building  the  tower 
of  Babel^  where  the  confusion  of  tongues  took  place,  and  whence  the  human 
race  was  scattered  abroad  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth.  Gen. ,  chap.  11. 

Somewhere  on  the  Euphrates  we  must  look  also  for  the  Garden  of  Eden. 
It  is  manifest  from  the  narrative  in  Gen.  2  :  8-14  that  Moses  means  to  give 
an  intelligible  account  of  Eden  and  its  garden,  and  that  two  of  the  rivers 
of  Eden  were  the  Hiddekel  (that  is,  according  to  constant  scriptural  usage, 
the  Tigris)  and  the  Euphrates.  The  choice  for  the  site  of  Eden  lies  be 
tween  the  upper  waters  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  in  Armenia,  and  the 
lower  waters  of  the  Euphrates  in  ancient  Chaldrea  below  the  junction  of  the 
Tigris,  the  united  stream  being  now  called  Shat-el-Arab.  If  we  reckon 
downward,  namely,  from  the  garden,  we  have  four  streams,  all  proceeding 
from  Eden,  which  must  then  be  sought  in  Armenia.  But  if  we  reckon 
upward,  we  have  the  river  that  waters  the  garden  parted  thence— -fork'm y, 
as  we  say  in  English — into  four  head-streams,  and  Chaldroa  will  then  be 


THE  EASTERN   EMPIRES.  315 

the  site  of  the  garden.  We  cannot  enter  upon  the  discussion  of  this  diffi 
cult  question  farther  than  simply  to  remark  that  no  valid  argument  can  be 
drawn  against  the  lower  site  from  its  present  unhealthiness,  since  it  is  a 
fact  that  the  human  family  after  the  deluge  selected  this  region  as  their 
home,  and  that  it  was  once  exceedingly  populous,  and  abounds  throughout 
with  the  ruins  of  ancient  cities,  some  of  them  of  great  extent.  In  the 
primitive  ages  and  to  the  primitive  race  of  man  its  climate  was  manifestly 
salubrious,  and  its  extreme  fertility  is  admitted  by  all  writers. 

8.  We  have  indications  of  a  Babylonian  kingdom  in  the 
days  of  Abraham ;  for  among  the  confederate  kings  who  attacked 
the  cities  of  the  plain  was  Amraphel  king  of  Shinar  (Gen.  14 : 1, 
9).     The  Chaldrean  inscriptions  also  determine  the  fact  that  an 
empire  existed  here  from  very  early  times.     But  the  Chaldrean 
empire  of  the  books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles  first  comes  into 
notice  in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  to  whom  Merodach-baladan 
king  of  Babylon  sent  letters  and  a  present  upon  the  occasion 
of  his  recovery  from  sickness.     2  Kings  20  : 12. 

Babylon  was  not  yet,  however,  the  paramount  power  of  the 
East,  but  rather  only  a  secondary  kingdom,  seeking  to  strengthen 
itself  by  an  alliance  with  the  Jewish  people.  About  a  century 
later  the  Chaldaean  monarchy  suddenly  appears  under  Nebu 
chadnezzar  as  an  all-powerful  empire,  extending  its  conquests 
over  Syria,  Palestine,  Egypt,  and  the  adjacent  regions.  By 
Nebuchadnezzar  Jerusalem  was  destroyed  with  its  temple  B.  c. 
588.  Several  deportations  of  the  Jews  to  Babylon  are  men 
tioned  by  Jeremiah,  the  most  important  of  which  were  that  of 
Jehoiachin  with  the  princes,  chief  men,  and  artificers  of  Judaea 
(2  Kings  24 : 14) ;  and  that  of  the  final  destruction  of  the  city 
(2  Kings  25  : 11). 

Respecting  the  date  from  which  the  seventy  years  of  the  Babylonish 
captivity  should  be  reckoned  there  are  various  opinions.  One  method  is 
to  reckon  from  the  destruction  of  the  te  nple  B.  c.  588  to  the  rebuilding 
of  the  same,  a  work  that  was  completed  in  the  sixth  year  of  Darius  (Ezra 
6  : 15)  about  B.  c.  515.  Another  mode  of  reckoning  is  from  the  captivity 
of  certain  selected  persons  of  whom  Daniel  was  one,  about  B.  c.  606,  to 
the  decree  of  Cyrus  for  liberating  the  Jews  B.  c.  436. 

9.  Of  the  renowned  city  of  Babylon,  "the  glory  of  kingdoms, 
the  beauty  of  the  Chaldees'  excellency,"  the  ancient  profane 


316  SACKED  GEOGKAPHY. 

writers  speak  in  glowing  terms.  They  describe  the  city  as  a 
vast  square  lying  on  both  sides  of  the  Euphrates,  enclosed  by  a 
double  line  of  high  walls,  the  outer  wall  being  surrounded  by  a 
broad  and  deep  inoat  full  of  water.  In  the  circuit  of  the  wall 
were  a  hundred  brazen  gates,  twenty-five  on  each  side,  with 
streets  running  from  gate  to  gate  and  crossing  each  other  at 
right  angles.  The  city  was  divided  into  two  parts  by  the 
Euphrates,  and  along  each  bank  was  carried  a  waU  of  burnt 
brick  with  quays  and  low  gates  at  the  cross-streets  which  led 
down  on  each  side  to  the  river.  There  was  but  a  single  bridge  in 
the  middle  of  the  square  connecting  the  two  parts  of  the  city. 

According  to  Herodotus  the  circuit  of  Babylon  was  four  hundred  and 
eighty  stadia,  or  about  fifty-six  miles.  Other  writers  state  it  variously  at 
from  three  hundred  and  eighty-five  to  three  hundred  and  sixty  stadia.  It 
has  been  suggested  that  possibly  Herodotus  gives  the  circuit  of  the  outer, 
the  other  writers  that  of  the  inner  wall.  Herodotus  makes  the  outer  wall 
fifty  royal  cubits  in  width  and  two  hundred  in  height,  informing  us  at  the 
same  time  that  the  royal  cubit  is  longer  by  three  fingers  breadth  than  the 
common  cubit.  But  Pliny  gives  two  hundred  feet,  and  Strabo  fifty  cubits 
for  the  height  of  the  wall.  Even  assuming  the  lowest  dimensions — those 
of  Strabo — it  is  very  surprising  that  no  relics  of  this  wall,  or  only  those  of 
a  doubtful  character  remain.  Rev.  George  Rawlinson  (in  Smith's  Bible 
Diet.)  accounts  for  its  disappearance  "by  the  constant  quarrying,  which 
would  naturally  have  commenced  with  it  (Rich,  First  Me?n.,  p.  44),  or  by 
the  subsidence  of  the  bulwark  into  the  moat  from  which  it  was  raised." 

The  manner  in  which  Cyrus,  at  the  head  of  the  united  armies  of  Media 
and  Persia,  took  the  city  of  Babylon  is  well  known.  During  a  night  of 
feasting  and  revelry  he  diverted  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates  into  an  old 
canal  and  reservoir,  and  entering  by  the  channel  of  the  river  gained  access 
to  the  city  by  the  river  gates  which  had  been  carelessly  left  open.  "  On 
account  of  the  great  size  of  the  city,"  says  Herodotus  (1.  191),  "after  its 
extremities  had  been  taken,  the  inhabitants  of  the  central  part  (as  the  res 
idents  of  Babylon  declare),  knew  not  that  they  were  captives,  but,  as  they 
happened  to  be  engaged  in  a  festival,  continued  in  the  meantime  to  dance 
and  revel  until  they  learned  for  a  certainty  what  had  taken  place."  Thus 
was  fulfilled  the  striking  prediction  of  Jeremiah  (chap.  51:31):  "  One  post 
shall  run  to  meet  another,  and  one  messenger  to  meet  another,  to  show 
the  king  of  Babylon  that  his  city  is  taken  at  the  extremity. "  Belshazzar,  the 
son  of  the  reigning  monarch,  was  then  in  command  of  the  city  and  was 
slain  by  the  conquerors.  The  actual  conquest  was  by  Cyrus,  but  ' '  Darius 
the  Mede"  became  for  a  time  the  titular  ruler  of  Babylon. 


THE  EASTERN  EMPIRES.  317 

10.  Of  other  Babylonian  cities  a  brief  notice  must  suffice. 

In  Gen.  10  : 10,  "  Erech,  and  Accad,  and  Calneh"  are  named  with  Baby 
lon  as  cities  in  the  land  of  Shinar.  Erech  is  regarded  as  identical  with 
Orchoe  of  the  Greeks,  on  the  Euphrates  eighty-two  miles  south  and  forty- 
three  east  from  Babylon,  celebrated  for  its  immense  mounds.  It  is  now  in 
the  midst  of  the  marshes  of  the  lofver  Euphrates.  Calneh  (called  also  Col- 
no,  Isa,  10  :  9,  with  which  the  Canneh  of  Ezekiel  (chap.  27  :  23)  is  probably 
identical)  is  probably  the  site  of  the  modern  Niffer  about  sixty  miles  east- 
southeast  of  Babylon  in  the  marshes  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Euphrates. 
Of  the  site  of  Accad  nothing  certain  is  known. 

To  Babylonia  belonged  also  Sepharvaim,  probably  Sipphara  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Euphrates  above  Babylon. 

III.     THE    MEDES    AND    PERSIANS. 

11.  Ancient  Media  consisted  of  two  provinces,    Upper   and 
Lower  Media.     Upper  Media,  afterwards  called  Atropatene,  was 
a  mountainous  region  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  river  Cyrus 
(the  modern  Kur),  east  by  the  Caspian  sea,  west  by  Armenia, 
and  south  by  Lower  Media.     It  thus  embraced  the  lake  now 
called  Oroomiah  with  the  fertile  plain  adjacent  to  it.     Lower 
Media  was  separated  on  the  west  from  Assyria  and  Babylonia 
by  the  Zagros  mountains.     It  had  Susiana  and  Persia  on  the 
south,  and  on  the  east  the  great  salt  desert,  beyond  which  to 
the  northeast  lay  Parthia.     Towards  the  west  this  region  is 
mountainous,  well  watered,  richly  wooded  and  fertile.     Towards 
the  east  and  southeast  it  is  arid,  rocky  and  sandy,  supporting 
with  difficulty  a  sparse  population.     It  thus  appears  that  Upper 
Media  corresponded  nearly  to  the  modern  Persian  province  of 
Azerbijan ;  while  Lower  Media  contained  all  Irak  Ajemi  and 
Ardelan,  with  part  of  Kurdistan  and  Luristan. 

12.  The  result  of  modern  investigation  is  thought  to  show 
that'two  cities  of  the  name  of  Ecbatana  existed  in  ancient  times, 
one  the  capital  of  Upper,  the  other  of  Lower  Media.     If  so,  the 
explanation  undoubtedly  is  that  the  word  Ecbatana  was  origi 
nally  an  appellative  noun.     According  to  Sir  H.  Eawlinson,  as 
quoted  in  Kitto,  it  was  a  title  "applied  exclusively  to  cities 
having  a  fortress  for  the  protection  of  the  royal  treasures." 
However  this  may  be,  there  is  no  good  ground  for  doubting  that 


318  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 


the  Aclinicllid  of  Ezra  6:2  in  the  province  of  the  Medes  was  the 
Ecbatana  of  Lower  Media,  the  site  of  the  modern  Haw  H  Inn. 

The  site  of  Ecbatana  of  Upper  Media  is  thought  to  have  been  the  re 
markable  ruins  called  Takht-i-  Suleiman  in  latitude  thirty-six  degrees  twen 
ty-eight  minutes  north,  longitude  forty-seven  degrees  nine  minutes  east 
from  Greenwich.  Hamadan,  the  Achmefha  of  Scripture,  lies  in  a  plain  at 
the  base  of  the  Elwend  mountains  a  little  south  of  the  thirty-fifth  parallel 
of  north  latitude,  and  about  longitude  forty-eight  and  a  half  degrees  east. 
The  true  ancient  name,  as  appears  from  the  cuneiform  inscriptions,  was 
Hagmatan,  and  from  this  the  form  Agbaiana,  as  Herodotus  writes  it  (1.  98) 
is  easily  derived  by  a  single  interchange  between  the  cognate  letters  m 
and  b. 

13.  Persia,  in  the  more   limited  sense  of  the  word,  was  a 
region  lying  on  the  Persian  gulf  between  Caramania  on  the  east 
and  Susiana  on  the  west,  and  of  which  Persepolis  was  the  cap 
ital  in  latitude  thirty  degrees  north  and  longitude  fifty-three 
degrees  east.     But  the  term  is  frequently  used  in  a  more  extend 
ed  sense  for  the  empire  of  the  Persians,  which  at  one  time  ex 
tended  from  India  to  Ethiopia.     Esther  1  :  1.     Elam  was  the 
Cissia  of  Herodotus  (3.  91  ;  5.  49,  etc.),  Sitsa  being  its  capital. 
The  Greek  and  Roman  writers  call  the  same  region  Susiana. 
It  lay  on  the  Persian  gulf  between  the  Tigris  and  Shat-el-Arab 
on  the  west  and  Persia  proper  on  the  east,  and  was  in  Old  Tes 
tament  times  a  part  of  the  Persian  empire. 

Susa  was  undoubtedly  the  Shuslian  of  Dan.  8:2;  Neh.  1:1;  Esther 
1:2,  5.  It  was  the  winter  residence  of  the  Persian  monarchs  and  lay  upon 
the  banks  of  the  river  called  by  Herodotus,  Strabo  and  Curtius  Choaspes, 
but  by  Pliny  and  Arrian  Eulceus,  which  is  believed  with  good  reason  to  be 
the  Ulai  of  Dan.  8  :  2.  The  probable  explanation  of  this  confusion  in 
respect  to  the  name  of  the  river  is  that  the  Choaspes  (the  modern  Kerkhah) 
anciently  sent  off  a  branch  to  the  Pasitigris  (Karuji)  which  flowed  a  little 
to  the  east  of  Susa.  This  branch  sometimes  bore  the  name  of  the  original 
stream  Choaspes,  but  was  properly  called  Ulai.  See  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet., 
art.,  Susa. 

The  modern  name  of  this  district  is  Khusistan.  Upon  the  supposition 
that  the  garden  of  Eden  lay  in  this  region  the  part  encompassed  by  the 
Choaspes  may  be  regarded  as  the  Gush  of  Gen.  2  :  13. 

14.  Media  and  Persia  appear  in  Scripture  in  close  connec 
tion  with  each  other.    So  far  as  fas  empires  which  they  founded 


THE   EASTERN     KMPIJIES.  31(J 

are  concerned,  their  mutual  relation  is  well  given  in  Daniel's 
vision  of  the  ram  "which  had  two  horns;  and  the  two  horns 
were  high ;  but  one  was  higher  than  the  other,  and  the  higher 
came  up  last."  Chap.  8: 3.  The  earlier  and  lower  horn  represents 
Media;  the  later  and  higher,  Persia.  Respecting  the  time  when 
the  petty  princes  of  Media  united  their  forces  to  form  a  proper 
Median  monarchy  there  is  some  uncertainty.  But  we  know 
that  the  Median  king  Cyaxares  in  alliance  with  the  Babylonians 
invaded  Assyria  and  captured  Nineveh  B.  c.  625,  while  Persia 
held  as  yet  a  very  subordinate  place.  With  the  elder  Cyrus, 
B.  c.  588,  began  the  supremacy  of  the  Persian  power,  and  the 
Persian  empire  attained  to  a  greatness  far  beyond  that  of  the 
Median. 

The  book  of  Esther  gives  a  most  vivid  and  truthful  picture  of  the  mag 
nitude  and  splendor  of  the  Persian  monarchy,  extending  from  India  to 
Ethiopia  over  a  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces.  Every  thing  about 
the  empire  is  thoroughly  oriental — the  magnificent  display  of  the  mon 
arch's  wealth  during  a  feast  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  days  :  the  numer 
ous  harem  to  fill  which  the  whole  empire  was  searched ;  the  removal  of 
one  queen  and  the  elevation  of  another  to  her  dignity  at  the  royal  pleas 
ure  ;  the  administration  of  the  government  by  favorite  servants,  subject  to 
sudden  elevation  and  equally  sudden  overthrow ;  the  hasty  issuing  of  edicts 
involving  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  many  thousands  ;  the  seclusion  of  the 
king's  person,  and  the  rigid  etiquette  to  be  observed  by  those  who  would 
approach  him  ;  the  seclusion  also  of  his  wives  and  concubines ;  the  most 
life-like  account  of  Haman's  vanity,  insolence,  and  malice,  and  the  provi 
dence  which  overthrew  him  and  advanced  Mordecai  to  his  place — all  these 
strokes  of  the  narrative  give  us  an  interior  view  of  life  at  a  Persian  court, 
such  as  no  other  history  furnishes.  Such  was  this  rani  of  Persia,  till  the 
Macedonian  he-goat  from  the  west  smote  him,  brake  his  two  horns,  and 
trampled  him  in  the  dust.  Dan.  8  : 5-7. 

Upon  his  accession  to  the  throne  Cyrus  liberated  the  captive  Jews 
(Ezra,  chap.  1),  and  permitted  them  to  return  to  their  own  land.  The 
Persian  monarch  seem  always  to  have  cherished  a  friendly  spirit  towards 
the  Jews.  But  in  consequence  of  their  great  distance  from  the  seat  of  the 
empire,  they  suffered  much  from  the  intrigues  and  misrepresentations  of 
their  enemies,  who  succeeded,  by  means  of  false  statements  skilfully  made, 
in  hindering  the  rebuilding  the  temple  for  the  space  of  several  years,  and 
also  continually  annoyed  Neheiniah  in  his  work  as  governor  of  Judaea. 


320  SACKED   GEOUKAPHY. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

OTHER  DEMOTE  REGIONS. 

1.  IN  the  apostolic  age  all  the  countries  that  have  been  de 
scribed  constituted  provinces  of  the  great  Roman  empire.    But 
Italy  itself,  the  weat  of  this  empire,  is  rarely  mentioned,  and  then 
only  in  general  terms.     Spain  is  named  only  in  a  single  chap 
ter,  and  Gaul  and  Britain  not  at  all.     The  few  Italian  towns  to 
which  reference  is  made  in  the  New  Testament  have  been  al 
ready  noticed.     Rome  itself,  at  that  time  the  capital  and  mis 
tress  of  the  world,  lay  on  the  western  side  of  Italy,  on  the  Tiber, 
about  fifteen  miles  from  its  mouth.     It  is  not  necessary  for  the 
purposes   of  biblical  illustration  to  enter  at   large  upon   the 
geography  of  this  mighty  city,  farther  than  to  say  that,  although 
it  was  the  seat  and  centre  of  the  Latin  tongue,  the  Greek  lan 
guage  and  literature  had  pervaded  it  in  the  days  of  the  apos 
tles  to  a  wonderful  extent,  and  had  become  the  language  not 
only  of  educated  men  but  of  commerce  also,  and  was  extensive 
ly  used  by  the  masses.     This  may  explain  why,  in  writing  to 
the  church  in  Rome,  the  apostle  did  not  hesitate  to  employ  the 
Greek  language,  as  he  did  also  in  his  other  epistles.     See  Com 
panion  to  the  Bible,  chap.  24,  No.  4. 

2.  Passing  eastward  we  have  the  ancient  Armenia  lying  be 
tween  the  range  of  Caucasus  on  the  north  and  a  branch  of  the 
Taurus  on  the  south,  and  having  Asia  Minor  on  the  west,  and 
on  the   south  Mesopotamia   and   Assyria.      This   magnificent 
region,  which  gives  rise  to  the  great  rivers  Euphrates  and  Tigris 
that  flow  southeast  into  the  Persian  gulf;  the  Araxes  and  Kur 
that  run  eastward  into  the  Caspian  sea;  and  several  smaller 
streams  that  empty  into  the  Black  sea,  is  in  general  an  elevated 
plateau   with    mountainous  chains  having  a  general  direction 
from  east  to  west,  and  connected  with  each  other  by  transverse 
ridges.    The  word  Armenia  does  not  occur  in  the  Hebrew.    This 


OTHER  REMOTE    REGIONS.  321 

speaks  of  the  mountains  of  Ararat  (Gen.  8:4),  of  tltt  lan<l  <>f 
Ararat  (Eng.  ver.  land  of  Armenia,  2  Kings  19 : 37);  and  of  the 
kingdoms  of  Ararat,  Minni,  and  Aslikenaz  (Jer.  51 : 27) ;  in  all 
which  passages  Ararat  is  not  a  particular  mountain,  but  a 
mountainous  region,  undoubtedly  that  of  Armenia  or  a  part  of 
Armenia. 

In  modern  usage  Ararat  is  the  name  of  a  stupendous  mountain  of  vol 
canic  origin  that  "rises  immediately  out  of  tho  plain  of  the  Araxes,  and 
terminates  in  two  conical  peaks,  named  the  Great  and  Less  Ararat,  about 
seven  miles  distant  from  each  other,  the  former  of  which  attains  an  eleva 
tion  of  seventeen  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea,  and  about  fourteen  thousand  feet  above  the  plain  .of  the  Araxes, 
while  the  latter  is  lower  by  four  thousand  feet.  The  summit  of  the  higher 
is  covered  with  eternal  snow  for  about  three  thousand  feet  of  perpendicu 
lar  height,"  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  art.,  Ararat.  The  view  of  the  mountain 
rising  majestically  into  the  blue  sky,  and  glittering  beneath  the  beams  of 
an  unclouded  sun,  is  described  as  exceedingly  imposing  and  majestic. 
There  is,  however,  no  valid  ground  for  supposing  that  the  ark  of  Noah 
rested  on  one  of  these  two  peaks.  "The  mountains  of  Armenia"  describe, 
in  Scripture  language,  the  mountainous  region  of  Armenia,  not  these  two 
prominent  peaks.  With  this  general  information  we  must  be  content. 

Togarmali,  as  already  stated  (Chap.  10,  No.  30),  was  probably  either 
Armenia  or  a  district  of  that  country..  Minni  and  Ashkenaz,  if  not  prov 
inces  of  Armenia,  must  have  been  situated  in  its  near  vicinity.  Of  their 
exact  position  we  have  no  certain  knowledge. 

3.  In  Ezekiel  (chap.  38 : 2)  th'e  prophet  is  commanded  to 
prophecy  "  against  Gog,  the  land  of  Magog,  the  chief  prince  of 
Meshech  and  Tubal,"  as  our  version  reads.  But  a  better  ren 
dering  is :  "  against  Gog,  the  land  of  Magog,  the  prince  of  Kosh, 
Meshech,  and  Tubal;"  and  so  also  in  ver.  3.  Magog  will  then 
be  the  land  over  which  Gog  rules,  and  Bosh,  Mesliech,  and  Tubal 
kingdoms  subordinate  to  him.  Mesliech  and  Tubal,  as  already 
shown  (Chap.  10,  No.  30),  were  the  Mosclri  and  Tibareni  occupy 
ing  the  southeastern  shore  of  the  Black  sea.  Eosh  will  then  be, 
in  all  probability  a  more  northern  tribe  beyond  the  Caucasus ; 
and  may  be,  as  has  been  suggested  by  several  writers,  identical 
with  the  Russians,  whose  original  home  seems  to  have  been 
upon  the  Volga.  Gomer  and  all  his  band?  (ver.  6)  is  thought  to 

14* 


322  SACRED  GEOGRAPHY. 

be  the  Cimmerians  living  north  of  the  Black  sea.  The  land  of 
Magog  in  the  recesses  of  the  north  (ver.  15)  would  seem  to  be  a 
general  designation  for  the  vast  northern  region  beyond  the 
Caucasus  known  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans  as  Scythia,  of  which 
the  boundaries  were  very  indefinite. 

The  prophecies  of  Ezekiel  concerning  the  great  invasion  of  the  cove 
nant  people  by  Gog  and  his  allies  relate  to  "the  latter  years"  (chap.  38  : 8), 
and  their  fulfilment  can  alone  furnish  an  adequate  interpretation  of  thorn. 

4.  India  (Heb.  Hoddu  for  Hondu)  is  mentioned  only  in  the 
book  of  Esther  (chaps.  1:1;  8:9),  and  is  not  to  be  understood 
as  including  the  peninsula  of  modern  India,  which  Avas  certainly 
never  under  Persian  rule.     The  India  described  by  Herodotus 
(3.  98)  includes  apparently  the  Punjaub  on  the  upper  Indus, 
perhaps  also  Scinde  in  part  on  the  lower  Indus;  for  he  tells  us 
that  eastward  of  India  lies  a  tract  that  is  all  sand. 

On  the  Eastern  monarchies  generally  the  reader  is  referred 
to  Rawlinson's  Ancient  Monarchies.  In  this  work  the  author 
treats  at  length  of  the  early  Chaldean,  the  Assyrian,  the  Me 
dian,  the  Babylonian,  and  the  Persian  monarchies. 

•' 

5.  In  Isa.  49 : 12  the  prophet,  speaking  of  the  flow  of  the 
nations  to  Zion  in  the  latter  day  says :  "  Behold,  these  shall 
come  from  far;  and  lo,  these  from  the  north  and  west;  and 
these  from  the  land  of  Sinim,"  where  the  context  implies  a 
people  living  in  the  remote  east  or  south.    Many  biblical  schol 
ars  believe  that  the  Sinim  are  the  Chinese,  whose  country  was 
anciently  called  by  the  Arabians  Sin.     This  is,  at  all  events, 
the  most  probable  view ;  and  the  providence  of  God  seems  to  be 
preparing  the  way,  in  a  most  remarkable  manner,  for  the  ful 
filment  of  the  prophecy. 


APPENDIX  I. 


ON  THE  PRONUNCIATION  OF  ARABIC  NAMES,  AND  THE  MEANING 
OF  CERTAIN  COMMON  ARABIC  TERMS. 

1.  THE  long  vowels  are  indicated  in  the  English  representations  of  them,  by 
the  circumflex  accent.     Their  powers  are  as  follows : 

a  is  pronounced,  according  to  the  consonants  with  which  it  is  connected, 
like  the  English  a  in  hare,  in  father,  or  in  call.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to 
indicate  these  distinctions.  Examples  are :  bob,  gate;  ras,  head,  cape;  sahib,  lord, 
sir. 

i  represents  the  English  ee  in  feel,  or  the  French  i  in  machine;  as  in  bir,  well. 

d  represents  in  English  o  in  note;  as  in  ghor,  a  long  valley  between  mountainous 
ridges. 

u  represents  in  English  oo  in  fool;  as  in  tur,  mountain. 

Of  the  diphthongal  combinations,  au  is  pronounced  like  ow  in  now;  and  ai 
nearly  like  long  i  in  pine.  Examples  are :  gJiaul,  a  demon,  evil  spirit;  ain,  fountain. 
The  combination  ei  represents,  in  imitation*  of  the  Arabic,  the  simple  long  sound 
of  the  English  a  in  hate,  or  ei  in  vein.  Thus  belt,  house,  place,  is  sounded  to 
rhyme  with  hate. 

The  short  vowels  are  pronounced  nearly  like  the  corresponding  English 
vowels  ;  but  o  is  the  German  o,  as  in  Dorfer.  Examples  are :  ramleh,  sand;  wely 
(rhyming  with  jetty),  saints  tomb;  dibs,  honey,  syrup  of  grapes;  burr  (like  u  in 
but),  land;  khubz  (like  u  in  pull),  bread.  Short  u  has  also  frequently  the  sound 
of  the  French  u,  as  in  um,  mother. 

2.  In  respect  to  the  Arabic  consojiants,  we  need  only  notice  the  following 
particulars. 

dh  represents  the  sound  of  the  English  th  in  this. 

th  represents  the  sharp  sound  of  tk  in  thick. 

kh  represents  a  sound  not  existing  in  English.  It  is  a  breathing  made  rough 
by  the  tremulous  motion  of  the  epiglottis. 

gh  represents  a  deep  guttural,  having  no  corresponding  sound  in  English. 
The  reader  may,  if  he  choose,  pronounce  kh  and  gh  as  k  and  hard  g  in  go. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  represent  the  Arabic  letter  ain,  or  the  different 
modifications  which  several  consonants  (h,  d,  k,  t,  s)  have  in  Arabic. 

3.  The  Arabic  definite  article  is  el;  as  el-Gh6r,  the  Oh&r.      Before  certain 


324  APPENDIX   I. 

letters— the  so-called  solar— it  is  assimilated  :  as,  d-Tur,  the  mountain;  esh-Shenf. 
the  noble. 

4.  The  following  is  a  list  of  Arabic  names  frequently  occurring  in  books  that 
treat  of  Palestine  and  the  adjacent  regions. 

Abu  (in  construction),  father  of,  as  Abu  Zeitun,  father  of  olives. 

Am,  fountain  ;  plural,  Ayun. 

Bab,  gate. 

Bahr,  sea. 

Bedawy,  plural  Bedawln,  the  name  applied  to  the  nomadic  Arabs.     It  prop 
erly  signifies  men  of  the  desert  or  camp. 

Beit,  house,  place. 

Belad,  district. 

Mr,  well. 

Birkeh,  in  construction   Birket,  pool ;  as,  birket  es-Sultun,  pool  of  the  Sultan. 
'Burj,  castle. 

Deir,  convent. 

Emir,  prince,  chief. 

Qhor,  a  long  valley  between  mountainous  ridges.     El-Ghdr  is  the  Jordan 
valley. 

Haram,  forbidden,  that  is,  to  common  use  or  access ;  and  thence,  sacred. 
M-Saram  is  the  sacred  enclosure  at  Jerusalem  and  Hebron. 

Ibn,  son ;  plural  (in  construction),  Beni,  sons  of ;  as,  Beni  Sukhr,  name  of 
an  Arabian  tribe. 

Jebel,  mountain;  plural,  Jebal. 

Jisr,  bridge. 

Keb\r,  great;  el-Kebir,  the  river  Meutherus. 

Kefr,  village.  . 

Khan,  caravansary. 

JKurn,  horn ;  plural,  Kur&n. 

Kusr,  castle. 

Merj,  meadow. 

Nahr,  river. 

Neby,  prophet. 

Nukb,  pass. 

Has,  head,  cape. 

Sheikh,  elder,  chief. 

Shertah,  watering-place  ;  esh-Sheriah  is  the  Jordan. 
Shertf,  noble. 

Tell,  hill. 

Um,  mother. 

Wady,  torrent-bed,  valley  between  hills. 

Wely,  saint's  tomb.    . 


APPENDIX  II. 


ON  THE  CANAANITISH  TRIBES  DESTEOYED  BY  THE  ISRAELITES. 

1.  OF  these,  the  Hittites,  Jebusites,  Amorites,  Girgashites,  and  Hivites  are 
expressly  referred  to  Canaan  the  fourth  son  of  Ham  as  their  ancestor  (Gen. 
10:15-17).     The  Canaanites  in  the  restricted  sense  of  the  term,  as  one  of  the 
tribes  descended  from  Canaan  and  retaining  the  name  of  their  progenitor,  must 
of  course  be  included.      Of  the  seven  tribes,   then,  enumerated  in  Deut.  7:1 
and  Joshua  3:10;  24:11,  or  the  six  elsewhere  named  with  the  omission  of  the 
Girgashites  (Exod.  3:8,  17;  33:2;  34:11;  Josh.  9:1;  11:3),  all  but  the  Perizzites 
are  descendants  of  Canaan.     "We  read  (Gen.  13:7)  that  in  Abraham's  day  "the 
Canaanite  and  the  Perizzite  were  then  dwelling  in  the  land ;"  where  the  term 
4 '  Canaanite  "  is  best  taken  in  its  general  sense  of  the  descendants  of  Canaan, 
and  the  "Perizzite"  as  distinguished  from  them.     See  also  Judges  1:4,  5. 

2.  The  Cauaanites  are  generally  regarded  as  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the 
land.     But  the  words  of  Moses,  "The  Canaanite  was  then  in  the  land"  (Gen. 
12:6),  and  a^so  those  above  quoted,  "The  Canaanite  and  the  Perizzite  were  then 
dwelling  in  the  land,"  seem  to  intimate  the  comparatively  recent  arrival  of  the 
Canaanites  and  Perizzites,  and  to  furnish  ground  for  the  hypothesis  that  before 
them  were  other  tribes,  of  whom  the  Rephaim  and  Anakim  may  have  been  rem 
nants.     We  know  that  the  Avim  in  the  southwestern  border  of  Palestine  were 
dispossessed  by  the  Philistines  (Deut.  2:23),  the  Horim  in  Mount  Seir  by  the 
Edomites  (ver.  22),  and  the  Emiui  and  Zamzummin  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan  by 
the  Moabites  and  Ammonites  (verses  12,  20). 

3.  For  the  explanation  of  the  term  Canaan  it  is  not  necessary  that  we  resort 
to  any  etymological  derivation — Canaan,  lowland,  from  a  Hebrew  root  signifying 
to  be  low.    It  is  called  the  land  of  Canaan  because  there  the  descendants  of  Canaan 
settled  (Gen.  10:19).     In  like  manner  the  term  Canaanite  is  sometimes  applied, 
in  a  general  sense,  to  all  the  descendants  of  Canaan  dwelling  west  of  the  Jordan, 
as  in  the  passages  already  referred  to  (Gen.  10:18,  19  ;  12:6  ;  13:7);  and  perhaps 
also  to  all  the  tribes  without  exception  of  the  Perizzites.     Examples  are,  Gen. 
24:3,  37,  compared  with  28:6,  8  ;  also  Num.  14:45  ;  Judg.  1: 10,  where  the  inhab 
itants  of  the  mountainous  regions  around  and  south  of  Hebron,  which  was  the 
proper  home  of  the  Amorites  and  other  mountain  tribes  (Num.   13:29;  Josh. 
11:3),  are  called  Canaanites. 


326  AL'I'KN  IH  X    II. 

4.  The  particular  tribes  of  the  land  of  Canaan  are  often  enumerated  in  tin- 
Pentateuch  and  the  book  of  Joshua.  The  first  list  is  found  in  Gen.  15:19-21. 
It  comprises  the  Kenite,  Kenizzite,  Kadmonite,  Hittite,  Perizzite,  Rephairn, 
Amorite,  Canaanite,  Girgashite,  and  Jebusite— ten  tribes  in  all.  Of  these  the 
Kenite,  Kenizzite,  Kadmonite,  and  Rephaim  do  not  appear  in  any  of  the  later 
lists  ;  either  because  they  had  been  absorbed  in  the  other  tribes,  or  because  they 
lived  without  the  limits  of  the  region  actually  conquered  by  the  Israelites,  or 
because,  like  the  Rephaim,  they  possessed  no  independent  power  as  tribes. 
Setting  these  aside,  and  adding  the  Hivites,  who  are  not  named  in  the  primitive 
list,  perhaps  because  they  had  not  then  extended  themselves  beyond  their  proper 
home  at  the  foot  of  Lebanon  and  Hermon  (Josh.  11:3  ;  Judg.  3:3),  we  have  the 
seven  well-known  Canaanitish  tribes — the  Canaanite,  Hittite,  Hivite,  Perizzite, 
Girshashite,  Amorite,  and  Jebusite  (Deut.  7:1  ;  Josh.  3:10;  24:11);  or  omitting 
the  Girgashite,  the  six  tribes  so  often  enumerated  (Exod.  3:8,  17  ;  33:2  ;  34:11; 
Deut.  20:17  ;  Josh.  9:1  ;  11:3  ;  12:8  ;  Judg.  3:1.  In  Exod.  13:5  the  Perizzite  is 
omitted,  and  in  Exod.  23:23  three  tribes  are  named  as  representatives  of  the 
whole. 

An  examination  of  the  above  lists  shows  very  strikingly  the  absence  of  all 
attempts  to  arrange  these  tribes  in  any  fixed  order,  and  yet  a  tendency  towards 
the  following :  Canaanites,  Hittites,  Amorites,  Perizzites,  Hivites,  Jebusites.  The 
Jebusites,  as  being  the  most  local  and  limited,  stand  last,  except  in  Josh.  11:3, 
where  the  enumeration  is  closed  with  the  Hivites,  apparently  because  of  the 
explanatory  addition,  "under  Hermon  in  the  laud  of  Mizpeh."  Leaving  out  of 
account  the  four  tribes  named  only  in  the  primitive  list,  and  also  the  Girgashites 
who  are  named  but  four  times,  and  reckoning  the  normal  place  of  the  Perizzites 
and  Hivites  in  the  lists  from  which  they  are  omitted  as  the  fourth  and  fifth,  we 
have  in  the  ten  different  forms  of  enumeration  above  referred  to,  tVo  of  which 
occur  each  three  times  (that  of  Exod.  3:8  in  Exod.  3:17  and  Judges  3:5  ;  that  of 
Deut.  20: 17  in  Josh.  9:1  and  12:8),  the  following  order  for  each  of  the  six  tribes: 

Canaanites 4,    1,    1,    1,  2,  3,  3,  1,  1,  3  =  20 

Hittites --1,    2,    2,    3,  3,  1,  1,  2,  3,  4  ==  22 

Amorites --3,    3,    3,    2,  1,  2,  2,  5,  2,  1  =  24 

Perizzites--                             --2,    4,  [4,]  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  2  ==  36 

Hivites   [5,]  5,   5,    5,  5,  5,  5,  3,  4,  5  =  47 

Jebusites -G,    6,    6,    6,  6,  6,  6,  6,  5,  6  =  59 

The  sum  of  the  numbers  gives  the  average  order,  placing  the  Hittites  along 
with  the  Canaanites  and  Amorites  in  the  first  class  of  tribes ;  not  certainly  on 
account  of  their  military  strength,  but  rather  in  consideration  of  their  antiquity 
and  dignity. 

This  habit  of  designating  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  of  Canaan  by  an  enume 
ration  of  the  various  tribes,  shows  conclusively  that  they  were  not  organized 
under  any  central  government,  but  acted  for  the  most  part  independently  of  each 
other,  as  do  the  Arab  tribes  of  the  present  day,  forming  confederacies  only  in 


APPENDIX    II.  :J'J7 

grave  emergencies.     This  want  of  organic  union  greatly  facilitated  the  conquest 
of  the  land. 

We  add  a  brief  notice  of  the  individual  tribes. 

5.  The  Canaanites.     Of  these,  the  most  important  notice  is  contained  in  the 
following  report  of  the  spies  (Num.  13:29):  "The  Amalekites  dwell  in  the  land 
of  the  south  ;  and  the  Hittites,  and  the  Jebusites,  and  the  Amorites,  dwell  in  the 
mountains  ;  and  the  Canaanites  dwell  by  the  sea  and  by  the  coast  of  Jordan." 
The  great  Mediterranean  plain  that  stretches  from  the  southern  border  of  the 
Philistines  to  Phoenicia  (including,  as  we  may  naturally  suppose,  the  plain  of 
Esdraelon),  and  the  long  and  deep  valley  of  the  Jordan,  are  thus  assigned  to  the 
Canaanites.     They  possessed,  then,  the  richest  and  most  important  part  of  the 
country,  where  their  chariots  of  iron  gave  them  great  military  strength  (Judg. 
1:19).     Some  assume  that  the  fourth  son  of  Ham  received  the  name  Canaan, 
lowland,  from  the  circumstance  of  his  settlement  on  the  Mediterranean  coast ; 
and  that  the  tribe  of  his  descendants  that  chose  the  lowlands  for  their  home 
•were  called  Canaaniies.     But  this  is  uncertain. 

6.  The  Hittites,  so  named  from  Heth  the  second  son  of  Canaan,  occupied 
Hebron  and  the  mountainous  region  around  it  in  Abraham's  time,  and  from 
them  the  patriarch  bought  the  cave  of  Machpelah  (Gen.,  ch.  23).    We  find  them, 
with  the  Jebusites  and  Amorites,  occupying  the  same  mountainous  region  at  the 
time  of  the  exodus  (Num.  13:29);  and  they  are  frequently  mentioned  in  close 
connection  with  the  Amorites.     "The  kings  of  the  Hittites"  whom  Solomon 
furnished  with  horses  and  chariots  from  Egypt  (1  Kings  10:29),  and  whom  the 
Syrians  supposed  to  have  been  hired  against  themselves  by  the  king  of  Israel 
(2  Kings  7:6)  were  manifestly  another  and  perhaps  the  main  branch  of  the  tribe 
living  out  of  Palestine.     The  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  inscriptions  are  said  to 
indicate  that  the  valley  of  the  Orontes  was  inhabited  by  Hittites,  who  may  have 
been  those  referred  to  in  the  above  passages.     In  Josh.  1:4  "all  the  land  of  the 
Hittites  "  seems  to  be  equivalent  to  all  the  land  of  the  Canaauitish  tribes. 

7.  The  Amorites  were  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  tribes  that  occupied  the 
land  of  Canaan  at  the  time  of  the  conquest.     This  is  manifest  from  the  fact  that 
they  had  taken  possession  of  the  whole  region  east  of  the  Jordan  from  Hermon 
to  the  Arnon ;  forcing  the  Ammonites  out  of  the  western  half  of  their  territory 
(Josh.  13:25  compared  with  Deut.  2:19  and  Judg.  11:12-27),  driving  the  Moab- 
ites  south  of  the  Arnon  (Numb.  21:26),  and  establishing  two  powerful  kingdoms, 
of  which  the  northern  embracing  the  whole  region  of  Bashan  was  governed  by 
Og,  and  the  southern  by  Sihon  (Num.  21:21-35);  for  Og  and  Sihon  are  called 
"the  two  kings  of  the  Amorites  (Deut.  3:8  ;  9:10).     On  the  west  of  the  Jordan 
they  occupied  the  highlands  along  with  the  other  mountain  tribes — the  Hittites, 
Hivites,  Perizzites,  and  Jebusites.     On  account  of  their  preeminence  they  seem 
to  represent  in  some  passages  all  the  tribes  of  mountaineers,  or  even  the  inhabi 
tants  of  the  land  generally.     See  Gen.  15:16  ;  48:22  compared  with  Chap.  34:2  ; 
Josh.    9:7;  11:19  compared,  with  2  Sam.  21:2;  Josh.   10:5,   6,  etc.     The  word 
Amorite  is  thought  to  signify  Highlander;  but  this  must  not  be  understood  as  if 


3'28  APPENDIX   II. 

it  were  only  "a  local  term,  and  not  the  name  of  a  distinct  tribe"  (Smith's  Bibk 
Dictionary).  In  Deut.  7:1  they  are  expressly  described  as  one  of  the  "seven 
nations  "  whom  God  would  drive  out  before  the  Israelites. 

8.  The  Perizzites,  as  already  noticed  (No.  1  above),  do  not  appear  to  have 
belonged  to  the  descendants  of  Canaan.     In  Josh.  11:3  they  are  named  with  the 
Amorites,  Hittites,  and  Jebusites,  as  dwelling  in  the  mountain.     From  Josh. 
17:15  it  would  seem  that  they  occupied  the  hill  country  west  of  the  Jordan 
assigned  to  Ephraim  and  Manasseh.    We  know  nothing  more  definite  concerning 
them.    Inferences  from  the  etymology  of  the  name— persons  spread  abroad,  living 
in  the  open  country — are  uncertain. 

9.  The  Hiviles  appear  in  Gen.  34:2  as  inhabitants  of  Shechem  and  the  adja 
cent  region;  for  "Shechem  the  son  of  Harnor  the  Hivite"  was  "prince  of  the 
country."     They  appear  again  in  Josh.   9:7,   17;    11:19,  as  the  inhabitants  of 
Gibeon  and  the  adjacent  cities  Kephirah,  Beeroth,  and  Kiijath-jearim.     It  would 
seem,  however,  from  Josh.  11:3,  Judg.  3:3,  that  the  main  seat  of  the  tribe  was 
at  the  foot  of  Lebanon  and  Hermon.     Their  position  in  the  enumeration  of  the 
tribes  is  generally  last  but  one,  as  if  they  were  regarded  as  only  subordinate  in 
rank  and  power. 

10.  The  Jebusites  always  appear  in  connection  with  the  mountainous  region 
around  Jerusalem.     In  this  city  on  Mount  Zion  they  had  their  stronghold,  from 
which.they  were  not  expelled  till  the  time  of  David  (Josh.  15:63  ;  1  Chr.  11:4-7). 

11.  The  Girgaskiles  appear  in  the  Pentateuch  and  book  of  Joshua  only  in 
the  four  lists:  Gen.  15:19-21 ;  Deut.  7:1 ;  Josh.  3:10  ;  24:11,  and  in  the  genea 
logical  table,  Gen.  10:16.     We  know  nothing  of  their  position. 


PART  II. 


BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


PREFATORY  REMARKS. 


THE  terms  Arcliceology  from  the  Greek,  and  Antiquities  from 
the  Latin,  are  applied  to  that  department  of  history  which  treats 
of  the  customs,  institutions,  occupations,  and  modes  of  thought 
of  ancient  nations.  It  is  customary  to  limit  the  term  according 
to  the  particular  people  described,  as  Jewish  Antiquities,  Grecian 
Antiquities,  Roman  Antiquities,  etc.  The  department  of  Biblical 
Antiquities  has  for  its  office  to  present  as  perfect  a  picture  as 
possible  of  the  daily  life,  manners,  and  employments  of  the  He 
brew  people  and  the  surrounding  nations  with  which  they  were 
successively  brought  into  contact.  Its  endeavor  is  to  bring  the 
reader,  as  far  as  may  be,  to  look  upon  them  as  if  he  were  pres 
ent  among  them ;  to  understand  their  ways  of  liying,  acting,  and 
thinking ;  to  catch  their  spirit,  and  reproduce  in  thought  the  feel 
ings  by  which  they  were  actuated.  The  immense  importance  of 
this  science  to  the  full  understanding  of  the  sacred  record  is  too 
obvious  to  need  extended  illustration.  Many  declarations  of 
Holy  "Writ,  whiclrwere  plain  to  the  apprehension  of  those  for 
whom  they  were  written,  appear  to  us  obscure,  perhaps  incom 
prehensible,  because  they  refer  to  some  usage  of  which  we  are 
ignorant,  or  some  mode  of  thinking  or  reasoning  which  is  foreign 
to  our  ideas.  How,  for  example,  without  a  knowledge  of  the 
sacrificial  feasts  of  the  Hebrews  in  connection  with  the  presenta 
tion  of  their  thank-offerings,  shall  the  reader  understand  that 
beautiful  passage  at  the  close  of  the  twenty-second  Psalm  (vers. 


332  PREFATORY  REMARKS. 

25-31),  where  the  illustrious  sufferer  promises  to  pay  his  thanks 
giving  offerings  in  the  presence  of  the  great  congregation,  and 
thus  to  spread  a  feast  of  which  all  nations  shall  eat  and  turn 
unto  the  Lord  ?  Or,  how  shall  one  who  has  never  known  of  any 
bottles  except  those  made  of  glass  understand  why  new  wine 
must  be  put  into  new  bottles  ?  See  on  this  point  Companion  to 
the  Bible,  Chap.  33,  No.  6;  Chap.  34,  No.  6. 

The  Scriptures  themselves  are  the  main  source  of  knowledge 
in  respect  to  Biblical  Antiquities. .  This  is  but  saying  that  the 
several  parts  of  the  Bible  shed  upon  each  other  a 'mutual  light 
clearer  and  fuller  that  any  that  comes  from  without.  Extrane 
ous  sources  of  information  must  not,  however,  be  neglected. 
They  He  scattered  through  the  whole  compass  of  ancient  litera 
ture.  A  formal  enumeration  of  them  is  unnecessary.  Suffice  it 
to  say  that  from  historians  like  Herodotus,  who  describe  the 
manners  and  institutions  of  the  nations  surrounding  Palestine; 
from  the  pages  of  Homer,  who  delineates  with  such  freshness 
and  minuteness  the  customs  of  ancient  society,  and  the  modes 
and  usages  of  ancient  warfare ;  from  the  treatises  on  natural  his 
tory  that  have  come  down  to  us  from  such  writers  as  Aristotle 
and  Pliny ;  from  geographical  writings  like  those  of  Strabo ;  in  a 
word,  from  every  ancient  writing  that  gives  us  an  insight  into 
the  constitution  of  society  as  it  then  existed,  we  may  glean  val 
uable  information  in  the  department  of  knowledge  now  under 
consideration ;  for  while  each  particular  nation  of  antiquity  had 
its  special  customs  and  institutions,  a  general  tone  and  spirit 
pervaded  ancient  society,  out  of  which  grew  a  large  mass  of  com 
mon  usages  and  modes  of  thought.  Josephus  has  left  us  a  work 
in  twenty  books  on  Jewish  Archaeology,  including  in  his  usage  of 
the  term  the  whole  of  ancient  Jewish  history ;  also  a  history  of 
the  Jewish  War  in  seven  books,  with  several  other  smaller  trea 
tises  :  next  to  the  Scriptures  themselves  his  writings  throw  the 


PREFATORY  REMARKS.  333 

most  light  on  Hebrew  Antiquities.  From  the  writings  of  Philo 
the  Jew,  who,  as  well  as  Josephus,  was  contemporary  with  the 
apostles,  and  from  the  rabbinical  writings  generally,  though  these 
latter  abound  in  puerilities,  the  discriminating  scholar  may  gain 
much  insight  into  later  Jewish  ideas  and  modes  of  thought, 
which  reflect  in  a  measure  the  life  of  the  ancient  Hebrews.  The 
remaining  monuments  of  antiquity,  also,  are  to  be  taken  into 
account ;  such,  for  example,  as  the  triumphal  arch  of  Titus,  an 
cient  ruins,  ancient  coins,  etc.  Finally,  modern  oriental  society 
is  to  a  wonderful  extent  the  representative  of  that  which  existed 
in  biblical  times ;  for  nothing  is  more  characteristic  of  the  eastern 
nations  than  the  remarkable  tenacity  with  which  they  cling  to 
the  customs  and  institutions  of  their  fathers.  It  is  astonishing 
how  much  light  an  accurate  account  of  life  as  it  now  exists  in 
Palestine  throws  upon  the  scriptural  record  of  ancient  life  in  the 
same  region.  "The  Land"  of  to-day  and  "the  Book"  of  past 
ages  are,  in  very  many  important  respects,  the  counterparts  of 
each  other. 

In  the  classification  of  the  topics  belonging  to  Biblical  Anti 
quities  we  follow  the  common  division,  which  arranges  them 
under  the  three  primary  heads  of  Domestic,  Civil,  and  Sacred 
Antiquities,  each  of  them  having,  again,  its  own  subdivisions. 


BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


FIRST  DIVISION. 

DOMESTIC   ANTIQUITIES 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

AGRICULTURE. 

1.  THE  wisdom  of  God  assigned  to  the  covenant  people  their 
possessions  on  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan,  in  a  region  adapted 
to  agriculture  rather  than  to  pastoral  life;   for  an  agricultural 
people  has  more  stability  and  is  capable  of  higher  culture  than  a 
race  of  wandering  nomads.     At  their  own  request  the  tribes  of 
Reuben  and  Gad  and  half  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  received  their 
inheritance  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  in  a  region  preeminently 
adapted  to  cattle.     Numb.  chap.  32.     But  the  great  body  "of  the 
nation  passed  over  the  river  to  the  hills,  valleys  and  plains  of  Pal 
estine,  where  they  were  settled  in  permanent  homes  and  devoted 
themselves  to  the  culture  of  the  soil ;  and  their  history  is  mainly 
that  of  the  theocracy.      The  two  and  a  half  tribes  gained  what 
they  sought,  "a  land  for  cattle;"  but  they  cut  themselves  off 
from  any  considerable  influence  in  the  national  history.     See  on 
this  subject  Stanley,  Sinai  and  Talestine,  p.  318,  seq. 

2.  In  accordance  with  the  divine  purpose  just  indicated,  the 
laws  of  Moses  were  specially  favorable  to  agricultural  pursuits. 
Those  which  relate  to  the  sabbatical  year  and  the  year  of  jubi 
lee  deserve  especial  notice. 


336  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

(1.)  The  Sabbatical  Year.  Exod.  23:10,  11;  Lev.  25:2-7; 
Deut.  15  : 1-11.  Every  seventh  year  the  land  was  to  be  left  un- 
tilled,  that  it  might  "keep  a  sabbath  unto  the  Lord."  The  spon 
taneous  products  of  the  fields,  vineyards,  and  oliveyards  were 
given  as  common  property  to  the  poor.  A  comparison  of  Exod. 
23  : 11  with  Lev.  25  :  5-7  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  owners 
were  not  prohibited  from  enjoying  these  products  in  common 
with  the  poor,  the  bond-servants,  the  hired  servants,  and  the 
strangers ;  but  they  might  not  appropriate  them  to  themselves,  as 
in  other  years,  by  a  regular  harvest  or  vintage.  "  Everything  is 
to  be  left?  common,  and  every  man  has  a  right  to  everything  in 
every  place,  as  it  is  written :  *  That  the  poor  of  thy  people  may 
eat.'  Exod.  23  : 11.  One  may  only  bring  into  his  house  a  little 
at  a  time,  according  to  the  manner  of  taking  things  that  are  in 
common."  Maimonides  quoted  in  Kitto.  The  sabbatical  year 
had,  first  of  all,  a  religious  significance,  as  is  manifest  from  the 
words :  "  The  land  shall  keep  a  sabbath  unto  the  Lord."  Lev. 
25  : 1.  As  in  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath  God  claimed  to  be 
the  proprietor  of  all  men's  time,  and  as  such  assigned  to  them 
their  days  of  labor  and  of  rest,  so  in  the  ordinance  of  the  sab 
batical  year  he  claimed  the  proprietorship  of  the  soil  and  its  prod 
ucts.  Six  years  they  might  cultivate  the  Lord's  inheritance  and 
appropriate  to  themselves  its  fruits,  but  the  seventh  year  he 
reserved  its  spontaneous  products  for  the  poor  of  his  people  and 
the  strangers  sojourning  among  them.  The  hearts  of  the  wealthy 
were  thus  expanded  in  liberality,  and  a  benevolent  provision  was 
made  for  their  poorer  neighbors.  The  claiming  of  debts  from  a 
Hebrew  was  also  forbidden  during  the  sabbatical  year.  Deut. 
15 : 1-11.  Whether  this  was  a  final  release,  or  only  a  delay  for 
that  year  alone,  is  a  question  that  has  been  differently  answered. 
No  special  hardship  was  imposed  by  this  ordinance  on  the  own 
ers  of  the  land.  In  a  fertile  soil,  like  that  of  Palestine,  in  a  good 
state  of  cultivation,  no  small  amount  of  corn  would  be  produced 
from  the  seed  scattered  (Heb.  saphiah,  poured  out,  spilled)  in  gath 
ering  the  harvest  of  the  preceding  year,  while  the  vines,  olive- 
trees,  and  fig-trees  would  yield  their  fruit  without  culture.  It 


AGRICULTUKE.  337 

has  been  further  remarked  that,  hi  an  age  when  the  principle  of 
the  rotation  of  crops  was  unknown,  much  benefit  must  have 
accrued  to  the  soil  itself  from  lying  fallow  during  the  sabbatical 
year.  This  material  advantage,  however,  was  only  incidental. 

(2.)  The  Year  of  Jubilee.  Lev.  25  : 8-16,  23,  seq. ;  27 : 16-25 ; 
Nuinb.  36  :  4.  Upon  the  expiration  of  seven  sabbaths  of  years, 
the  year  of  jubilee  was  inaugurated  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  sev 
enth  month  (Tishri  reckoned  from  the  new  moon  of  October, 
see  below,  Chap.  20,  No.  4),  on  the-  great  day  of  atonement,  by 
the  blowing  of  trumpets  throughout  all  the  land.  Then,  f.  rst,  in 
regard  to  the  rest  of  the  soil  during  this  year  the  law  of  the  sab 
batical  year  prevailed,  and  on  the  same  ground.  It  was  a  year 
holy  unto  them,  and  all  its  spontaneous  products  were  claimed 
by  the  Lord  for  the  common  use  of  his  people.  Lev.  25  : 11, 12. 
Secondly,  every  man  who  by  reason  of  poverty  had  sold  his 
paternal  inheritance  returned  to  the  possession  of  it,  so  that  the 
land  of  no  Hebrew  family  could  be  permanently  alienated.  Be 
fore  the  year  of  jubilee  any  kinsman  might  redeem  it  for  his 
brother;  or,  if  he  should  find  the" means,  he  might  redeem  it 
himself.  Otherwise  it  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  purchaser 
only  to  the  year  of  jubilee,  when  it  reverted  to  the  original  owner 
or  his  heirs.  An  equitable  provision  was  made  that  the  price  of 
the  estate  in  question  should  vary  according  to  the  number  of 
years  that  remained  before  the  jubilee.  Further  regulations  pre 
scribed  the  kinds  of  property  that  were  to  be  excepted  from  this 
law  of  reversion.  See  Lev.  25:29-34.  Thirdly,  all  Hebrews 
who  were  held  to  servitude  went  out  free  at  the  year  of  jubilee. 
This  law,  in  its  relation  to  other  enactments,  presents  some  pecu 
liar  difficulties,  the  discussion  of  which  belongs  to  another  place. 
See  below,  Chap.  19,  No.  15. 

The  question  lias  been  much  discussed  whether  the  jubilee  coincided 
with  i\&  forty-ninth  year,  which  was  the  seventh  sabbatical  year,  or  was  the 
fiftieth  year  following.  But  according  to  Lev.  8-11  it  is  plain  that  the 
jubilee  began  at  the  end  of  forty-nine  years  ;  consequently  that  it  was  the 
fiftieth  year,  or  that  immediately  following  the  seventh  sabbatical  year,  so 
that  once  in  every  half  century  the  tillage  of  the  land  was  intermitted  for 

15 


338  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

two  consecutive  years.  The  owners  of  the  soil  were  forbidden  to  reap  that 
which  grew  of  itself,  or  to  gather  the  vintage.  But  they  might  "  eat  the 
increase  thereof  out  of  the  field ;"  that  is,  as  explained  above,  they  might 
take  out  of  the  field  from  time  to  time  what  they  needed  for  present  use. 
God,  moreover,  expressly  promised  (Lev.  25  :  20-22)  to  command  his  bless 
ing  upon  the  sixth  year — that  immediately  preceding  the  forty-ninth  or 
seventh  sabbatical  year — that  it  should  bring  forth  fruit  for  three  years. 
Lev.  25 : 20-22. 

By  the  provisions  of  the  year  of  jubilee  the  inheritance  of  each  Hebrew 
family  was  secured  to  it  by  an  inalienable  title.  This  cannot  but  liavo 
operated  in  a  powerful  manner  to  attach  the  people  to  the  soil  which  it  was 
their  high  privilege  to  call  their  own  for  themselves  and  their  children,  and 
thus  to  encourage  both  permanence  of  residence  and  the  spirit  of  agricul 
ture. 

3.  In  many  parts  of  the  East  irrigation  is  essential  to  agricul 
ture  and  gardening.  In  Egypt  the  valley  of  the  Nile  is  watered 
by  its  annual  overflow,  the  extent  of  which  is  greatly  increased 
by  means  of  artificial  channels.  Ancient  Assyria  and  Babylonia 
were  intersected  by  canals  for  the  distribution  of  the  waters  of 
the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  the  remains  of  which  exist  to  the  pres 
ent  day.  With  the  exception  of  certain,  parts,  as  for  example, 
the  region  around  Jericho,  Palestine  is  not  so  entirely  dependent 
on  artificial  irrigation  as  are  some  of  the  neighboring  regions. 
Moses  names  as  a  prerogative  of  the  promised  land  that  "  it  is  a 
land  of  hills  and  valleys,  and  drinketh  water  of  the  rain  of  heav 
en."  Deut.  11 : 11.  Since,  however,  the  entire  supply  of  rain 
falls  in  the  six  months  following  the^ middle  of  October  (see  above, 
Chap.  7,  No.  3),  some  crops  must  ol  necessity  require  a  supply 
of  water  by  artificial  means.  Thomson  says  (The  Land  and  the 
Book,  vol.  2,  p.  276,  seq.)  of  the  extensive  gardens  and  orchards 
of  Jaffa,  that  their  very  existence  depends  on  the  inexhaustible 
supply  of  water  that  can  be  procured  in  every  garden  at  mod 
erate  depth,  and  which  is  raised  from  wells  sunk  in  them  by 
means  of  Persian  wheels  turned  by  mules.  The  wheel  is  put 
directly  above  the  mouth  of  the  well.  "  Over  this  revolve  two 
rough  hawsers,  or  thick  ropes,  made  of  twigs  and  branches  twist 
ed  together,  and  upon  them  are  fastened  small  jars  or  wooden 
buckets.  One  side  descends  while  the  other  rises,  carrying  the 


AGRICULTURE.  339 

. 

small  buckets  with  them — those  descending  empty,  those  ascend 
ing  full — and  as  they  pass  over  the  top,  they  discharge  into  a 
trough  which  conveys  the  water  to  the  cistern."  For  shallow 
wells  and  rivers  a  wheel  alone  is  used,  the  rim  divided  into  com 
partments  answering  to  buckets,  which  bring  up  the  water  and 
discharge  it  into  the  cistern,  when  the  bucket  begins  to  descend, 
by  a  constant  succession  of  streams.  The  wheel,  called  nauraJi, 
is  turned  by  oxen  or  mules ;  or,  as  may  be  seen  on  a  grand  scale 
along  the  Orontes,  by  the  river  itself.  The  diameter  of  some  of 
these  wheels  is  eighty  or  ninety  feet.  They  slowly  revolve  day 
and  night  with  creakings  and  groanings  of  every  imaginable  tone. 
Another  apparatus  for  raising  water  is  the  shaduf,  which  is  sub 
stantially  the  old-fashioned  well-sweep  of  New  England.  An 
other  still  consists  of  "  a  large  buffalo  skin  so  attached  to  cords 
that  when  let  down  into  the  well  it  opens  and  is  instantly  filled, 
and,  being  drawn  up,  it  closes  so  as  to  retain  the  water."  The 
water,  being  drawn  up,  is  distributed,  at  the  husbandman's  will, 
through  larger  and  smaller  channels  as  it  is  needed.  In  allusion 
to  this  the  wise  man  says :  "  The  king's  heart  is  in  the  hand  of 
the  Lord,  as  the  rivers  of  water"  (that  is,  as  the  original  means, 
artificial  divisions- of  water):  "he  turneth  it  whithersoever  he 
will."  Prov.  21 : 1.  On  level  ground  square  beds  are  formed 
surrounded  by  a  border  of  earth,  and  the  stream  of  water  is 
turned  by  the  gardener  from  one  to  another  of  these  by  opening 
or  closing  passages  in  the  border  with  the  foot.  Some  think  that 
Moses  refers  to  this  custom  when  he  says :  "  The  land  whither 
thou  goest  ^in  to  possess  it,  is  not  as  the  land  of  Egypt,  from 
whence  ye  came  out,  where  thou  sowedst  thy  seed,  and  water- 
edst  it  with  thy  foot,  as  a  garden  of  herbs."  Deut.  11 : 10.  Oth 
ers  suppose  the  reference  to  be  to  a  water-wheel  turned  by  the 
foot,  such  as  Niebuhr  saw  in  Cairo,  and  of  which  he  has  given  a 
view.  "  I  have  seen,"  says  Thomson,  "  small  water-wheels,  on 
the  plain  of  Acre  and  elsewhere,  which  were  thus  worked."  The 
Land  and  the  Book,  vol.  2,  p.  280.  The  comparison  of  the  right 
eous  man  to  a  tree  planted  by  the  streams  of  waters  (Psa.  1:3; 
Jer.  17 : 8),  and  flourishing  all  the  year  round,  has  much  more 


340  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

force  and  pertinence  to  the  oriental  mind  than  it  can  possibly 
have  to  us,  who  enjoy  through  all  the  twelve  months  of  the  year 
an  abundant  supply  of  rain. 

4.  The  mountainous  parts  of  Palestine  and  Syria  have  seldom 
much  depth  of  soil,  and  here  the  mode  of  cultivation  by  terraces 
prevails  now  as  in  ancient  times.     "  A  series  of  low  stone  walls, 
one  above  another,  across  the  face  of  the  hill,  arrest  the  soil 
brought  down  by  the  rains,  and  afford  a  series  of  levels  for  the 
operations  of  the  husbandmen.    This  mode  of  cultivation  is  usual 
in  Lebanon,  and  is  not  unfrequent  in  Palestine,  where  the  re 
mains  of  terraces  across  the  hills  in  various  parts  of  the  country, 
attest  the  extent  to  which  it  was  anciently  carried  on."     Art. 
Agriculture,  in  Kitto.     Looking  down  from  the  summit  of  Leba 
non  upon  its  western  slope,  the  tops  of  the  stair-like  terraces  are 
seen  rising  one  above  another,  "  all  green  with  corn  or  straggling 
vines  or  the  dark  foliage  of  the  mulberry."    Porter  in  Kitto.    By 
this  means  Lebanon  teems  with  villages  nestling  in  its  precipi 
tous  sides,  and  is  cultivated  more  or  less  to  the  very  top. 

5.  The  implements  of  agriculture  were  anciently,  as  they  are 
now,  of  the  simplest  character.      We   find  representations  of 
these  in  all  their  variety  on  the  Egyptian  monuments,  and  there 
is  no  ground  for  supposing  that  those  employed  in  Palestine  by 
a  people  that  came  out  of  Egypt  differed  in  any  material  respect. 
The  ancient  Egyptian  plough  was  very  light.     It  was  held  some 
times  by  both  hands,  sometimes  by  the  left  hand  alone,  the  right 
hand  carrying  a  stick  oi1  goad.      It  could  only  scratch  a  shallow 
furrow  in  the  soft  mud  deposited  by  the  overflow  of  the  Nile. 
The  Hebrew  ploughs  were  doubtless  of  a  similar  light  character, 
as  they  are  at  the  present  day.    Those  represented  by  Thomson 
(The  Land  and  the  Book,  vol.  1,  p.  207)  have  but  a  single  han 
dle,  and  they  follow  each  other  in  a  line.      "  I  have  seen,"  says 
Thomson,  "  more  than  a  dozen  of  them  thus  at  work."    We  read 
(1  Kings  19  : 19)  that  Elijah  "found  Elisha  the  son  of  Shaphat, 
who  was  plougliing  with  twelve  yoke  of  oxen  before  him,  and  he 
with  the  twelfth ;"  that  is,  twelve  ploughs  following  each  other 
very  closely,  drawn  each  by  its  own  yoke  of  oxen.     In  Fellows' 


PLOUGHING  AND  SOWING  ;   FROM  AN  ANCIENT  EGYPTIAN  PAINTING. 


THRESHING. 


ANCIENT  PLOUGH,  YOKES,  SHARES,  AND  GOAD. 


"WINNOWING. 


AGKICULTURE. 

Asia  Minor,  p.  71,  a  plough  is  figured  and  described  which  is  held 
by  one  hand  only,  and  which  appears  to  have  been  made  from  a 
section  of  the  trunk  of  a  young  tree  which  had  two  branches 
"mining  in  opposite  directions.  The  Syrian  ploughman  with  his 
frail  plough  must  wait  tih1  the  autumnal  rains  have  saturated  and 
softened  the  ground  before  he  can  make  any  impression  on  the 
soil.  His  ploughing  must  be  done  in  the  rainy  and  cold  season, 
from  the  last  part  of  October  and  onward  through  the  month  of 
January.  To  this  fact  there  are  allusions  in  Scripture.  "  The 
sluggard  will  not  plough,"  says  Solomon  (Prov.  20 : 4),  "by  rea 
son  of  the*cold ;  therefore  shall  he  beg  in  harvest,  and  have  noth 
ing."  "  Our  farmers,"  says  Thomson  with  reference  to  those  of 
Palestine,  "  do  actually  plough  in  the  severest  weather.  I  have 
often  seen  them  shivering  with  cold,  and  contending  with  wind 
and  ram,  quite  enough  to  discourage  those  who  are  not  slug-* 
gards.  But  time  has  become  precious  and  critical,  and  he  who 
expects  to  reap  must  sow,  no  matter  how  tempestuous  the  weath 
er."  The  Land  and  the  Book,  vol.  1,  p.  207. 

"  He  that  observetk  the  wind  shall  not  sow  ;  and  he  that  regardeth  the 
clouds  shall  not  reap."  Eccl.  11  :4.  That  one  should  observe  the  wind 
in  seed-time,  which  comes  in  Palestine  during  the  rainy  season,  is  alto 
gether  natural.  But  how  can  he  be  supposed  to  regard  the  clouds  in  har 
vest,  since  this  occurs  after  the  rainy  season  is  over,  when  thunder  and 
rain  are  looked  upon  in  the  light  of  a  prodigy  ?  1  Sam.  12  : 17.  Taking 
the  wind  and  the  clouds  as  the  symbols  of  stormy  weather,  we  may  best 
interpret  the  two  clauses  of  the  verse  as  supplementary  to  each  other,  thus : 
"  He  that  observeth  the  wind  will  not  sow,  and  therefore  he  shall  have  no 
harvest :  he  that  regardeth  the  clouds,  namely  in  seed-time,  shall  not  reap, 
because  he  failed  to  sow." 

The  Egyptian  monuments  represent  a  species  of  mattock  or 
hoe,  with  a  short  handle  and  disproportionately  long  blade,  which 
probably  corresponds  substantially  to  the  Hebrew  mattock  used 
for  working  the  soil.  Isa.  5:6;  7  :  25.  The  harrow  is  not  named 
in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  The  verb  rendered  harrow  in  Jot 
39 : 10  signifies  to  break  the  clods,  as  it  is  elsewhere  rendered. 
Isa.  28  :  24 ;  Hosea  10 : 11.  This  may  have  been  by  cross-plough 
ing  or  by  tho  use  of  some  species  of  harrow — for  heavier  opera- 


342  BIBLICAL    ANTIQUITIES. 

tions  a  log  or  sledge  dragged  over  the  furrows;  for  lighter,  a 
bush,  as  is  done  at  the  present  day. 

It  would  seem  that  the  Hebrews  must,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case, 
have  had  not  only  winno wing-shovels  (Isa.  30  :  24),  but  also  shovel*  or  spades 
for  handling  the  soil.  Yet  no  such  implement  is  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament,  unless  we  adopt,  with  Furst,  the  opinion  that  the  Hebrew  word 
rendered  in  our  version  share  (1  Sam.  13  : 20)  signifies  a  shovel  or  spade. 
Other  implements  employed  in  particular  parts  of  husbandly  will  be  no 
ticed  in  their  place. 

6.  The  animals  used  in  ploughing  were  oxen.     Hence  conies 
the  expression  a  yoke,  that  is,  yoke  of  oxen,  as  a  measure  of  land, 
meaning  as  much  as  a  yoke  of  oxen  can  plough  in  a  day.     1  Sam. 
14 : 14 ;  Isa,  5  : 10.     The  ploughman  carried  anciently,  as  at  the 
present  day,  a  goad.     This  was  a  wooden  rod  about  eight  feet 

Jong,  having  at  the  smaller  end  a  sharp  point,  and  at  the  larger 
an  iron  paddle  for  cleaning  the  ploughshare.  "We  can  readily 
understand  how  in  an  emergency  such  an  instrument  might  have 
been  used  as  a  spear  in  war.  Judg.  3 : 31.  The  prohibition 
(Deut.  22 : 10)  which  forbids  ploughing  with  an  ox  and  an  ass 
together,  seems  to  imply  that  asses  were  sometimes  employed  in 
ploughing.  Horses  were  never  used  in  ancient  agriculture. 

Oxen,  in  the  Hebrew  use  of  the  term,  include  cows,  both  sexes  being 
employed  for  draught.  Hence  the  repeated  specification  for  certain  pur 
poses  of  a  heifer  "upon  which  never  came  yoke,"  Numb.  19  :  2  ;  "which 
hath  not  been  wrought  with,  and  which  hath  not  drawn  in  the  yoke," 
Deut.  21  :  3  ;  "on  which  there  hath  come  no  yoke,"  1  Sam.  6  :  7— a  speci 
fication  which  would  not  be  needed  where  cows  were,  by  common  usage, 
exempted  from  employment  as  beasts  of  draught. 

"We  notice  in  order  the  principal  departments  of  agriculture. 

I.     THE  CEREAL  AND  LEGUMINOUS  PLANTS. 

7.  The  cereal  plants  are  those  which  furnish  bread-corn,  as 
wheat,  barley,  millet,  etc.     The  leguminous  plants  are  those  of 
the  pod-family,  as  beans,  lentiles,  and  the  like. 

Wheat  and  barley  are  now,  as  anciently,  the  chief  cereal  grains.  In 
Egypt  the  many -headed  wheat  (Triticum  composiliim)  is  cultivated.  To 
this  there  is  a  reference  in  Pharaoh's  dream.  Gen.  41  :  22,  23.  Eye  and 


AGRICULTURE.  343 

oats  do  not  grow  hi  Palestine.  The  Hebrew  word  (kussemetlt)  iviKlrivd  /•//'' 
in  Exod.  9  :  32  ;  Isa.  28  :  25  ;  and  Jitclies  in  Ezek.  4  :  9,  is  thought  by  some 
to  denote  the  species  of  wheat  called  spelt,  by  others  retcJies  (English  v.  rs. 
fitches),  a  bean-like  climbing  plant  much  cultivated  in  some  countries  as 
food  for  beasts.  Millet  is  once  mentioned.  Ezek.  4:9.  In  modem  cul 
ture  rice  and  maize  are  added  to  the  list  of  cereal  grains. 

To  the  class  of  pulse  belong  beans  (2  Sam.  17  :  28  ;  Ezek.  9:4),  and  len- 
tiles  (Gen.  25  :  34,  and  elsewhere),  of  which  latter  Robinson  says  (Bib.  Res., 
Tol,  1,  p.  167) :  "We  found  them  very  palatable,  and  could  readily  conceive 
that  to  a  weary  hunter,  faint  with  hunger,  they  might  be  quite  a  dainty 
dish."  Pottage  made  of  lentiles  is  a  favorite  dish  in  the  East ;  and  when 
the  lentiles  are  of  the  red  kind,  it  becomes  the  "red  pottage  "  which  Jacob 
gave  to  Esau  (Gen.  25  : 30,  34),  of  which  Thomson  says  (vol.  2,  p.  397) 
that  ' '  when  cooking  it  diffuses  far  and  wide  an  odor  extremely  grateful  to 
a  hungry  man. "  Vetches  are  now  a  common  crop  in  Palestine,  and  as  above 
remarked,  are  thought  by  some  to  be  the  plant  named  in  Hebrew  kusse- 
meth.  But  in  Isa.  28 : 25,  27,  the  word  rendered  fitches,  that  is,  vetches, 
probably  denotes  fennel  or  dill.  The  tares  of  our  Lord's  parable  (Matt. 
13  : 24,  seq.)  are  not  the  plant  known  by  this  name  in  the  United  States, 
which  is  a  species  of  vetch,  but  darnel  (Lolium  temulenlum),  a  plant  having 
in  the  blade  a  strong  resemblance  to  wiieat,  and  producing  a  poisonous 
seed,  that  imparts  a  noxious  quality  to  the  flour  when  ground  with  the 
wheat.  "  Even  the  farmers,  who  in  this  country  generally  weed  their  fields, 
do  not  attempt  to  separate  one  from  the  other."  .  .  .  "Both,  therefore, 
must  be  left  to  grow  together  until  the  time  of  the  harvest."  The  Land 
and  the  Book,  vol.  2,  p.  111. 

8.  Seed-time,  as  already  remarked,  necessarily  comes  in  Pal 
estine  in  the  rainy  season.  According  to  the  most  approved 
rendering  of  Isa.  28:25:  "And  set  the  wheat  in  rows,"  wheat 
was  not  always  SOWTI  broadcast,  but  sometimes  in  rows.  But  in 
the  parable  of  the  sower  (Matt.  13 : 3,  seq.)  the  seed  is  mani 
festly  sown  broadcast ;  for  some  of  it  falls  by  the  wayside  (on 
the  path  leading  through  the  unfenced  field),  some  on  stony 
places,  and  some  among  the  thorns.  The  seed  is  covered  by 
cross-ploughing.  In  the  soft  mud  of  Egypt  the  seed  is  trampled 
in  by  the  feet  of  goats  or  pigs ;  and  we  know  from  the  monu 
ments  that  this  usage  prevailed  in  ancient  times. 

Some  have  thought  that  in  Isa.  32  : 20,  there  is  an  allusion  to  the 
custom  of  trampling  the  soft  moist  soil  in  the  process  of  agriculture.  But 
this  is  very  doubtful.  The  words  of  the  prophet  are  more  naturally  under- 


344  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

stood  of  sowing  and  pasturing  in  well-watered  places.  In  Eccles.  11  : 1 
occurs  the  precept :  "Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters  :  for  thou  shalt  find 
it  after  many  days."  This  may  possibly  refer  to  the  custom  of  sowing 
upon  ground  yet  covered  with  water,  or  at  least  upon  the  soft  mud  of  ground 
recently  overflowed,  as  in  Egypt.  But  the  context  favors  the  idea  that  the 
writer  refers  to  bread  given  in  alms,  which  is,  to  the  eye  of  sense,  thrown 
away ;  but  from  which  the  eye  of  faith  foresees  a  rich  return  in  the  future. 

9.  The  barley  harvest  usually  precedes  the  wheat  harvest  a 
fortnight  or  three  weeks.     The  times  of  harvest  vary  in  Pales 
tine  with  the  varying  localities.     The  wheat  harvest  at  Jericho, 
may  be  reckoned  from  the  7th  to  the  14th  of  May ;  at  Jerusa 
lem  it  takes  place  about  four  weeks  later,  though  the  two  places 
are  hardly  more  than  20  miles  apart.     The  harvest  of  the  Med 
iterranean  plain  lies  between.     Hobinson,  Phys.  Geog.,  pp.  301, 
302.     The  only  instrument  employed  in  reaping  is  the  sickle. 
In  modern  times  the  practice  also  prevails  of  plucking  up  the 
grain  by  the  roots  in  order  to  save  the  straw  for  fodder.     The 
grain  when  harvested  is  bound  in  bundles  and  conveyed  to  the 
threshing-floor.      That  carts  were  anciently  employed  in  the 
collection  of  sheaves  is  plain  from  Amos  2:13:  "  Behold  I  am 
pressed  under  you,  as  a  cart  is  pressed  that  is  full  of  sheaves." 
This,  however,  can  have  been  only  in  comparatively  level  regions. 
The  modern  usage  is  to  convey  the  bundles  to  the  threshing- 
floor  on  camels  and   donkeys.      "The  grain  is  not  bound   in 
bheaves,  as  in  America,  but  gathered  into  large  bundles.     Two 
of  these,  secured  in  a  large  network  of  rope,  are  placed  a  few 
feet  apart.     The  camel  is  made  to  kneel  down  between  them, 
the  large  bundles  are  fastened  to  his  pack-saddle,  and  at  a 
signal  from  the  driver  up  rises  the  peaceful  beast  and  marches 
off  towards  the  threshing-floor  near  the  village."      The  Land 
and  the  Book,  vol.  2,  p.  323.     "  Long  lines  of  camels,  bearing  on 
their  backs  burdens  many  times  larger  than  themselves,  were 
slowly  converging  to  a  point  here  at  Yebna  from  every  part  of 
the  plain,  and  the  grain  lay  in  heaps  almost  mountain  high." 
Ibid.,  p.  314. 

10.  The  threshing-floors  now,  as  anciently,  are  in  the  open 
air.     The  rainy  season  being  over,  no  inconvenience  is  experi- 


AGRICULTURE.  345 

enced  from  this.  A  level  spot  is  selected  for  the  floor,  which  is  of 
a  circular  shape,  varying  from  fifty  to  eighty  or  even  a  hundred 
feet  in  diameter.  When  the  ground  has  been  made  smooth  and 
hard  by  pounding,  the  sheaves  are  spread  out  in  a  thick  layer, 
and  the  grain  is  trodden  out  by  the  feet  of  animals.  At  Jericho, 
Robinson  saw  "  oxen,  cows,  and  younger  cattle,  arranged  in  each 
case  five  abreast,  and  driven  round  in  a  circle,  or  rather  in  all 
directions  over  the  floor.  During  the  process  the  straw  is  occa 
sionally  turned  with  a  large  wooden  fork  having  two  prongs." 
Bib.  Res.,  chap.  1,  p.  550.  To  this  mode  of  threshing  the  scrip 
tural  precept  refers :  "  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox  when  he 
treadeth  out  the  corn"  (Deut.  25:4),  a  precept  containing  in 
itself  the  equitable  principle  that  "the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his 
hire"  (1  Cor.  9:9,  10;  1  Tim.  5:17,  18),  of  which  Robinson 
says  (ibid.) :  "  It  was  not  very  well  regarded  by  our  Christian 
friends,  many  of  their  animals  having  their  mouths  tied -up; 
while  among  the  Mohammedans  I  do  not  remember  ever  to 
have  seen  an  animal  muzzled."  Besides  this  process  of  tread 
ing,  the  threshing-sledge  is  used  in  the  north  of  Palestine.  "  It 
consists,"  says  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  2,  p.  307),  "simply  of  two 
planks,  fastened  together  side  by  side,  and  bent  upwards  in 
front ;  precisely  like  the  common  stone  sledge  of  New  England, 
though  less  heavy.  Many  holes  are  bored  in  the  bottom  under 
neath,  and  into  these  are  fixed  sharp  fragments  of  hard  stone. 
The  machine  is  dragged  by  oxen  as  they  are  driven  round  upon 
the  gram;  sometimes  a  man  or  boy  sits  upon  it;  but  we  did  not 
see  it  otherwise  loaded."  The  Egyptian  threshing  instrument, 
called  wore/,  has  several  wooden  rollers  fixed  in  a  frame,  and 
armed  with  iron  ridges.  It  is  driven  over  the  threshing-floor  by 
oxen,  the  driver  sitting  on  a  chair  above  it  to  give  the  benefit  of 
his  weight.  In  Asia  Minor  we  are  told  that  a  simple  roller, 
formed  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  with  a  pole  for  the  attachment  of 
the  animals,  is  sometimes  employed.  It  is  only  the  smaller 
grains,  as  fennel  and  cummin,  that  are  beaten  out  with  a  rod. 
Isa.  28:27. 

By  each  of  the  above  modes  of  threshing,  not  only  is  the 

15* 


346  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

grain  beaten  out,  but  the  straw  is  cut  in  pieces,  and  thus  pre 
pared  to  be  used  as  provender.  These  oriental  modes  of  thresh 
ing  furnish  vivid  images  of  divine  judgment  upon  the  persecutors 
of  God's  people.  "  Thou  didst  march  through  the  land  in  indig 
nation,  thou  didst  thresh  the  heathen  in  anger "  (Hab.  3 : 12) ; 
"  The  daughter  of  Babylon  is  like  a  threshing-floor,  it  is  time 
to  thresh  her"  (Jer.  51 : 33).  The  exhortation  to  Zion  is :  "Arise 
and  thresh,  O  daughter  of  Zion ;  for  I  will  make  thy  horn  iron, 
and  I  will  make  thy  hoofs  brass :  and  thou  shalt  beat  in  pieces 
many  people"  (Micah  4:13);  and  the  promise  to  Zion  is:  "Be 
hold  I  will  make  thee "  (not,  make  for  thee,  but,  make  thee  to 
be)  "  a  new  sharp  threshing  instrument  having  teeth :  thou  shalt 
thresh  the  mountains,  and  beat  them  small,  and  shalt  make  the 
hills  as  chaff."  Isa.  41:15.  The  same  figure  of  threshing  rep 
resents  also  the  oppression  of  a  conquering  warrior.  2  Kings  13 : 7. 

The  Hebrew  hdruts,  threshing  instrument  (Isa.  28  :  27),  which  was  some 
times  armed  with  iron  (Amos  1:3),  answers  apparently  to  the  threshing- 
sledge  above  described ;  and  the  agalah,  threshing-wagon  (Isa.  28  : 27),  to 
the  Egyptian  norej  with  rollers. 

11.  After  threshing  comes  the  process  of  ivinnoiving.  When 
the  grain  has  been  sufficiently  threshed,  it  "  is  heaped  up  in  the 
centre  of  the  '  floor,'  until  it  frequently  becomes  a  little  mound 
much  higher  than  the  workmen.  This  is  particularly  the  case 
when  there  is  no  wind  for  several  days,  for  the  only  way  adopted 
to  separate  the  chaff  from  the  wheat  is  to  toss  it  up  into  the  air, 
when  the  grain  falls  in  one  place,  and  the  chaff  is  carried  to 
another."  The  Land  and  the  Book,  vol.  2,  p.  316.  The  grain, 
after  this  first  rude  process  of  separation,  is  further  purified  by 
sifting  and  repeated  tossings  against  the  wind.  The/a?i  of  the 
ancients  was  a  winnowing-shovel,  with  which  the  grain  was 
thrown  up  against  the  wind  to  purify  it.  The  Egyptian  monu 
ments  represent  this  process  carried  on  by  means  of  wooden 
scoops  or  short-handled  shovels. 

In  Isa.  30 : 24,  the  mizreh  (Eng.  vers.  shovel)  is  distinguished  from  the 
rahath  (Eng.  vers.  fan).  The  former  was  perhaps  the  winnowing  fork,  the 
latter,  the  winnowing  shovel,  or  possibly  a  winnowing  basket. 


A&BICULTUBE  ^17 

As  threshing  represents  in  the  Script  ores  the  c/WJw/  power 
of  the  divine  judgments,  so  does  the  process  of  winnowing  and 
sifting  their  separating  and  purifying  efficacy.  When  the  Messiah 
comes,  his  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  with  it  he  purges  his  threshing- 
floor,  gathering  the  wheat  into  his  garner,  and  burning  up  the 
chaff  with  unquenchable  fire.  Matt.  3 : 12,  and  the  parallel 
passages.  "Lo,  I  will  command,  and  I  will  sift  the  house  of 
Israel  among  all  nations,  like  as  corn  is  sifted  in  a  sieve,  yet 
shall  not  the  least  grain  fall  upon  the  earth.  And  the  sinners 
of  my  people  shall  die  by  the  sword,  which  say,  The  evil  shall 
not  overtake  nor  prevent  us."  Amos  9 : 9,  10.  Chaff  and  stubble 
driven  away  by  the  whirlwind  or  burned  up  by  the  fire  furnish 
also,  as  we  see  in  the  above  passages,  an  awful  image  of  the  final 
doom  of  the  ungodly.  Job  21 : 18 ;  Psa.  1:4;  35 : 5 ;  Isa.  40 : 24 ; 
Hosea  13:3;  Isa.  5:24;  47:14;  Obad.  ver.  18;  Nah.  1:10. 

12.  The   grain  having  been  winnowed   was  stored   up   for 
future  use  in  granaries.     Storehouses  (sometimes  rendered  barns 
in  our  version)  are  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  in 
such  indefinite  terms,  that  nothing  certain  is  known  of  their 
form  or  situation.     At  the  present  day  they  are  often  under 
ground,  and  this  custom  probably  prevailed  in  ancient  times 
also.      Of  these  "wells  or  cisterns  for  grain,"   Thomson  says 
(The  Land  and  the  Book,  vol.  2,  p.  262,  seq.),  that  they  "  are 
cool,  perfectly  dry,  and  tight.     The  top  is  hermetically  sealed 
with,  plaster,  and  covered  with  a  deep  bed  of  earth,  and  thus 
they  keep  out  rats,  mice,  and  even  ants,  the  latter  by  no  means 
a  comtemptible  enemy."  .  .  .  "They  must  always  be  dug  in  dry 
places;  generally,  as  here,  on  the  side  of  a  sloping  hill.     'Miey 
would  not  answer  in  a  wet  country,  but  in  these  dry  climates 
stores  have  been  found  quite  fresh  and  sound  many  years  after 
they  were  thus  buried."     Vaulted  granaries  are  represented  on 
the  Egyptian  monuments. 

13.  We  must  not  fail  to  notice  the  gracious  provision  for  the 
poor  made  in  the  Mosaic  law.     The  husbandman  was  forbidden 
to  reap  wholly  the  corners  of  his  field,  or  to  gather  the  glean 
ings  of  his  harvest,  or  to  go  again  for  a  sheaf  that  had  been 


348  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

forgotten.  These  the  Israelites  were  to  leave  for  the  poor  and 
the  stranger,  for  the  fatherless  and  the  widow,  remembering 
their  own  oppressed  condition  in  Egypt ;  and  the  same  law  was 
enacted  in  respect  to  the  vintage  and  the  olive-harvest.  Lev. 
19:9,  10;  23:22;  Deut.  24:19-22.  The  passer-by  might  eat 
grapes  of  his  neighbor's  vineyard,  but  not  put  any  in  his  vessel. 
So  also  he  might  pluck  the  ears  of  the  wheat  with  his  hand  and 
eat,  but  not  apply  the  sickle.  Deut.  23:24,  25.  Hence  the 
charge  brought  by  the  Pharisees  against  our  Lord's  disciples 
was  not  that  of  theft,  but  of  Sabbath-breaking  according  to 
their  frivolous  distinctions.  Matt.  12  : 1,  seq.,  and  the  parallel 
passages. 

In  the  above,  as  in  many  other  provisions  of  the  Mosaic 
code,  the  true  spirit  of  the  gospel,  the  essence  of  which  is  love, 
appears  with  crystalline  clearness.  Even  its  sterner  enactments 
had  for  their  basis  the  same  spirit ;  for  they  were  intended  to 
preserve  the  covenant  people  from  the  corruptions  of  the  hea 
thenism  which  encompassed  them  on  every  side. 

The  harvest  scenes  Described  with  such  vividness  and  beauty  in  the 
book  of  Ruth  reproduce  themselves  at  the  present  day  in  Palestine  with 
but  few  variations.  The  salutations  between  the  proprietor  and  his  reapers 
(chap.  2:4),  the  presence  of  gleaning  women  who  "gather  after  the  reapers 
and  among  the  sheaves"  (chap.  2:7),  the  parched  corn  and  vinegar  of  the 
workmen  (chap.  2  : 14) — all  these  things  are  in  strict  harmony  with  modern 
usage.  Parched  corn  is  a  favorite  article  of  food.  "It  is  made  thus:  a 
quantity  of  the  best  ears,  not  too  ripe,  are  plucked  with  the  stalks  attached. 
These  are  tied  in  small  parcels,  a  blazing  fire  is  kindled  with  dry  grass 
and  thorn  bushes,  and  the  corn-heads  are  held  in  it  until  the  chaff  is 
mostly  burned  off.  The  grain  is  thus  sufficiently  roasted  to  be  eaten." 
The  Land  and  the  Book,  vol.  2,  p.  510.  Boaz  slept  at  night  on  his  own 
threshing-floor  "at  the  end  of  a  heap  of  corn."  Chap.  3:7.  So  do  the 
owners  now,  to  prevent  stealing;  and  "it  is  not  unusual  for  husband, 
wife,  and  all  the  family  to  encamp  at  the  baiders  (threshing-floors),  and 
remain  until  the  harvest  is  over."  Ibid.,  p.  511. 

II.     THE  CULTURE  OF  THE  VINE. 

14.  Palestine  is  not  less*  celebrated  for  its  vineyards  than  for 
its  cornfields.  The  excellent  quality  of  its  grapes  is  attested  by 


AGRICULTURE.  .'Ml) 

all  modem  travellers;  and  how  prominent  the  culture  of  the 
vine  is  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  every  reader  of  the  Bible 
knows.  The  region  around  Hebron  is  particularly  celebrated 
for  its  vineyards,  and  the  grapes  produced  here  are  the  largest 
and  the  finest  in  Palestine.  Robinson,  *Bib.  Res.,  vol.  1,  p.  214; 
Thomson,  vol.  2>  p.  411.  Here,  in  the  southern  part  of  Pales 
tine,  was  "the  valley  of  Eshcol,"  whence  the  spies  brought  "one 
cluster  of  grapes,"  which  "they  bare  between  two  on  a  staff." 
Numb.  13 : 23.  Modern  travellers  testify  that  they  have  seen 
clusters  in  Palestine  weighing  ten  or  twelve  pounds,  and  the 
berries  of  which  may  be  compared  with  small  plums.  See  the 
authorities  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  Kitto,  etc.  "  The  vines  are 
planted  singly  in  rows,  eight  or  ten  feet  apart  in  each  direction. 
The  stock  is  suffered  to  grow  up  large  to  the  height  of  six  or 
eight  feet,  and  is  then  fastened  in  a  sloping  position  to  a  strong 
stake,  and  the  shoots  suffered  to  grow  and  extend  from  one 
plant  to  another,  forming  a  line  of  festoons.  Sometimes  two 
rows  are  made  to  slant  towards  each  other,  and  thus  form  by 
their  shoots  a  sort  of  arch.  These  shoots  are  pruned  away  in 
autumn."  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  vol.  2,  pp.  80,  81. 

When  the  Scriptures  mention  the  vines  of  Sibmah,  En-gedi,  etc.  (Isa. 
16  :  8,  9  ;  Jer.  48  :  32  ;  Cant.  1 : 14),  it  is  simply  on  account  of  their  excel 
lence  and  celebrity.  But  the  vine  of  Sorek  (rendered  in  our  version  choice 
vine,  Gen.  49  : 11 ;  choicest  vine,  Isa.  5:2;  noble  vine,  Jer.  2  : 21),  was  a 
choice  stock,  perhaps  the  modern  Serki  of  Morocco,  with  small  round  dark 
berries  and  soft  seeds.  The  wild  grapes  (Heb.  beushim,  bad  grapes]  men 
tioned  by  Isaiah  (chap.  5  :  2,  4)  are  not  some  species  of  poisonous  berries,  as 
those  of  nightshade,  but  simply  sour  grapes  unfit  for  use,  such  as  were  not 
to  have  been  expected  from  a  noble  vine  under  good  culture. 

15.  The  appointments  of  a  vineyard  are  briefly  described  by 
the  prophet  (Isa.  5:1,  2):  "My  beloved  had  a  vineyard  on  a 
very  fruitful  hill.  And  he  digged  it,  and  gathered  out  the  stones 
from  it,  and  planted  it  with  the  vine  of  the  Sorek,  and  built  a 
tower  in  the  midst  of  it,  and  also  hewed  a  wine-vat  in  it ;"  and 
by  our  Lord  (Matt.  21 : 33) :  "  There  was  a  certain  householder 
which  planted  a  vineyard,  and  hedged  it  round  about  [after  the 


350  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Septuagint  of  Isa.  5:2],  and  digged  a  winepress  in  it,  and  built  a 
tower."  These  are  substantially  the  appointments  of  a  modern 
vineyard.  The  wall  or  hedge  is  for  protection.  Robinson  speaks 
of  "enclosed  vineyards,"  and  of  the  path  passing  "between  the 
walls  of  vineyards  and  'olive-yards."  It  was  in  precisely  such 
"  a  path  of  the  vineyards,  a  wall  being  on  this  side,  and  a  wall 
on  that  side,"  that  the  angel  met  the  rebellious  prophet,  and  the 
ass  "crushed  Balaam's  foot  against  the  wall."  Numb.  22 : 24-26. 
"Each  vineyard  has  a  small  house  or  tower  of  stone,  which 
serves  for  a  keeper's  lodge ;  and,  during  the  vintage,  we  were 
told  that  the  inhabitants  of  Hebron  go  out  and  dwell  in  these 
houses,  and  the  town  is  almost  deserted."  Bib.  Res.,  vol.  1, 
pp.  213,  214.  Of  the  wine-press  and  wine-vat  we  shall  speak 
presently. 

16.  The  main  vintage  is  in  September  and  October ;  though 
we  are  told  that  some  grapes  are  gathered  in  July  and  August. 
The  vintage  is  now,  as  anciently,  a  season  of  great  hilarity,  the 
towns  being  deserted,  and  the  people  living  among  the  vineyards 
in  the  lodges  above  mentioned,  and  in  tents.     Judg.  9 : 27 ;  Isa. 
16 : 10 ;  Jer.  25 : 30 ;  48 : 33.    The  grapes  were  gathered  in  baskets 
(Jer.  6 : 9),  and  conveyed  in  baskets  to  their  destined  place.     Of 
the  vineyards  belonging  to  the  Mohammedans,  Thomson  says 
(vol.  2,  p.  411) :  "  A  large  part  of  the  crop  is  eaten  or  sold  at 
the  time ;  the  remainder  is  dried  into  raisins,  or  pressed,  and 
the  juice  boiled  down  to  a  thick  molasses,  called  dibs;  for  the 
Moslems,  as  you  are  aware,  make  no  wine."    See  also  Robinson, 
Bib.  Res.,  vol.  2,  p.  81.     This  honey  of  grapes  (Arabic  dibs,  honey, 
answering  to  the  Hebrew  debhash)  was  in  use  in  ancient  times, 
as  it  is  now  throughout  the  East ;  but  it  is  never  called  wine,  and 
should  be  carefully  distinguished  from  it.     See  farther  below. 

17.  Wine,  that  is,  the  fermented  juice  of  the  grape,  was  a 
common  article  of  manufacture   and  use   among   the   ancient 
Hebrews,  as  is  attested  by  numerous  passages  of  Scripture. 
Two  receptacles  were  prepared,  an  upper  (Heb.,  gath,  commonly 
rendered  winepress  in  our  version),  for  the  reception  and  tread 
ing  of  the  grapes;  and  a  lower  (Heb.,  yekebh,  vat),  for  receiving 


GOAT-SKIN   WATER  BOTTLES. 


AN  ARAB  TENT. 


INTERIOR  OF  AN  ANCIENT  HOUSE. 


= 
===  ' 


\\1NE-PRESS. 


LODGE  IN  A   GARDEN. 


AGKICULTUliK.  :tfl 

the  expressed  juice.  These  receptacles  were  built  of  stone  and 
covered  with  plaster,  or  they  were  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock. 
Kobiiison  (Bib.  Res.,  vol.  3,  p.  137),  gives  the  following  descrip 
tion  of  an  ancient  press  and  vat  at  Hableh :  "  Advantage  had 
been  taken  of  a  ledge  of  rock ;  on  the  upper  side  towards  the 
south  a  shallow  vat  had  been  dug  out,  eight  feet  square  and 
fifteen  inches  deep,  its  bottom  declining  slightly  towards  the 
north.  The  thickness  of  rocfc  left  on  the  north  was  one  foot ; 
and  two  feet  lower  down  on  that  side,  another  smaller  vat  was 
excavated,  four  feet  square  by  three  feet  deep.  The  grapes 
were  trodden  in  the  shallow  upper  vat ;  and  the  juice  drawn  off 
by  a  hole  at  the  bottom  (still  remaining),  "into  the  lower  vat." 
The  dimensions  of  the  upper  vat — eight  feet  square — are  those 
given  by  Jahn  (Archaeology,  §  69),  for  the  present  winepress  of 
Persia,  its  depth,  however,  being  four  feet.  According  to  the 
Egyptian  monuments  two  vats  for  the  reception  of  the  juice 
were  sometimes  connected  with  a  single  press.  The  grapes  were 
trodden  by  the  feet  of  men,  assisted,  according  to  the  same 
monuments,  by  ropes  fixed  to  a  support  over  their  heads.  This 
laborious  work  was  accompanied  with  songs  and  shouts  of  mirth. 
Isa.  16:10;  Jer.  25:30;  48:33.  The  treading  of  grapes  in  the 
winepress  is  an  expressive  symbol  of  great  slaughter,  the  red 
juice  of  the  grapes  representing  the  blood  of  the  slain.  "  Who 
is  this,"  asked  the  prophet  (Isa.  63:1,  seq.),  "that  cometh  from 
Edom,  with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah?  .  .  .  Wherefore  art 
thou  red  in  thine  apparel,  and  thy  garments  like  him  that  tread- 
eth  in  the  winefat?"  The  answer  is:  "I  have  trodden  the 
winepress  alone;  and  of  the  people  there  was  none  with  me: 
for  I  will  tread  them  in  my  anger,  and  trample  them  in  my  fury, 
and  their  blood  shall  be  sprinkled  upon  my  garments,  and  I  will 
stain  all  my  raiment."  See  also  Lam.  1 : 15 ;  Rev.  14 : 19,  20 ; 
19 : 15. 

In  the  above  passages  of  Isaiah  and  Revelation  treading  the  wine 
press  represents  wrath  inflicted,  not  wrath  suffered,  as  both  the  figure  and 
the  context  show.  The  Messiah  appears  here  not  in  his  character  of  an 
expiatory  victim,  as  he  does  elsewhere  (Isa.  53  :  7 ;  John  1 :  29 ;  1  Peter 


352  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

2  :24 ;  Rev.  1:5),  but  in  his  office  as  "King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords," 
breaking  in  pieces  the  enemies  of  his  church  with  a  rod  of  iron. 

18.  The  must,  as  the  Latins  call  the  newly  expressed  juice, 
was  either  boiled  into  syrup  in  its  unfermented  state  (the  honey 
of  grapes  mentioned  above),  or  was  subjected  to  a  process  of 
fermentation  more  or  less  complete,  and  then  stored  in  firkins 
or  leathern  bottles.   According  to  Jahn,  the  wine  when  preserved 
in  firkins,  was  sometimes  buried  in  the  ground.     Archaeology, 
§  69.     For  new  wine  new  bottles  of  skin  were  required,  because 
the  process  of  fermentation  was  not  yet  completed.     It  cannot 
have  been  simply  to, preserve  the  wine  from  air,  since  it  is  added 
that,  if  old  bottles  be  used,  the  new  wine  will  burst  the  bottles; 
but  when  new  bottles  are  employed  for  new  wine,  they  have 
sufficient  strength  to  resist  the  pressure,  and  thus  both  are  pre 
served.     Matt.  9 : 17 ;  Mark  2 : 22. 

The  Psalmist  says  (Psa.  119  : 83):  -"I  am  become  like  a  bottle  in  the 
smoke."  It  is  clear  that  a  bottle  blackened  and  soiled  by  exposure  to 
smoke  represents  here  the  result  of  continuous  affliction.  But  for  what 
purpose  were  bottles  thus  exposed  ?  This  question  has  been  answered  in 
different  ways.  According  to  Eosenmuller,  Hupfield,  and  others,  the 
reference  is  to  an  ancient  custom  of  suspending  leathern  bottles  filled  with 
wine  in  the  upper  part  of  the  house,  where  the  ascending  current  of  smoke 
(the  ancient  houses  had  no  chimneys)  would  come  in  contact  with  them, 
that  the  wine  might  be  thus  ripened.  See  the  references  in  Rosenmuller's 
Commentary.  We  add  a  single  one  from  Horace  (Odes,  3.  8):  "This 
festive  anniversary  day  shall  remove  the  pitch-covered  cork  from  a  jar 
accustomed  to  imbibe  the  smoke." 

19.  Strong  drink  (Heb.,  shekhar;  Greek  of  the  Sept.,  sikera, 
whence  the  Latin  sicera}  is  repeatedly  distinguished  from  wine, 
in  such  passages  as  speak  of  "wine  or  strong  drink."     Lev. 
10 : 9 ;  Numb.  6:3;  Judg.  13 : 4 ;  etc.     In  a  single  passage  of  the 
Pentateuch  (Numb.  28 : 7),  the  term  is  applied  to  wine ;  proba 
bly  strong  old  wine  of  the  best  quality.     Jerome  resided  long 
in  Palestine,  and  we  may  accept  his  definition  of  strong  drink 
(sicera)  as  accurate  for  his  day,  and  substantially  for  preceding 
ages.     "Sicera,  in  the  Hebrew  language,  signifies  every  drink 


AGRICULTURE.  353 

that  can  inebriate ;  whether  that  which  is  made  from  grain,  or 
from  the  juice  of  apples ;  or  when  a  sweet  and  barbaric  drink 
is  prepared  by  boiling  down  honey  [that  is,  in  water] ;  or  a 
liquor  is  formed  from  the  pressure  of  dates ;  or  a  thick  and  high 
colored  infusion  is  made  of  boiled  fruits  in  water."  Epistle  to 
Nepotianus.  There  are  some  allusions  in  Scripture  to  drugged 
wine,  that  is,  wine  mixed  with  spices  to  increase  its  strength  and 
flavor.  Psa.  75 : 9 ;  Prov.  23 : 30.  We  have  no  certain  evidence 
that  the  term  shekhar,  strong  drink,  was  applied  to  these  also, 
though  the  opinion  is  not  improbable,  and  is  sustained  by  the 
common  interpretation  of  Isa.  5 : 22,  where,  however,  some  under 
stand  the  mingling  of  strong  drink  with  water  as  a  necessary 
preparation  for  its  use.  Compare  Prov.  9:2;  Rev.  14 : 10,  where 
the  mingling  is  evidently  a  dilution  with  water. 

An  intoxicating  cup,  whether  of  wine  or  strong  drink,  that  produces 
staggering  and  vomiting,  is  a  common  Scriptural  figure  to  represent  the 
effect  of  God's  wrath.  "For  a  cup  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord,  and  it 
foams  with  wine :  it  is  full  of  mixture  [wine  mixed  with  spices] ,  and  he 
pours  out  the  same  :  the  very  dregs  thereof  shall  all  the  wicked  of  the 
earth  suck  out  and  drink"  (Psa.  75  : 9);  "Behold  I  have  taken  out  of  thy 
hand  the  cup  of  reelings,  the  bowl  of  the  cup  of  my  wrath  :  thou  shalt  not 
drink  it  any  more.  But  I  will  put  it  into  the  hand  of  them  that  afflict 
thee,"  etc.  (Isa.  51 :  22,  23) ;  "The  cup  of  the  Lord's  right  hand  shall  come 
round  unto  thee,  and  shameful  spewing  shall  be  on  thy  glory"  (Habak. 
2  :16);  "Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  Drink  ye,  and 
be  drunken,  and  spew,  and  fall,  and  rise  no  more,  because  of  the  sword 
which  I  will  send  among  you"  (Jer.  25  :  27).  See  also  Ezek.  23  : 32,  seq. ; 
Obad.  ver.  1G  ;  Rev.  U  : 10. 

20.  In  regard  to  the  various  terms  employed  by  the  Hebrews 
to  denote  the  juice  of  the  grape  or  preparations  from  it,  the  fol 
lowing  things  are  to  be  noted. 

(1.)  For  the  three  most  important  harvests  of  Palestine — 
corn,  wine,  and  oil — the  Hebrew  language  has  three  terms 
specially  applied  to  them  as  products  of  agriculture,  coming  in 
annually  each  in  its  season.  These  are  the  following : 

Dagan,  corn,  which  includes  all  the  different  kinds  of  bread- 
corn  as  products  of  agriculture  coming  in  from  the  threshing- 
sac.  Oeog. 


354  'BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

floor;  while  for  each  particular  species,  wheat,  barley,  etc.,  it  has 
names  applied  to  both  the  plant  and  its  grain. 

Yitshar,  oil;  that  is,  the  fresh  harvest  of  oil  coming  in  from 
the  oil-press.  Zaith  is  the  olive-tree  (Judg.  9:9),  and  its  fruits 
(Micah  6 : 15) ;  while  shemen  is  simply  its  oil  as  an  article  of  use. 

Tirbsh,  must  (occasionally  asis,  juice,  which  term  is  also 
applied  to  the  juice  of  the  pomegranate,  Cant.  8:2),  is  the  new 
wine  coming  in  from  the  vintage ;  while  yayin  is  simply  wine  as 
an  article  of  use,  and  answering  exactly  to  the  Greek  oinos  and 
the  Latin  vinum. 

The  above  named  three  terms  are  properly  agricultural.  When  em 
ployed  with  reference  to  the  use  of  the  articles  which  they  denote,  it  is 
always  in  connection  with  God's  bounty  in  giving  them.  Thus  the  prophet 
says  (Zech.  9:17):  "How  great  is  his  goodness,  and  how  great  is  his 
beauty !  corn  (dag an)  shall  make  the  young  men  flourish,  and  new  wine 
(tirosh}  the  maidens;"  and  so  also  the  manna  is  called  "the  corn  of 
heaven  "  (Psa.  78  :  24),  as  being  the  product  of  heaven. 

(2.)  It  follows  naturally  that  these  three  terms,  or  two  of 
them,  are  customarily  mentioned  together,  often  in  connection 
with  children  and  flocks  and  herds;  all  as  the  gifts  of  divine 
Providence.  A  striking  example  is  the  following:  "Wherefore 
it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  ye  hearken  to  these  judgments,  and  keep, 
and  do  them,  that  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  keep  unto  thee  the 
covenant  and  the  mercy  which  he  sware  unto  thy  fathers :  and 
he  will  love  thee,  and  bless  thee,  and  multiply  thee :  he  will  also 
bless  the  fruit  of  thy  wromb,  and  the  fruit  of  thy  land,  thy  corn, 
and  thy  wine,  and  thine  oil,  the  increase  of  thy  kine,  and  the 
flocks  of  thy  sheep,  in  the  land  which  he  sware  unto  thy  fathers 
to  give  thee."  Deut.  7 : 12,  13.  So  corn  and  wine  are  mentioned 
as  the  gifts  of  Jehovah :  "  Israel  then  shall  dwell  in  safety ;  the 
fountain  of  Jacob  shall  be  upon  a  land  of  corn  and  wine,  also 
his  heavens  shall  drop  down  dew."  Deut.  33 : 28. 

(3.)  Since  tirosh,  mmt,  does  not  denote  unfermented  wine  as 
such,  in  distinction  from  that  which  is  fermented,  but  simply 
the  new  wine,  coming  in  from  tl\£  vintage,  we  are  not  warranted  in 
affirming  that  it  was  never  in  any  degree  fermented.  Doubt- 


AGRICULTURE.  355 

less  some  of  it  was  drank  in  its  unferinented  state,  and  in  this 
state  also  more  or  less  of  it  was  boiled  down  to  honey  of  grapes, 
when  it  was  no  longer  called  must  (tirdsJt)  but  Jumey  (debhash). 
Doubtless  it  was  also  drunk  after  the  process  of  fermentation 
had  begun,  as  new  cider  is  with  us,  when  it  had  an  exhilarating 
effect.  The  must  which  took  away  the  heart  (Hosea  4 : 11)  must 
have  been  to  some  extent  fermented,  at  least  if  we  can  judge 
from  the  bad  company  in  which  the  prophet  places  it:  "Whore 
dom  and  wine  and  new  wine  (tirbsh)  take  away  the  heart." 
The  same  remarks  hold  good  of  the  other  term  asis,  generally 
rendered  sweet  wine  in  our  version.  See  Joel  1:5;  3 : 18 ;  Amos 
9:13;  Isa.  49:26. 

The  position  taken  in  the  original  edition  of  Kitto's  Cyclopaedia  (Art. 
Wine)  that  ttrosh  denotes  a  solid  substance,  "vintage fruits,"  is  satisfac 
torily  refuted  under  the  same  article  in  Alexander's  Kitto.  See  also 
Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  Art.,  Wine. 

(4.)  In  Acts  2 : 13  mention  is  made  of  sweet  wine  (not  neiv 
wine,  for  the  feast  of  the  Pentecost  occurred  in  June,  some  two 
months  before  the  first  vintage).  The  ancients  had  various 
ways  of  preparing  this  beverage.  One  was  by  arresting  fer 
mentation  by  means  of  vessels  corked  so  as  to  exclude  all  air. 
See  the  process  described  in  Hackett's  Commentary  on  Acts. 
Another  was,  according  to  Jahn  (Archaeology,  §  69),  by  soaking 
dried  grapes  in  old  wine,  and  then  pressing  them  a  second  time. 
Tliis  species  of  wine,  which  was  very  intoxicating,  seems  to  be 
that  here  intended.  The  "liquor  of  grapes"  (Numb.  6:3)  seems 
to  have  been  something  of  a  similar  character. 

There  are  various  poetic  terms  occasionally  applied  to  wine  which  it  is 
not  necessary  here  to  notice.  "Wine  on  the  lees  "is  wine  which,  after 
the  first  fermentation,  has  been  left  to  stand  a  long  time  on  its  lees, 
whereby  its  quality  and  flavor  are  improved.  To  this  custom  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  alludes  (chap.  48  : 11) :  "Moab  hath  been  at  ease  from  his  youth, 
and  he  hath  settled  on  his  lees,  and  hath  not  been  emptied  from  vessel 
to  vessel,  neither  hath  he  gone  into  captivity :  therefore  his  taste "  (the 
figure  of  a  wine-vessel  continued)  "remained  in  him,  and  his  scent  is  not 
changed." 


356  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

(5.)  Vinegar  of  wine  (Numb.  6 : 3),  called  also  simply  vinegar 
(Ruth  2 : 14),  diluted  with  water  was  anciently,  as  it  is  now,  a 
refreshing  drink. 

III.     THE  CULTURE  OF  THE  OLIVE. 

21.  The  olive-tree  is  common  almost  everywhere  on  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean,  but  is  peculiarly  abundant  in  Palestine. 
Rocky  hills  and  plains  with  a  calcareous  soil,  such  as  prevail  in 
this  country,  are  its  favorite  abode.  "  It  delights,"  says  Thom 
son  (vol.  1,  p.  70),  "to  insinuate  its  roots  into  the  clefts  of  the 
rocks  and  crevices  of  this  flinty  marl,  and  from  thence  it  draws 
its  richest  stores  of  011."'  To  this  fact  there  is  apparently  an 
allusion  in  the  song  of  Moses  (Deut.  32 : 13) :  "  He  made  him  to 
suck  honey  out  of  the  rock,  and  oil  out  of  the  flinty  rock." 
The  olive  is  a  tree  of  moderate  size,  with  a  gnarled  trunk  and 
branches  twisted  and  interlaced  in  fantastic  forms.  Sometimes 
two  or  three  trees  from  one  root  form  a  complicated  trunk, 
which  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  single  tree.  It  is  of  slow 
growth.  "Except  under  circumstances  peculiarly  favorable,  it 
bears  no  berries  until  the  seventh  year,  nor  is  the  crop  worth 
much  until  the  tree  is  ten  or  fifteen  years  old."  Thomson  as 
above,  p.  71.  But  then  its  longevity  is  remarkable.  It  endures 
through  several  centuries.  The  aged  tree  may  often  be  seen 
surrounded  tjy  several  young  and  thrifty  shoots  which  have 
sprung  from  its  roots.  It  is  also  easily  propagated  from  cuttings 
and  from  little  swellings  or  knobs  upon  the  bark  containing 
embryo  buds.  Its  smooth  lanceolate  evergreen  leaves  grow  in 
pairs,  and  are  of  a  dull  green  on  the  upper  surface,  and  silvery 
pale  underneath.  Robinson  says  (Phys.  Geog.,  p.  294)  that 
"the  foliage  of  the  olive,  with  its  dull  grayish  hue,  scarcely 
deserves  the  name  of  verdure."  But  if  the  beauty  of  the  olive 
be  of  a  sober  kind,  it  is  one  that  improves  upon  acquaintance, 
and  to  the  eye  of  an  orientalist  it  has  peculiar  charms :  "  His 
branches  shall  spread,"  says  the  prophet  (Hosea  14 : 6),  "  and 
his  beauty  shall  be  as  the  olive-tree,  and  his  smell  as  Lebanon ;" 
and  Jeremiah  says  (chap.  11:16):  "  The  Lord  called  thy  name, 


AGRICULTURE.  357 

a  green  olive  tree,  fair  and  of  goodly  fruit."  The  vigorous 
healthful  growth  of  an  olive-tree  is  a  most  appropriate  symbol 
of  the  righteous  man  flourishing  under  God's  protection,  and  in 
the  enjoyment  of  his  ordinances.  "  I,"  says  the  Psalmist  (Psa. 
52:8),  "am  like  a  green  olive-tree  in  the  house  of  God;"  where 
we  are  to  understand  not  an  olive-tree  planted  in  God's  house, 
but  the  Psalmist  himself  flourishing  in  God's  house  like  an  olive- 
tree.  The  olive-tree  produces  a  profusion  of  small  white  flow 
ers,  which  fairly  cover  the  ground  at  their  fall.  "  Not  one  in  a 
hundred  comes  to  maturity.  The  tree  casts  them  off  by  millions, 
as  if  they  were  of  no  more  value  than  flakes  of  snow,  which 
they  closely  resemble.  So  it  will  be  with  those  who  put 
their  trust  in  vanity."  Thomson,  vol.  1,  p.  72,  with  reference  to 
the  words  of  Eliphaz,  "  He  shall  cast  off  his  flower  as  the  olive," 
Job  15 :  33.  The  flower  is  followed  by  a  smooth  oval  plum-like 
fruit,  of  a  violet  color  when  ripe,  and  enclosing  a  hard  rough 
stone  inside  of  an  oily  pulp.  The  wood  of  the  olive  is  close- 
grained,  approaching  box  in  compactness,  with  a  pleasing  yel 
lowing  tint,  and  is  much  used  in  cabinet  work.  The  cherubim 
of  Solomon's  temple,  and  the  doors  and  posts  of  the  inner  and 
outer  sanctuary  were  made  of  olive-wood.  1  Kings  6 : 23,  31,  33. 
Homer  describes  the  polished  helve  of  a  battle  axe  as  made  of 
the  same  material.  Iliad,  13.  612. 

22.  The  pickled  berry  of  the  olive  forms  a  general  relish 
throughout  the  East ;  but  by  far  the  greatest  part  of  the  fruit  is 
bruised  or  ground  and  pressed  for  oil,  which  is  now,  as  anciently, 
one  of  the  most  precious  treasures  of  Palestine.  How  great  a 
source  of  wealth  it  was  to  the  Hebrews  appears  from  the  fact 
that  Solomon  gave  to  Hiram  annually,  in  return  for  the  services  of 
his  people,  along  with  twenty  thousand  measures  of  wheat,  twen 
ty  thousand  measures  of  barley  and  twenty  thousand  baths  of 
wine,  twenty  thousand  baths  of  oil  also,  a  bath  being  about 
seven  and  a  half  gallons.  See  2  Chron.  2 : 10 ;  1  Kings  5 : 11. 
Ezekiel  and  Hosea  also  mention  oil  as  one  of  the  articles  of 
export  from  the  land  of  Israel.  Ezek.  27:17;  Hosea  12:1. 
And  then  vast  quantities  were  consumed  at  home.  Where  the 


358  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

olive-tree  is  cultivated  its  oil  takes  the  place  of  butter,  and  is 
extensively  used  in  cooking.  It  lias  always  been  in  general  use 
for  lamps,  and  for  the  manufacture  of  soap.  The  custom  of 
anointing  the  head  and  body  with  oil  prevailed  among  the 
Hebrews,  as  among  all  the  neighboring  nations.  It  is  often 
alluded  to  in  the  Scriptures,  and  the  omission  of  this  article  was 
a  sign  of  mourning.  Ruth  3:3;  2  Sam.  12:20;  14:2;  Dan. 
10 : 3 ;  Matt.  6 : 17 ;  Luke  7 : 46 ;  etc.  .  It  was  also  a  customary 
honor  bestowed  on  the  bodies  of  the  dead.  Mark  14:8.  So 
Achilles  commands  the  body  of  his  friend  Patroclus  to  be 
washed  and  anointed  with  oil,  and  afterwards  the  body  of  his 
enemy  Hector,  before  he  delivers  it  to  Priam.  Iliad,  18.  350 ; 
24.  587.  Anointing  with  oil  had  also  a  religious  use.  It  was  a 
solemn  rite  of  consecration  and  inauguration,  as  will  be  shown 
in  another  place.- 

23.  According  to  the  Hebrew  interpreters,  beaten  oil  was  that 
which  flowed  from  olive-berries  bruised  in  a  mortar  but  not  sub 
jected  to  the  oil-press ;  and  this,  as  being  the  purest  and  best, 
was  employed  in  the  service  of  the  sanctuary.  Exod.  27 : 20 ; 
29:40;  Lev.  24:2;  Numb.  28:5;  1  Kings  5:11.  The  great 
mass  of  the  olive-berries,  however,  was  first  crushed  in  a  mill 
and  then  pressed.  According  to  Thomson  (vol.  1,  p.  523),  the 
modern  oil-mills  of  the  East  are  of  two  kinds.  The  first,  which 
is  worked  by  hand,  consists  of  a  circular  stone  basin,  in  which 
the  olives  are  ground  to  a  pulp  by  rolling  over  them  a  large  stone 
wheel.  The  second  is  driven  by  water  power.  This  has^an 
upright  cylinder  with  iron  cross-bars  at  the  lower  end,  turning 
rapidly  in  a  hollow  tube  of  stone-work  into  which  the  olives  are 
thrown  from  above,  and  beaten  to  a  pulp  by  the  revolving  cross 
bars.  The  interior  of  the  tube  is  kept  hot,  so  that  the  mass  is 
taken  out  below  sufficiently  heated  to  cause  the  oil  to  run  freely. 
The  pulp  is  put  into  small  baskets  of  straw-work,  which  are 
placed  one  above  another,  between  two  upright  posts,  and  pressed 
by  a  screw,  or  by  a  beam  lever.  After  the  first  pressure  the 
pulp  is  put  into  large  copper  pans,  sprinkled  with  water,  heated, 
and  subjected  to  a  second  pressure. 


AGRICULTURE.  359 

The  ancient  oil-mill  was  the  circular  stone  basin  with  its 
stone  wheel.  The  ancient  oil-press  was  also  the  same  as  that 
just  described,  but  worked  with  a  lever  only.  Many  such  may 
now  be  seen  by  the  traveller.  See  Thomson,  voL'l,  p.  307,  who 
speaks  of  "  another  basin  smaller  and  more  concave.  It  may 
have  served  to  tread  the  olives  with  the  feet — a  process  not  now 
used,  but  to  which  there  is  an  allusion  in  Micah  6 : 15 :  '  Thou 
shalt  tread  the  olives,  but  thou  shalt  not  anoint  thee  with 
oil.' " 

24.  The  oil  is  treasured  up  in  jars  or  cisterns,  where  it  soon 
clarifies  itself.     "  The  port  of  Gallipoli,  from  which  so  much  of 
the  best  oil  is  obtained,  owes  much  of  its  celebrity  to  its  being 
built  on  a  rocky  island,  where  fine  reservoirs  are  easily  excava 
ted,  in  which  the  oil  soon  clarifies,  and  remains  for  years  without 
becoming  rancid."     New  Amer.  Cyclopaedia,  Art.,  Olive. 

IV.     FRUIT-TREES. 

25.  The  date-palm  (Phoenix  dactylifera)  was  once  very  com 
mon  in  Palestine,  especially  in  the  Jordan  valley  wherever  there 
was  water  for  its  nourishment,  and  along  the  Mediterranean 
coast.     Jericho  was  called  "the  city  of  palm-trees"  (Deut.  34 : 3 ; 
Judg.  1 : 16 ;  3  : 13 ;  2  Chron.  28  : 15),  and  there  is  a  well-known 
coin  of  Vespasian  which  represents  Judaea  as  a  mourning  female 
sitting  under  a  palm-tree  and  guarded  by  a  Roman  soldier,  with 
the  inscription:  Judcea  capta,  that  is,  captive  Judcca.     But  the 
palm  groves  have  now  disappeared  from  the  Jordan  valley,  and 

.are  found  mainly  along  the  Mediterranean  coast  of  Palestine  and 
Syria  farther  north.  The  palm-tree  is  a  singularly  beautiful  and 
stately  object,  with  its  tall,  round  and  perfectly  upright  trunk 
rising  to  the  height  of  forty  or  even  seventy  feet,  and  scarred 
with  the  bases  of  the  fallen  leaves,  its  magnificent  tuft  of  long 
feathery  evergreen  leaves  at  the  summit  nodding  gracefully,  like 
the  plumes  of  an  ancient  helmet,  and  its  enormous  clusters  of 
golden  fruit  depending  beneath.  The  tree  is  of  slow  growth,  but 
endures  for  several  generations. 


360  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

The  palm  is  what  botanists  call  a  dioecious  plant ;  that  is,  it  bears  the 
fertilizing  flowers  on  one  tree,  and  the  fruit-bearing  flowers  on  another. 
To  make  its  harvest  abundant  and  profitable,  it  is  necessary  that  the  former 
kind  of  flowers  be  brought  by  human  labor  in  contact  with  the  latter.  The 
Arabs  climb  up  the  fruit-bearing  trees  and  hang  upon  them  clusters  of 
flowers  from  the  other  kind.  In  other  respects,  also,  the  date-palm  re 
quires  more  culture  than  the  olive,  and  perishes  sooner  by  neglect. 

26.  Besides  its  harvest  of  fruit  the  palm-tree  has  other  uses. 
"On  the  abortive  fruit  and  the  date-stones  ground  down  the 
camels  are  fed.     From  the  leaves  they  make  couches,  baskets, 
bags,  mats,  brushes,  and  fly-flaps;   from  the  trunk,  cages  for 
their  poultry,  and  fences  for  their  gardens ;  and  other  parts  of 
the  tree  furnish  fuel.     From  the  fibrous  webs  at  the  bases  of  the 
leaves  thread  is  procured,  which  is  twisted  into  ropes  and  rig 
ging;  and  from  the  sap,  which  is  collected  by  cutting  off  the 
head  of  the  palm,  and  scooping  out  a  hollow  in  its  stem,  a  spirit 
uous  liquor  is  prepared.    Burnett's  Outlines  of  Botany  quoted  in 
Fairbairn's  Bible  Dictionary. 

27.  The  scriptural  allusions  to  the  palm-tree,  though  not  very 
numerous,  are  strikingly  appropriate.    With  reference  to  its  per 
fect  uprightness,  Jeremiah  says  of  the  idols  of  the  heathen  (chap. 
10  :  5) :  "  They  are  upright  as  the  palm-tree,  but  speak  not :  they 
must  needs  be  borne,  because  they  cannot  go."      The  royal 
Psalmist  joins  it  with  the  cedar  of  Lebanon  as  an  emblem  of  the 
righteous  man's  prosperity  (Psa.  92 : 12) :  "  The  righteous  shall 
flourish  like  the  palm-tree ;  he  shall  grow  like  a  cedar  in  Leba 
non."     There  is  a  vivid  passage  in  the  Canticles  (chap.  7  :  7,  8), 
in  which  the  bride  is  compared  to  a  palm-tree,  the  fruit  of  which 
is  obtained  by  climbing  up  to  the  summit :  "I  said,  I  will  go  up 
upon  the  palm-tree  [not  "  to  the  palm-tree,"  as  in  our  version] ;  I 
will  take  hold  of  the  boughs  thereof."     The  "boughs"  are  the 
stems  of  the  enormous  leaves  underneath  which  the  clusters  of 
fruit  grow.     Palm-branches,  that  is,  palm-leaves  with  their  stems 
were,  as  early  as  the  days  of  the  Maccabees,  the  symbol  of  vic 
tory  and  triumph.     1  Mace.  13  : 51.     Hence,  upon  our  Lord's 
triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem,  the  people  "  took  branches  of 


AGRICULTURE.  361 

palm-trees  and  went  forth  to  meet  him"  (John  12  : 13) ;  and  the 
redeemed  whom  John  sees  in  vision  before  the  throne  clothed 
with  white  robes  have  palms  in  their  hands  (Rev.  7  : 9). 

Solomon's  temple  was  adorned  with  carvings  of  palm-trees  (1  Kings 
6  :  29,  32,  35  ;  7  : 36  ;  2  Chron.  3:5),  and  so  also  was  Ezekiel's  ideal  temple. 
Ezek.  40  : 16. 

28.  The  jig-tree  was  anciently,  as  it  is  now,  very  abundant  in 
Palestine.  Its  broad  green  leaves  afford  a  grateful  shade,  and 
its  fruit  is,  along  with  that  of  the  vine,  an  important  article  of 
food.  Hence  the  expression,  To  sit  under  one's  own  vine  and  fig- 
tree,  for  the  peaceable  possession  and  enjoyment  of  one's  pater 
nal  inheritance.  1  Kings  4  :  25 ;  Micah  4:4.  It  is  a  vigorous 
bearer,  and  in  warm  climates  yields  three  crops  a  year ;  the  early 
Jigs  (Isa.  28  : 4 ;  Hos.  9  : 10 ;  Micah  7  : 1),  which  ripen  towards  the 
end  of  June ;  the  summer  Jigs,  that  yield  a  harvest  in  autumn ; 
and  the  winter  Jig,  which  remains  on  the  tree  into  winter. 

Much  difficulty  has  been  found  with  the  transaction  recorded  by  Mark 
(chap.  11 : 12-14),  where  our  Lord  cursed  the  fig-tree  on  which  "he  found 
nothing  but  leaves ;  for  the  time  of  figs  was  not  yet."  It  is  to  be  assumed 
that  our  Lord,  in  this  matter,  acted  according  to  a  reasonable  probability. 
He  judged  from  the  forward  state  of  the  leaves — "seeing  a  fig-tree  afar  oft 
having  leaves " — that  haply  he  might  find  fruit.  It  was  not,  then,  winter 
figs  remaining  over  till  the  passover  which  he  expected  to  find  (if  such  a 
thing  were  possible  at  Jerusalem),  for  of  these  the  leaves  would  be  no  sign. 
It  must  have  been  the  early  figs  which  he  sought.  "  There  is,"  says  Thom 
son  (vol.  1,  p.  538),  "a  kind  of  tree  whicl  bears  a  large  green-colored  fig 
that  ripens  very  early.  I  have  plucked  them  in  May  from  trees  on  Leba 
non,  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  of  Jerusalem,  and  where  the  trees  are 
nearly  a  month  later  than  in  the  south  of  Palestine  ;  it  does  not,  therefore, 
seem  impossible  but  that  the  same  kind  miglit  have  had  ripe  figs  at  Easter, 
in  the  warm  sheltered  ravines  of  Olivet.  The  meaning  of  the  phrase,  The 
time  of  figs  had  not  yet  come,  may  be  that  the  ordinary  season  for  them 
had  not  yet  arrived,  which  would  be  true  enough  at  any  rate.  The  reason 
why  he  might  legitimately  (so  to  speak)  seek  fruit  from  this  particular  tree 
at  that  early  day,  was  the  ostentatious  show  of  leaves.  The  fig  often  comes 
with,  or  even  before  the  leaves,  and  especially  on  the  early  kind."  The 
sum  of  the  whole  matter,  according  to  this  reasonable  interpretation,  is 
that  while  this  tree  gave  promise  of  a  harvest  of  fruit  before  the  ordinary 
"time  of  figs,"  it  disappointed  the  expectation  it  had  awakened.  It  was, 

16 


362  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

therefore,  cursed  with  eternal  barrenness — a  symbolical  act.  shadowing 
forth  the  doom  of  pretentious  professors  of  godliness  who  bear  leaves 
only. 

29.  The  sycamore  is  a  species  of  fig-tree  which  flourishes  in 
the  warm  lowlands   of  Palestine,   and   abundantly   in   Egypt. 
1  Kings  10:27;  2  Chron.  1:15;  9:27;  1  Chron.  27:28;  Psa. 
78  : 47.     It  grows  to  a  great  size  with  widespread  boughs  and  a 
deep  strong  root.     Hence  the  pertinence  of  our  Lord's  illustra 
tion  (Luke-17  :  6) :  "If  ye  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed, 
ye  might  say  unto  this  sycamine-tree,  Be  thou  plucked  up  by  the 
root,  and  be  thou  planted  in  the  sea ;  and  it  should  obey  you." 
It  bears  several  crops  of  figs  annually,  which  grow  on  short 
stems  along  the  trunk  and  branches.     The  fruit  is  of  an  inferior 
quality,  but  the  poorer  classes  consume  it  in  great  quantities. 
The  wood  is  soft  and  of  little  value  in  comparison  with  the  cedar 
of  Lebanon.    Isa.  9  : 10.    Yet  it  is  very  durable,  if  we  may  judge 
from  the  mummy-cases  made  of  it  thousands  of  years  ago.    The 
ancients  noticed  the  fact  that  in  order  to  ripen  the  fruit  it  was 
necessary  to  puncture  or  nip  each  fig  with  an  iron  instrument  a 
few  days  before  the  time  of  harvest ;  a  practice  which,  according 
to  Hasselquist,  exists  in  modern  times. 

The  word  sycamore  (from  the  Greek  snkomoros)  signifies  Jig-mulberry, 
because  the  fruit  resembles  that  of  the  true  fig,  while  the  leaves  are  like 
those  of  the  mulberry,  a  nearly  related  species.  The  true  sycamore  must 
be  carefully  distinguished  from  the  American  tree  which  commonly  goes 
by  that  name,  and  which  is  also*called  button-wood.  This  latter  is  the  occi 
dental  plane  ( Platanus  occidentalis),  and -has  no  relation  to  the  fig  family. 

The  sycamine-tree  (Luke  17  :  6)  is  confounded  with  the  sycamore  by  the 
Septuagint  in  1  Kings  10  :  27 ;  1  Chron.  27  :  28  ;  Isa.  9  : 10  ;  and  according 
to  Dioscorides  (p.  80)  by  some  of  the  ancients.  This  name,  however,  be 
longs  properly  to  the  black  mulberry.  Dioscorides,  ubi  supra. 

30.  The  pomegranate  hardly  merits  the  appellation  of  a  tree. 
It  is  rather  a  stout  thorny  shrub  with  dense  foliage,  said  to  be 
the  favorite  haunt  of  the  nightingale.      Its  beautiful  crimson 
flowers  and  its  large  smooth  fruit,  surmounted  by  a  conspicuous 
calyx  and  often  tinged  with  a  blush  of  red,  make  it  a  very  pleas 
ing  object  to  the  eye.     It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  artificial 


AGKICULTURE.  363 

pomegranates  should  be  selected  as  ornaments  for  the  high 
priest's  robe  (Exod.  28  : 33,  34),  and  for  the  pillars  of  Solomon's 
temple  (1  Kings  7 : 18 ;  2  Chron.  3 : 16),  and  that  the  bride's 
cheeks  should  be  compared  to  a  piece  of  pomegranate  (Cant. 
4:3;  6:7).  The  fruit  is  about  as  large  as  an  orange,  divided 
into  two  portions  by  a  horizontal  diaphragm,  the  upper  consist 
ing  of  five  to  nine  cells,  and  the  lower  of  three  cells.  The  nu 
merous  seeds  are  surrounded  by  a  juicy  pulp  of  a  pleasant  acid 
taste,  and  very  refreshing.  Allusion  is  made  in  Cant.  8  : 2  to  a 
sort  of  sherbet  or  wine  made  from  its  juice.  The  tough  astrin 
gent  rind  abounds  in  tannin,  and  is  used  in  the  preparation  of 
morocco.  According  to  Thomson  (vol.  2,  p.  392),  "the  bitter 
juice  of  it  stains  everything  it  touches  with  an  undefined  but 
indelible  blue." 

31.  Of  the  tappuah.  of  the  Old  Testament,  rendered  apple  in 
bur  version,  we  have  already  spoken.  See  above  Chap.  7,  No. 
18.  The  almond-tree  thrives  throughout  Syria  and  Palestine. 
Almonds  are  mentioned  among  the  presents  sent  by  Jacob  to 
Egypt  to  propitiate  "the  man,  the  lord  of  the  country"  (Gen. 
43 : 11) ;  and  the  rods  of  the  princes  of  Israel  were  from  the 
almond-tree.  Numb.  chap.  17.  The  fruit  is  too  well  known  to 
need  description.  The  branches  of  the  golden  lamp  of  the  sanc 
tuary  were  ornamented  each  with  "  three  bowls  made  like  unto 
almonds,  with  a  knop  and  a  flower."  Hxod.  25  :  33. 

The  Hebrew  name  of  the  almond-tree  signifies  the  waker,  or  the  wake 
ful;  and  it  is  the  first  to  awake  from  the  torpor  of  winter.  It  puts  forth 
in  January  a  profusion  of  blossoms  before  a  single  leaf  has  yet  appeared. 
Hence  it  is  made  a  symbol  of  God's  wakeful  vigilance  in  the  execution  of 
his  threatenings  :  "  Jeremiah,  what  seest  thou  ?  And  I  said,  I  see  a  rod  of 
an  almond-tree.  Then  said  the  Lord  unto  me,  Thou  hast  well  seen  :  for  I 
will  awake  over  my  word  to  perform  it."  Jer.  1  : 11,  12. 

In  the  description  of  old  age  (Eccl.  12  :  5)  we  read  that  "they  shall  be 
afraid  of  that  which  is  high,  and  fears  shall  be  in  the  way,  and  the  almond- 
tree  shall  flourish,  and  the  grasshopper  shall  be  a  burden,  and  desire  shall 
fail."  The  blossoming  of  the  almond-tree  (according  to  the  rendering  of 
the  Seventy,  the  Syriac,  and  the  Latin)  has  been  commonly  understood  as 
a  poetical  description  of  the  hoary  head.  The  objection  raised  by  modern 
scholars,  that  the  flowers  of  the  almond-tree  are  not  white  but  rose-colored, 


364  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

can  hardly  be  considered  as  valid.  The  flowers  of  the  almond  are  indeed 
rose  colored  when  fresh  ;  but  they  fade  with  age  into  white,  as  do  those  of 
other  related  species.  They  are  not  more  roseate  than  those  of  the  apple- 
tree  ;  yet  these  latter,  when  old,  fall  and  cover  the  ground  like  flakes  of 
snow.  If  the  rendering  of  the  Seventy  be  rejected,  that  proposed  by  Ge- 
senius,  "The  almond  is  rejected,"  namely,  by  the  old  man,  notwithstand 
ing  its  delicious  fruit,  deserves  perhaps  the  preference  among  modern 
interpretations. 

V.  VARIOUS  OTHER  DEPARTMENTS  OF  AGRICUL 
TURAL  LABOR. 

32.  Gardens  and  orchards  have  ever  been  the  delight  of  the 
orientalists.  The  Hebrew  term  rendered  garden  includes  or 
chards  planted  with  choice  trees  of  all  kinds,  and  watered  with 
fountains,  according  to  the  ability  of  their  owners.  In  the  hands 
of  princes,  like  Solomon,  the  garden  swelled  to  the  dimensions  of 
a  park  (pardes,  that  is,  paradise,  a  term  including  in  itself  the 
garden,  the  orchard,  and  the  pleasure-ground),  where  all  things 
were  collected  that  could'  delight  the  eye  or  regale  the  senses. 
Solomon  had  such  parks  in  various  choice  places,  as  at  En-gedi 
on  the  Dead  sea,  at  Etam  by  the  pools  south  of  Jerusalem,  and 
on  the  borders  of  Lebanon,  where  were  spicery  and  trees  of  all 
kinds  of  fruit.  Eccles.  2:4-6;  Cant.  1 : 14 ;  4  : 12-16 ;  6:2,  11. 
From  these  princely  "paradises"  there  was  a  descent  through 
all  gradations  to  the  quiet  enclosure  planted  with  a  few  trees 
and  shrubs,  and  containing,  perhaps,  a  family  sepulchre ;  for  the 
Jews  had  sometimes  their  sepulchres  in  gardens.  2  Kings  21 : 18 ; 
John  19 : 41. 

The  gardens  and  orchards  surrounding  Damascus,  and  watered  every 
where  by  streams  brought  from  the  ancient  Abana  and  Pharpar,  have  been 
celebrated  in  all  ages  for  the  abundance  and  excellence  of  their  fruits. 
Similar  gardens  surround  Joppa,  Ramleh,  and  other  places  of  the  Medi 
terranean  plain  where  water  can  be  commanded ;  and  the  moderns  have 
added  many  fruits  unknown  to  the  ancients.  See  above  Chap.  3,  Nos.  8 
and  9  ;  Chap.  10,  No.  16,  seq.  In  view  of  these  well-watered  gardens  and 
orchards,  presenting  a  scene  of  perpetual  verdure  and  fruitfulness,  how 
beautiful  and  forcible  are  the  scriptural  descriptions  of  the  righteous  man 
who  puts  his  trust  in  God  :  "  He  shall  be  like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers 
of  water,  that  bringeth  forth  his  fruit  in  his  season  ;  his  leaf  also  shall  not 


AGEICULTUKE.  365 

wither ;  and  whatsoever  he  doeth  shall  prosper "  (Psa.  1:3;  Jer.  17:8); 
"  The  Lord  shall  guide  thee  -  continually,  and  satisfy  thy  soul  in  drought, 
and  make  fat  thy  bones  :  and  thou  shalt  be  like  a  watered  garden,  and  like 
a  spring  of  water,  whose  waters  fail  not. "  Isa.  58  : 11.  The  heavenly 
Jerusalem  ^itself  is  a  paradise  watered  by  the  river  of  water  of  life  that 
flows  out  from  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  on  whose  banks  grows 
the  tree  of  life  with  its  perpetual  harvest  of  fruit.  The  river,  having  its 
source  in  the  throne  of  God,  is  eternal,  and  so  are  the  trees  of  life  which 
line  its  borders:  Ezek.  chap.  47 ;  Kev.  chap.  22. 

33.  The  balsam  of  the  Old  Testament  (Tsori,  rendered  balm 
in  our  version)  was  manifestly  a  product  of  Gilead  (Jer.  8  : 22 ; 
46  : 11),  and  apparently  of  Palestine  proper  also ;  though  this  is 
not  certain,  since  the  balm  mentioned  in  Gen.  43 : 11 ;  Ezek. 
27  : 17,  may  have  been  obtained  from  Gilead.  If  now  we  are  to 
understand  by  the  word  balm  a  single,  definite  product,  it  seems 
impossible  to  identify  the  balm  of  Gilead  with  the  true  opobalsa- 
mum  of  the  ancients.  The  shrub  that  produced  this  was  a  native 
of  Arabia,  and  capable  of  flourishing  only  in  hot  climates,  like 
those  about  Jericho  and  En-gedi,  to  which  places  it  seems  to 
have  been  transplanted.  We  cannot  suppose  that  it  could  grow 
on  the  mountains  of  Gilead.  The  opobalsamum  flowed  in  small 
drops  from  incisions  made  with  a  sharp  stone  in  the  bark  of  the 
shrub.  It  was  esteemed  as  a  very  precious  substance  by  the 
ancients,  but  was  not  the  balm  that  came  from  Gilead.  This  lat 
ter  was  probably  the  myrobalanum,  which  is  obtained  from  the 
nuts  of  a  tree  yet  common  in  Gilead,  and  highly  valued  for  its 
healing  qualities.  The  tree  is  known  to  the  Arabs  as  the  zuk- 
kum  (Balanites  cegyptica],  and  should  not  be  confounded  with  the 
wild  olive  (Eleagnus  angustifolius).  It  is  a  thorny  tree  of  small 
size,  bearing  green  nuts,  having  a  small  kernel  and  thick  shell, 
covered  with  a  thin  flesh  outside.  These  kernels  the  Arabs 
pound  in  a  mortar,  and  then  putting  the  pulp  into  scalding  water 
skim  off  the  oil ;  or  they  grind  them  and  press  out  the  oil,  as 
they  do  out  of  olives.  See  the  authorities  and  opinions  in  Wi 
ner's  Realworterbuch,  Art.  Balsam ;  Bosenmiiller  on  Gen.  37 : 25 ; 
Kobinson,  Bib.  Res.,  vol.  1,  pp.  559,  560 ;  Tristram's  Land  of 
Israel,  pp.  202,  203,  559. 


366  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Kosenmiiller  and  others  object  to  the  identification  of  the  Hebrew  bal 
sam  with  the  myrobalanum  on  the  ground  that  the  Hebrew  name  ( Tsorl) 
denotes,  according  to  its  etymology,  something  that  distils,  not  that  which  is 
obtained  by  pressure.  But  we  have  here  only  a  choice  of  difficulties,  and 
those  on  the  other  side  are  the  greatest.  It  may  be,  however,  that  the  old 
Hebrew  name  was  generic,  in  which  case  it  might  include  the  true  opobal- 
Bamum  obtained  by  the  Ishmaeli tish  merchants  from  Arabia,  as  well  as  the 
native  myrobalanum  of  Gilead. 

34.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  honey  of  grapes.  No.  18 
above.  But  Palestine  is  emphatically  the  land  of  bees  also,  and 
true  honey  is  often  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures.  Judg.  14 : 8 ; 
1  Sam.  14:27;  Psa.  19:10;  Prov.  5:3;  etc.  The  haunts  of 
bees  in  their  wild  state  were  then,  as  now,  the  cavities  of  trees, 
the  holes  of  rocks,  and  even  the  dried  carcasses  of  animals. 
1  Sam.  14  : 27 ;  Isa.  7  : 19 ;  Judg.  14  :  8.  That  the  care  of  bees 
was  a  part  of  the  Hebrew  husbandman's  occupation  we  cannot 
doubt.  Honey  is  mentioned  as  an  article  of  traffic  (Ezek.  21  •  17), 
where  it  may  include  the  honey  of  grapes  also. 

The  food  of  John  the  Baptist  in  the  wilderness  was  ' '  locusts  and  wild 
honey."  Matt.  3:4;  Mark  1 : 6.  Both  these  terms  are  to  be  taken  lit 
erally.  Wild  honey  abounded  in  the  wilderness  of  Judea  as  weh1  as  locusts, 
and  both  were  to  the  Hebrew  lawful  articles  of  diet.  See  for  the  latter 
Lev.  11 : 22. 


CARE   OF  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS.  367 


CHAPTEE    XV. 

THE    CARE   OF    FLOCKS   AND    HERDS   AND    OTHER 
ANIMALS. 

1.  THE  patriarchs,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  were  nomads — 
men  whose  chief  possessions  consisted  in  flocks  and  herds,  who 
lived  in  tents,  and  who  moved  from  place  to  place  as  the  con 
venience  of  pasturage  required.    Upon  the  descent  of  the  Israel 
ites   into   Egypt,   in  obedience   to  Joseph's   instructions,  they 
answered   Pharaoh's   question :  "  What   is   your   occupation  ?" 
"  Thy  servants  are  shepherds,  both  we,  and  also  our  fathers." 
Gen.  47 : 3.     They  used  the  word  shepherds  in  the  wide  sense, 
of  those  whose  business  is  to  tend  flocks  and  herds;  and  on 
this  ground  their  dwelling  was  assigned  to  them  in  the  land  of 
Goshen.     Upon  their  return  to  Canaan,  the  tribes  of  Eeuben 
and  Gad  and  half  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  received  their  inherit 
ance  in  Gilead  and  Bashan  east  of  the  Jordan,  because  they 
saw  that  "  the  place  was  a  place  for  cattle."     Numb.  chap.  32. 

2.  But  it  was  not  God's  purpose  that  the  covenant  people 
should  be  a  race  of  nomads,  who  must  always  stand,  other 
things  being  equal,  upon  a  lower  plane  of  civilization  and  nation 
ality  than  an  agricultural  people  with  fixed  abodes  and  the 
stable  institutions  connected  with  them.     Nomadic  tribes  are 
essentially  roving,  for  their  pasture-grounds  change  with  the 
changing  seasons  of  the  year.     This  we  see  illustrated  in  the 
case  of  the  Hebrew  patriarchs.  •  We  find  Abraham   at  She- 
chern,  then  at  Hai,  then  "going  on  still  toward  the  south." 
From  the  south  country  he  descends  to  Egypt :  from  Egypt  he 
returns  to  the  south  country :  thence  he  goes  to  Beth-el  and  Hai, 
and  thence  to  Hebron.     Afterwards  we  find  him  in  Gerar  and 
Beer-sheba.     Gen.  12 : 6-10 ;  13 :  \-A,  18 ;  20 : 1 ;  21 : 31.     Jacob, 
again,  upon  his  return  from  Mesopotamia,  comes  to  Shalem  in 


368  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

front  of  Shechem:  thence  he  journeys  to  Beth-el,  and  after 
wards  to  Hebron.  Gen.  33 : 18 ;  35 : 1,  27.  From  Hebron,  as  a 
centre,  his  sons  go  with  their  father's  flocks  to  Shechem,  and 
thence  to  Dothan.  Gen.  37:12-17.  The  roving  character  of 
nomads  is  illustrated  on  a  magnificent  scale  in  the  case  of  the 
Arab  tribes.  Take,  for  an  illustration,  the  powerful  Anazeh 
Arabs, -with  their  numerous  divisions  and  sub-divisions,  whose 
range  is  from  Mesopotamia  to  the  Jordan.  They  arrive  from 
the  east  about  the  beginning  of  May,  spreading  themselves  over 
the  land  like  locusts,  and  their  camels  are  now,  as  in  olden 
times,  "without  number,  as  the  sand  by  the  seaside  for  multi 
tude."  Judg.  7 : 12.  "  At  that  season  the  whole  country  from 
the  Jordan  to  the  plains  of  Damascus  is  covered  with  them— 
their  black  tents  pitched  in  circles  near  the  fountains,  and  their 
flocks  and  herds  roaming  over  lull  and  dale."  .  .  .  "When  their 
flocks  have  either  eaten  up  or  trampled  down  the  pastures  of 
the  Jaulan,  the  sheikh  mounts  his  mare,  waves  his  spear,  and 
his  '  children '  follow  him  to  the  lakes  of  Damascus,  round  which 
they  encamp  for  the  rest  of  the  summer."  Handbook  for  Syria 
and  Palestine,  pp.  437,  438. 

The  roving  life  of  the  nomads  makes  it  necessary  that  they 
dwell  in  tents,  instead  of  houses.  Some  tents  are  of  a  circular 
form,  resting  on  a  single  pole,  but  more  commonly  they  are 
square,  resting  on  several  poles;  those  of  the  better  class  on 
nine,  arranged  in  three  rows.  The  covering  consists  of  black 
cloth  made  of  goat's  hair,  about  a  yard  broad,  laid  parallel  with 
the  tent's  length  and  impervious  to  rain.  It  is  secured  in  its 
place  by  tent-ropes  fastened  to  tent-pins  of  hard  wood  driven 
firmly  into  the  ground.  It  is  only  the  ernir  or  sheikh  who  can 
afford  to  have  separate  tents  for  his  women.  Usually  a  single 
tent  divided  by  curtains  into  two  or  more  apartments  accom 
modates  the  whole  family,  and  so^netimes  the  lambs  of  the  flock 
also.  Grant  (Nestorians,  part  1,  chap.  9)  describes  a  Koordish 
tent  about  forty  feet  long  by  eighteen  wide,  of  which  about  one 
fourth  part  was  fenced  off  with  a  wicker  trellis  as  a  shelter  for 
the  lambs  of  the  flock  during  the  night.  The  furniture  of  a 


CARE   OF  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS.  369 

tent,  even  though  it  be  of  the  better  quality,  must  be  simple 
and  light  compared  with  the  appointments  of  a  fixed  abode; 
for  both  it  and  everything  in  it  is  subjected  to  perpetual  remov 
als.  "Mine  age,"  said  Hezekiah,  "is  departed,  and  is  removed 
from  me  as  a  shepherd's  tent."  Isa.  38 : 12. 

It  is  customary  for  the  chief  to  occupy  a  place  in  the  centre  of  his  peo 
ple  who  pitch  their  tents  around  him  in  a  circle  or  oval,  or  sometimes  in 
the  form  of  a  square.  In  a  large  encampment  many  such  groups  may  be 
seen,  arranged  according  to  the  various  divisions  of  the  tribe ;  and  they 
present,  with  their  black  hair  coverings,  a  very  pleasing  spectacle.  "I  am 
black,  but  comely,"  says  the  bride  (Cant.  1 :  5),  "  O  ye  daughters  of  Jerusa 
lem,  as  the  tents  of  Kedar,  as  the  curtains  of  Solomon. " 

The  wandering  tent  life  of  nomad  tribes  is  incompatible  with 
the  existence  of  that  stable  character  and  those  stable  institu 
tions  which  are  essential  to  true  nationality  and  civilization. 
Let  one  consider,  for  example,  how  impossible  it  would  be  to 
develop  among  them  the  institutions  and  character  of  ancient 
Home  or  modern  England.  The  life  of  a  nomad  impresses 
itself  upon  the  very  substance  of  his  character.  He  is  essen 
tially  a  wanderer,  to  whom  a  fixed  abode,  with  its  ever  recurring 
round  of  duties,  is  intolerably  irksome.  And  it  will  be  well  if 
he -is  not  a  plunderer  also;  for  everything  in  the  nomadic  sys 
tem  favors  predatory  expeditions,  and  they  have  ever  been  a 
part  of  the  history  of  nomadic  tribes. 

The  modern  plundering  incursions  of  the  Arabs,  which  have  reduced 
to  a  state  of  desolation  so  many  fertile  regions  in  and  around  Palestine, 
are  but  repetitions  of  what  took  place  in  olden  times,  when  the  Midianites, 
and  the  Anialekites,  and  the  children  of  the  east  "came  up  with  their 
cattle  and  then*  tents,  and  they  caine  as  grasshoppers  for  multitude ;  for 
both  they  and  their  camels  were  without  number :  and  they  entered  into 
the  land  to  destroy  it"  (Judg.  6:5);  and  when,  at  a  later  period,  the 
Amalekites  from  the  south  captured  and  burned  Ziklag,  and  carried  off 
everything  in  it  (1  Sam.  chap.  30).  Nor  were  such  incursions  confined  to 
the  side  of  the  heathen.  We  have  a  notice  (1  Chron.  5 : 18-22)  of  an 
invasion  made  by  the  two  and  a  half  tribes  east  of  the  Jordan  upon  "the 
Hagarites,  with  Jetur,  and  Jsaphish,  and  Nadab,"  in  which  they  brought 
back  as  spoil  "of  their  camels  fifty  thousand,  and  of  sheep  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand,  and  of  asses  two  thousand,  and  of  men  a  hundred 
thousand." 

16* 


370  •  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

The  wisdom  of  God,  accordingly,  appointed  to  his  people 
a  residence  in  an  agricultural  region,  where  with  fixed  abodes 
and  hereditary  possessions  descending  from  father  to  son,  the 
iustitutions  of  the  theocracy  might  have  their  proper  develop 
ment;  for  though  established  in  the  Arabian  desert,  they  went 
into  full  operation  only  upon  the  settlement  of  the  nation  in 
Palestine.  Nevertheless,  the  care  of  flocks  and  herds  was  an 
important  branch  of  Hebrew  industry,  and  the  Scriptural  refer 
ences  to  pastoral  life  are  very  numerous. 

3.  "We  begin  with  the  camel.  This  is  emphatically  the  beast 
of  the  desert.  It  appears  frequently  in  connection  with  the 
nomad  tribes  east  and  south  of  Palestine,  but  not  prominently 
in  the  history  of  the  Israelites,  because  after  their  settlement 
in  Canaan  they  had  but  little  occasion  for  its  services.  On 
his  arrival  at  Hebron  from  the  southern  desert  the  traveller 
may,  if  he  choose,  exchange  his  camels  for  horses.  Robinson, 
Bib.  Res.,  vol.  2,  p.  208.  The  camel  is  not  less  obviously  fitted 
by  divine  Providence  for  the  arid  deserts  of  Arabia  and  Africa, 
than  is  the  polar  bear  for  the  arctic  seas;  and,  unlike  the 
latter  animal,  it  renders  to  man  the  most  important  services, 
enabling  the  caravans  to  traverse  regions  that  would  be  other 
wise  impassable.  It  is  well  known  that  the  camel's  paunch 
is  furnished  with  membranous  cells,  which  enable  the  animal 
to  receive  and  retain  an  extra  supply  of  water  sufficient  for 
four  or  more  days;  while  the  fatty  matter  accumulated  in  the 
hump  not  only  adapts  the  back  to  the  reception  of  burdens, 
but  contains  also  an  extra  store  of  nourishment  which  is  taken 
into  the  system  by  absorption  as  occasion  may  require.  "  So 
well  is  the  use  of  the  hump  understood  in  the  East,  that  the 
condition  of  the  animal  is  judged  of,  and  its  improvement  after 
a  long  journey  measured  by  it.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  see 
camels  come  in  after  long  painful  journeys,  with  backs  almost 
straight,  exhibiting  but  little  if  any  hump."  Major  Wayne  in 
the  New  Am.  Cyclopaedia.  The  coarse  and  prickly  shrubs  of 
the  desert  are  its  favorite  food,  which  it  prefers  to  the  tenderest 
herbage.  "Hardly  less  wonderful,"  says  Robinson  (Bib.  Res., 


CARE  OF  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS.        371 

vol.  2,  p.  209),  "is  the  adaptation  of  their  broad  cushioned  foot 
to  the  arid  sands  and  gravelly  soil,  which  it  is  their  lot  chiefly 
to  travel."  Many  travellers  have  noticed  tke  silence  in  which 
a  train  of  these  animals  passes  over  rocky  steeps,  their  feet 
being  as  soft  as  sponge  or  leather.  "Admirably  adapted  to 
the  desert  regions  which  are  their  home,  they  yet  constitute 
one  of  the  evils  which  travelling  in  the  desert  brings  with  it. 
Their  long,  slow,  rolling  or  rocking  gait,  although  not  at  first 
very  unpleasant,  becomes  exceedingly  fatiguing ;  so  that  I  have 
often  been  more  exhausted  in  riding  five-and-twenty  miles  upon 
a  camel,  than  in  travelling  fifty  on  horseback.  Yet  without 
them,  how  could  such  journeys  be  performed  at  all  ?"  .  .  .  "  Then- 
well-known  habit  of  lying  down  upon  the  breast  to  receive  their 
burdens,  is  not,  as  is  often  supposed,  merely  the  result  of  train 
ing  ;  it  is  an  admirable  adaptation  of  their  nature  to  their  des 
tiny  as  earners.  This  is  their  natural  position  of  repose ;  as  is 
shown  too  by  the  Callosities  upon  the  joints  of  the  legs,  and 
especially  by  that  upon  the  breast,  w^hich  serves  as  a  pedestal 
beneath  the  huge  body."  Robinson,  ubi  supra. 

There  are  two  species  of  camels,  the  Badrian  -with  two  humps,  and 
the  common  Arabian  or  one-humped.  The  word  dromedary,  that  is, 
courser,  is  frequently  applied  to  the  Arabian  camel  in  distinction  from  the 
Bactrian  ;  but,  properly  speaking,  dromedaries  are  a  variety  of  the  Ara 
bian  camel  distinguished  for  speed  and  used  for  travel,  while  those  of 
stronger  frame  and  slower  pace  are  employed  to  carry  burdens.  The 
dromedary  unites  the  speed  of  the  thoroughbred  horse  with  more  endu 
rance.  Seven  or  eight  miles  an  hour  for  nine  or  ten  hours  a  day  is  said 
to  be  a  common  performance  for  the  swiftest  breed  of  dromedaries,  and 
they  sometimes  attain  the  speed  of  ninety  miles  or  more  in  twenty-four 
hours,  but  only  for  a  day  or  two  over  level  ground.  The  camel's  flesh  is 
said  to  be  wholesome  and  palatable,  and  its  milk  is  not  inferior  to  that  of 
the  cow  in  either  color  or  flavor. 

4.  Flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  constitute  a  large  part  of  the 
wealth  of  the  nomadic  tribes.  These,  however,  are  a  treasure 
not  so  peculiar  to  them  as  the  camel,  but  one  that  is  shared  also 
by  those  who  live  in  fixed  abodes.  Yet  it  is  true  that  the  more 
desert  and  uncultivated  parts  of  Palestine  are  those  in  which 


372  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

this  species  of  wealth  most  predominates.  Bethlehem,  for  ex 
ample,  borders  on  the  desert  of  Judaea,  and  here  in  this  desert 
we  find  David  tending  his  father's  flocks.  "With  whom,"  asks 
Eliab  scornfully,  "hast  thou  left  those  few  sheep  in  the  wilder 
ness?"  1  Sam.  17:28.  So  Nabal,  who  had  three  thousand 
sheep,  and  a  thousand  goats,  had  his  possessions  in  Carniel 
(the  Carmel  of  Judsea  south  of  Hebron),  on  the  very  edge  of  the 
same  wilderness.  1  Sam.,  chap.  25.  The  slopes  of  Lebanon 
and  of  the  Galilean  hills,  with  their  wild  wadies  covered  with 
dense  forests  of  oak  and  underwood,  are  also  a  favorite  range 
for  sheep  and  goats.  Thomson,  vol.  1,  p.  299,  seq.  Large 
parts  of  Carmel,  Bashan,  and  Gilead  are  now,  as  of  old,  covered 
with  forests,  and  these  "  at  the  proper  seasons  are  alive  with 
countless  flocks,  which  live  upon  the  green  leaves  and  tender 
branches."  Ibid.,  p.  304.  With  allusion  to  these  well-known 
haunts  of  flocks  the  Lord  promises  that  in  the  latter  day  his 
flocks  "shall  dwell  safely  in  the  wilderness,  and  sleep  in  the 
woods"  (Ezek.  34:25);  and  Micah  says  (chap.  7:14):  "Feed 
thy  people  with  thy  rod,  the  flock  of  thy  heritage,  wliich 
dwell  solitarily  in  the  wood,  in  the  midst  of  Carmel :  let  them 
feed  in  Bashan  and  Gilead,  as  in  the  days  of  old." 

5.  Besides  the  common  sheep  of  Europe  and  America  the 
so-called  Syrian  sheep  is  abundant  in  Palestine.  This  variety 
is  remarkable  for  the  extraordinary  size  of  its  tail,  which  is  a 
broad  flattish  appendage  "composed  of  a  substance  between 
marrow  and  fat,  serving  very  often  in  the  kitchen  the  place  of 
butter,  and  cut  into  small  pieces,  makes  an  ingredient  in  various 
dishes."  "  The  carcase  of  one  of  these  sheep,  without  including 
the  head,  feet,  entrails,  and  skin,  generally  weighs  from  fifty  to 
sixty  pounds,  of  which  the  tail  makes  up  fifteen  pounds;  but 
some  of  the  largest  breed,  that  have  been  fattened  with  care, 
will  sometimes  weigh  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  the  tail 
alone  composing  a  third  of  the  whole  weight."  Kitto  quoted  in 
Fairbairn's  Bible  Diet.  The  ordinary  fold  or  cote  is  simply  a 
yard  under  the  open  sky  to  protect  the  flocks  against  wild 
animals.  It  is  only  when  the  nights  are  cold  that  they  are  put 


CARE  OF  FLOCKS  AND  HEEDS.  373 

under  cover  in  low  flat  buildings  erected  in  sheltered  positions. 
The  modern  yards  described  by  Thomson  (vol.,1,  p.  299)  con 
sist  of  wide  stone  walls,  crowned  ah1  around  with  sharp  thorns, 
or  simply  of  a  stout  palisade  of  tangled  thorn-bushes.  Sheep- 
shearings  were  occasions  of  great  festivity,  answering  to  the 
harvest  and  vintage  of  the  husbandman.  David  rightly  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  Nabal  was  shearing  his  flocks  that  he  had 
on  hand  abundant  stores  of  provisions,  and  was  holding  a  feast 
in  his  house  (1  Sam.  chap.  25) ;  and  it  was  at  a  feast  made  by 
Absalom  on  a  like  occasion  that  Amnon  was  slain  when  his 
heart  was  merry  with  wine  (2  Sain.  13 : 23,  seq.).  In  Cant. 
4:2;  6:6,  icashincj  is  noticed  as  preceding  shearing.  According 
to  Jahn  (Antiq.,  §  46),  the  sheep  before  shearing  wrere  collected 
into  an  uncovered  inclosure  (the  slieep-cote  of  the  Old  Testa 
ment),  in  order  that  the  wool  might  be  rendered  finer  by  the 
sweating  and  evaporation,  which  necessarily  result  from  the 
flock's  being  thus  crowded  together. 

6.  Goats  have  ever  been  a  valuable  constituent  of  oriental 
flocks.  The  flesh  of  the  adult  is  rank,  and  to  the  European 
unpalatable;  but  that  of  the  kid  is  excellent.  It  was  of  two 
kids  of  the  goats  that  Rebekah  made  the  "savory  meat"  with 
which  Jacob  deceived  his  father.  Gen.  27 : 9,  14.  Goat's  milk, 
as  all  know,  is  preeminently  rich  and  excellent ;  and  it  is  men 
tioned  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  (chap.  27 : 27)  as  an  important 
article  of  food,  as  it  is  at  the  present  day :  "  Thou  shalt  have 
goats'  milk  enough  for  thy  food,  for  the  food  of  thy  household, 
and  for  the  maintenance  of  thy  maidens."  Among  the  nomads 
butter  and  cheese  are  made  of  goats'  and  sheep's  milk.  The 
favorite  Arab  dish  called  kben,  made  of  sour  curdled  milk,  is 
largely  prepared  from  the  milk  of  the  goat.  From  the  hair  of 
goats  curtains  were  made  in  ancient  times  as  they  are  now 
(Exod.  25:4;  26:7;  1  Sam.  19:13;  etc.);  and  it  is  well-known 
that  from  the  hair  of  certain  kinds  of  goats  a  very  fine  and 
durable  fabric — the  true  Cashmere  shawl — is  prepared.  Finally, 
from  the  skins  of  goats  not  only  is  leather  made,  but  also  fytfth's 
are  formed  in  which  the  orientals  keep  their  water,  milk,  wine, 


374  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

and  other  liquids.  When  the  animal  is  killed  they  cut  off  the 
head  and  feet  and  then  draw  off  the  skin  entire,  using  the  neck 
for  the  mouth  of  the  bottle,  and  sewing  up  the  other  apertures, 
or  leaving  one  leg  to  serve  as  a  nozzle.  The  great  leathern 
bottles  are  made  of  the  skin  of  full-grown  he-goats ;  the  smaller 
of  kids'  skins. 

To  these  leathern  bottles  there  are  many  allusions  in  Scripture,  some 
of  which  would  be  unintelligible  to  one  acquainted  only  with  our  modern 
glass  bottles.  Abraham  gave  Hagar  a  bottle  of  water,  "putting  it  on  her 
shoulder,"  a  common  way  of  carrying  such  bottles  at  the  present  time 
(Gen.  21 : 14) ;  Jael  opened  a  bottle  of  milk  for  Sisera,  which  was  done  by 
untying  the  mouth  (Judg.  4:19);  the  Gibeonites  took  wine-bottles  "old, 
and  rent,  and  bound  up"  (Josh.  9:4);  new  wine  must  be  put  into  new 
boitles,  "else  the  new  wine  doth  burst  the  bottles,  and  the  wine  is  spilled" 
(Mark  2  :  22).  Earthen  bottles  were  also  in  common  use,  which  might  be 
broken  in  pieces  by  a  blow.  Isa.  30  : 14,  margin  ;  Jer.  19  : 1,  10,  11. 

Ring-streaked,  spotted,  and  speckled  goats  are  common  enough  at  the 
present  day ;  but  Jacob's  artifice  for  multiplying  animals  of  these  colors 
(Gen.  30 : 37-42)  does  not  appear  to  have  possessed,  in  and  of  itself,  a 
natural  efficiency.  We  must  rather  regard  it  as  a  means  through  which 
God  was  pleased  to  exert  his  divine  efficiency. 

7.  Flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  always  imply  the  presence  of 
the  shepherd.  The  shepherd  and  his  flock  are  related  to  each 
other  as  the  ruler  and  his  people.  Without  the  shepherd  the 
flock  is  helpless,  wandering  on  lonely  mountains  and  in  wild 
ravines  and  thickets  a  prey  to  robbers  and  wild  beasts,  or  per 
ishing  in  deserts  for  want  of  water  and  pasturage.  The  faithful 
shepherd  remains  in  the  fold  at  night  armed  for  the  defence  of 
his  charge.  "  Though  there  are  no  lions  here  [in  Palestine  and 
the  slopes  of  Lebanon]  there^  are  wolves  in  abundance ;  and 
leopards  and  panthers,  exceeding  fierce,  prowl  about  these  wild 
wadies."  .  .  .  "And  when  the  thief  and  the  robber  come  (and 
come  they  do),  the  faithful  shepherd  has. often  to  put  his  life 
in  his  hand  to  defend  his  flock."  Thomson,  vol.  1,  p.  302.  In 
the  morning  he  leads  forth  his  flocks,  going  before  them  and 
guiding  them  with  his  rod  (Psa.  23:4;  Micah  7:14),  calling 
them  to  himself  with  his  well-known  voice,  conducting  them  to 


CAKE  OF  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS.  375 

• 

green  pastures  and  still  waters,  going  in  search  of  wanderers, 
and  often  carrying  the  lambs  in  his  bosom.  In  the  estimation 
of  the  orientals  the  shepherd's  employment  is  one  of  dignity. 
We  need  not  be  surprised,  therefore,  when  we  find  in  ancient 
times,  the  daughters  of  princes  and  men  of  wealth  tending  their 
fathers'  flocks.  Gen.  29 : 6 ;  Exod.  2 : 16. 

The  shepherd's  rod  is  a  long  wand  with  a  crook  at  the  end,  by  placing 
which  around  the  shoulders  of  an  animal  he  can  check  and  guide  it  at  his 
will.  The  sheep  are  "so  trained  that  they  follow  their  leader  with  the 
utmost  docility.  He  leads  them,  forth  from  the  fold,  or  from  the  houses 
in  the  villages  just  where  he  pleases.  As  there  are  many  flocks  in  such  a 
place  as  this,  each  one  takes  a  different  path,  and  it  is  his  business  to  find 
pasture  for  them."  .  .  .  "The  shepherd  calls  sharply  from  time  to  time  to 
remind  them  of  his  presence.  They  know  his  voice,  and  follow  on  ;  but* 
if  a  stranger  call,  they  stop  short,  lift  up  their  heads  in  alarm,  and  if  it  is 
repeated,  they  turn  and  flee,  because  they  know  not  the  voice  of  a  stranger. 
This  is  not  the  fanciful  costume  of  a  parable  ;  it  is  a  simple  fact.  I  have 
made  the  experiment  repeatedly."  Thomson,  vol.  1,  p.  301.  The  oriental 
shepherds,  moreover,  have  names  for  the  individuals  of  their  flock,  at 
least  for  ah1  that  have  been  long  in  their  possession,  and  to  these  they 
promptly  answer  by  running  up  to  the  shepherd.  See  in  Smith's  Bible 
Diet.,  Art.  Sheep ;  also  Thomson,  ubi  supra. 

8.  The  figurative  use  of  the  term  shepherd  to  denote  the  ruler 
of  a  people,  is  so  natural  that  we  need  not  be  surprised  at  its 
early  use  in  Grecian  poetry.  In  Homer  the  kings  are  commonly 
designated  as  the  shepherds  of  the  people.  So  David,  in  pleading 
with  the  Lord  to  spare  his  people,  says :  "  Lo,  I  have  sinned, 
and  I  have  done  wickedly:  but  these  sheep,  what  have  they 
done?"  2  Sam.  24:17.  Jacob,  himself  a  shepherd  by  birth, 
under  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  first  applied  the  term 
shepherd  to  Jehovah,  calling  him  "the  Shepherd,  the  Eock  of 
Israel."  Gen.  49 : 24.  For  more  than  six  centuries  afterwards, 
we  find  no  echo  of  that  noble  figure,  till  another  shepherd,  "  the 
sweet  psalmist  of  Israel,"  arose,  who  sang :  "  The  Lord  is  my 
Shepherd;  I  shall  not  want.  He  maketh  me  to  He  down  in 
green  pastures :  he  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters."  Psa. 
23 : 1,  2.  From  that  day  to  the  present  the  terms  shepherd  and 


376  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

sheep  have  been  consecrated  to  express  the  relation  of  Jehovah 
under  the  old  covenant,  and  the  Saviour  under  the  new,  to  his 
people.  Our  Lord  Jesus  is  "that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep" 
which  he  "purchased  with  his  own  blood."  He  is  the  good 
Shepherd  who  "calleth  his  own  sheep  by  name,  and  leadeth 
them  out.  And  when  he  putteth  forth  his  own  sheep,  he  goeth 
before  them,  and  the  sheep  follow  him :  for  they  know  his  voice. 
And  a  stranger  will  they  not  follow,  but  will  flee  from  him  :  for 
they  know  not  the  voice  of  strangers."  Psa.  80 : 1 ;  95 : 7 ; 
100:3;  Isa.  40:11;  Ezek.,  chap.  34;  Zech.  13:7;  Heb.  13:20; 
Acts  20 : 28 ;  John  10 : 1,  seq.  In  like  manner  his  servants  whom 
he  has  set  over  the  flock  of  God  are  tinder-shepherds,  and  the 
Jjatin  word  pastor,  that  is,  shepherd,-  has  become  the  current 
designation  of  them.  It  is  their  business,  in  humble  imitation 
of  "the  chief  shepherd,"  not  to  feed  themselves  but  the  flocks; 
to  strengthen  the  diseased,  to  heal  the  sick,  to  bind  up  the 
broken,  to  bring  back  the  driven  away,  and  to  seek  out  the  lost. 
Ezek.  34:2-4. 

9.  Neat-cattle,  though  not  excluded  from,  the  possessions  of 
the  nomads,  belong  rather  to  agricultural  regions.  Sheep  and 
goats,  if  supplied  with  green  herbage,  can  dispense  with  water, 
but  not  so  oxen  and  cows.  Then,  again,  these  latter  are  sub 
jected  to  the  yoke  and  employed  in  ploughing  and  also  for 
draught.  Their  flesh  furnishes  food,  their  skins  leather,  and 
their  milk  is  an  important  article  of  diet.  On  the  domestication 
and  use  of  the  buffalo  throughout  the  East  see  above,  Chap.  7, 
No.  24.  The  bulls  of  Bashan  may  have  been  these  very  ani 
mals. 

The  Hebrews  have  a  term  (Jialabk)  for  milk,  by  which  is  more  com 
monly,  but  not  always,  meant  fresh  sweet  milk.  Another  term  (Item-all)  is 
rendered  in  our  version  butter  (Gen.  18:8;  Deut.  32:14;  Judg.  5:25; 
2  Sam.  17  :  29  ;  Job  20  : 17  ;  Isa.  7  : 15,  22  ;  Prov.  30  : 33) ;  but  it  includes, 
apparently,  curdled  milk  in  its  yet  fluid  or  semi-fluid  state  (Judg.  5  :  25), 
curd  and  butter.  The  common  butter  of  the  orientals,  which  is  ordina 
rily  made  by  suspending  a  goat-skin  partly  filled  with  milk,  and  swinging 
it  regularly  to  and  fro  with  a  jerking  motion,  is  a  semi-fluid  substance,  of 
which  Thomson  says  (vol.  1,  p.  393):  "When  the  butter  'has  come/  they 


CARE  OF  FLOCKS  AND  HEEDS.  377 

. 

take  it  out,  boil  or  melt  it,  and  then  put  it  in  bottles  made  of  goats'  skins. 
In  winter  it  resembles  candied  honey,  in  summer  it  is  mere  oil."  "Some 
of  the  farmers,"  he  adds,  "have  learned  to  make  our  kind  of  butter,  but 
it  soon  becomes  rancid,  and,  indeed,  is  never  good."  Yet  Robinson,  on 
one  occasion,  speaks  of  butter  of  excellent  quality  obtained  at  Beitin  (the 
ancient  Beth-el),  "which  might  have  done  honor  to  the  days  when  the 
flocks  of  Abraham  and  Jacob  were  pastured  on  these  hills.  It  was  indeed 
the  finest  we  found  anywhere  in  Palestine."  Bib.  Res.,  vol.  1,  p.  449. 
Cheese  is  simply  compressed  curd,  wliich  may  be  in  a  softer  or  a  harder 
state.  The  ten  slices  of  milk  which  Jesse  directed  David  to  carry  to  the 
camp  (1  Sam.  17  : 18),  are  plainly  slices  of  coagulated  mi  Ik,  that  is,  cheese, 
probably  cut  into  due  shape  and  size  at  the  time  of  making.  In  Proverbs 
30  :  33  the  pressing  or  wringing  of  milk  (as  the  Hebrew  reads)  is  probably 
another  mode  of  churning  by  the  repeated  pressing  and  wringing  of  the 
goat-skin  containing  the  milk.  See  Thomson,  vol.  1,  p.  393. 

10.  Fountains  of  running  water,  and  where  these  are  wanting, 
ivells  and  cisterns  are  indispensable  to  all  who  have  the  care  of 
flocks  and  herds.  We  who  live  in  this  western  world  so  abun 
dantly  watered  all  the  year  round  by  the  hand  of  nature,  and 
which  is,  more  emphatically  than  Palestine,  "  a  land  of  brooks 
of  water,  of  fountains,  and  depths  that  spring  out  of  valleys  and 
hills,"  can  form  but  a  feeble  idea  of  the  preciousness  of  water 
in  eastern  countries,  particularly  in  the  desert  tracts  of  Palestine 
and  the  adjacent  regions,  where  the  few  perennial  streams  and 
fountains  are  aU  named  and  their  position  carefully  noted,  since 
the  life  of  the  traveller  often  depends  on  his  ability  to  reach 
them  within  a  given  period  of  time.  When  Job  would  express 
(chap.  6:15-20)  the  bitterness  of  his  disappointment  in  not 
receiving  from  his  Mends  that  consolation  which  they  ought 
to  have  administered,  he  compares  them  to  brooks  of  water 
which  dry  up  and  vanish  in  the  hot  season,  thus  deceiving  the 
thirsty  traveller  to  his  destruction.  "The  troops  of  Tema 
looked,  the  companies  of  Sheba  waited  for  them.  They  were 
confounded  because  they  had  hoped',  they  came  thither  and 
were  ashamed."  The  life  of  Hagar  and  Ishniael  in  the  wilder 
ness  of  Beer-sheba  hung  upon  the  discovery  of  a  well  of  watt  r 
as  has  that  of  many  an  eastern  wanderer  since  her  day.  Gen. 
21 : 19.  In  the  history  of  ancient  pastoral  life  we  find  the  flocks 


378  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

and-  herds  gathered,  as  they  are  at.  the  present  day,  around  the 
wells,  which  are  provided  with  troughs  of  stone  for  .watering 
them.  Gen.  24:20;  29:2,  seq.;  Exod.  2:15,  16.  The  patri 
archs  Abraham  and  Isaac  digged  wells  for  their  flocks  and 
herds,  and  the  high  value  attached  to  them  is  manifest  from  the 
strifes  of  which  they  were  the  occasion.  Gen.  21 :  30 ;  26 : 15-22. 
At  Beer-sheba  are  two  very  ancient  wells.  Chap.  2,  No.  50. 
The  explanation  is  that  when  the  Philistines,  through  envy,  had 
stopped  the  well  digged  there  by  Abraham  (Gen.  21 : 30,  31 ; 
26 : 14,  15),  Isaac  digged  another  (Gen.  26 : 32,  33),  while  after 
wards  the  earlier  well  was  reopened.  Another  common  mode 
of  providing  water  for  the  use  of  man  and  beast  was  the  digging 
of  cisterns.  The  pit  into  which  Joseph  was  cast  in  Dothan  was 
manifestly  an  empty  cistern.  "It  could  not  have  been  difficult," 
says  Robinson  (Bib.  Kes.,  vol.  3,  p.  122),  "for  Joseph's  brethren 
to  find  an  empty  cistern,  in  which  to  secure  him.  Ancient 
cisterns  are  very  common,  even  now,  along  the  roads  and  else 
where  ;  and  many  villages  are  supplied  only  with  rain  water." 
"  There  are,"  says  Thomson  (vol.  1,  p.  442),  "  thousands  of  these 
ancient  cisterns  in  Upper  Galilee,  where  Josephus  says  there 
were  two  hundred  and  forty  cities  in  his  day,  and  the  site  of 
every  one  was  pierced  like  a  honey-comb  with  them.  One 
should  always  be  on  his  guard  while  exploring  these  old  sites, 
especially  if  they  are  overgrown  with  grass  and  weeds."  Such 
empty  cisterns  were  also  used  for  prisons  (Jer.  38:6,  seq.;  Lam. 
3 : 53 ;  Psa.  69  : 14,  15) ;  but  the  dungeon  in  which  Joseph  was 
confined  in  Egypt  was  an  underground  prison.  Gen.  39:20; 
40 : 15. 

In  Palestine  cisterns  are  commonly  hewn  in  tlie  soft  limestone  rock. 
"Yet  even  those  in  solid  rock,  are  strangely  liable  to  crack,"  by  earth 
quakes  and  other  casualties,  ' '  and  are  a  most  unreliable  source  of  supply 
of  that  indispensable  article,  water.  Thomson,  vol.  1,  p.  443.  "On  the 
long  forgotten  way  from  Jericho  to  Bethel  'broken  cisterns'  of  high 
antiqiuty  are  found  at  regular  intervals."  Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  vol.  1, 
p.  325.  Such  "broken  cisterns"  aptly  represent  the  folly  of  those  who 
forsake  the  living  God  for  earthly  confidences  :  "My  people,"  says  Jeho 
vah,  ' '  have  committed  two  evils  ;  they  have  forsaken  me,  the  fountain  of 


CAKE  OF  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS.  379 

living  waters,  and  hewed  them  out  cisterns,  broken  cisterns  that  can  hold 
no  water."     Jer.  2  : 13. 

11.  Asses  male  and  female  are  mentioned  among  'the  posses 
sions  of  Abraham  and  Jacob  (Gen.  12:16;  30:43),  and  often 
afterwards  in  the  history  of  the  Hebrew  people.  In  the  East 
the  ass  is  a  most  serviceable  animal,  being  used  both  for  the 
saddle  and  as  a  beast  of  burden.  He  is  especially  adapted  to 
rough  mountainous  regions,  being  hard-hoofed,  sure-footed,  pa 
tient  and  enduring,  capable  of  Irving  on  much  less  food  than 
the  horse,  and  carrying  heavier  loads  without  breaking  down 
under  them.  "Issachar,"  says  the  dying  patriarch  in  prophetic 
vision  (Gen.  49:14),  "is  a  strong  ass  bowing  down  between 
two  burdens" — two  panniers  suspended  from  his  back  one  on 
each  side.  In  no  more  striking  language  could  the  patient 
drudging  of  Issachar's  descendants  have  been  described;  for 
the  ass  has  been  from  time  immemorial  the  drudge  of  man.  An 
ass  "lying  under  his  burden"  crushed  to  the  earth  (Exod.  23 : 5) 
is  as  common  a  sight  now  as  anciently,,  and  the  poor  brute  is 
oftener  met  with  blows,  than  with  a  helping  hand.  Asses  were 
also  used  for  the  saddle.  Abraham  the  father  of  the  faithful, 
Balaam  the  prophet  of  Mesopotamia,  and  Ahithophel  David's 
counselor  rode  on  this  animal.  Gen.  22:3;  Numb.  22:21,  seq.; 
2  Sam.  17 : 23.  Jair  and  Abdon,  judges  of  Israel,  had  sons  and 
daughters  who  rode  on  ass-colts.  Judg.  10 : 3,  4 ;  12 : 13,  14. 
There  was  anciently  in  the  East,  as  there  is  now,  a  breed  of 
white  asses  (not  necessarily  pure  white  but  rather  light  red 
dish  white)  which  was  highly  esteemed  for  riding  and  used 
by  persons  of  distinction.  Judg.  5 : 10.  In  the  days  of  David 
mules  appeared  for  the  first  time  (in  Gen.  36:24  the  "mules" 
of  our  .version  are  probably  hot  springs)  as  saddle  beasts  for 
himself  and  Iris  sons  (2  Sam.  13 : 29 ;  18 : 9 ;  1  Kings  1 : 33),  and 
we  find  them  from  this  time  onward  among  the  regular  appoint 
ments  of  a  king's  household.  1  Kings  10:25;  18:5.  Our 
Saviour  entered  Jerusalem  riding  not  on  a  horse,  the  symbol 
of  outward  pomp  and  war,  but  on  the  ancestral  beast  of  the 
Hebrew  people.  Matt.  21 : 1-9 ;  Mark  11 : 1-10 ;  Luke  19 : 29-38 ; 


380  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

John  12  : 14-1 G.  This  was  not  a  mark  of  degradation ;  but  it 
did  set  him  forth  as  the  promised  king  of  Israel,  himself  meek 
and  lowly,  and  coming  in  a  lowly  outward  condition,  in  shai-p 
contrast  with  the  Jewish  idea  of  the  Messiah.  According  to 
this  view  only  was  the  transaction  a  fulfilment  of  the  ancient 
prophecy  concerning  him  (Zech.  9:9):  "  Eejoice  greatly,  O 
daughter  of  Zion:  shout,  O  daughter  of  Jerusalem:  behold,  thy 
King  cometh  unto  thee :  he  is  just,  and  having  salvation ;  lowly 
[or  "afflicted"],  and  riding  upon  *  an  ass,  and  upon  a  colt  the 
foal  of  an  ass." 

The  wild  ass  mentioned  by  Job  and  other  sacred  writers  as  an  inhab 
itants  of  the  wilderness  (Job  24  :  5  ;  39  :  5-8  ;  Psa.  104  : 11 ;  Isa.  32  : 14  ; 
Jer.  2  :  24  ;  Jer.  14  :  (5 ;  Dan.  5  :  21 ;  Hosea  8  :  9),  and  described  by  Xen- 
ophon  (Anabasis  1.  5),  is  common  in  the  deserts  of  Assyria  and  the  neigh 
boring  regions.  "In  fleetness  they  equal  the  gazelle,  and  to  overtake 
them  is  a  feat  which  only  one  or  two  of  the  most  celebrated  inares  have 
been  able  to  accomplish."  Layard  quoted  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.  AVhether 
this  wild  ass  is  or  is  not  the  original  of  the  domestic  animal  is  a  question 
not  yet  settled. 

12.  Horses  are  first  mentioned  in  the  history  of  Joseph.     He 
gave  the  Egyptians  bread  in  exchange  for  horses  and  other 
animals.     Gen.  47 : 17.     The  horse  was  very  early  used  in  war, 
wherever  the  nature  of  the  country  permitted,  especially  in 
chariot  warfare ;  but  never  for  agricultural  purposes.     As  the 
horses  of  the  ancients  were  not  shod,  jirrnness  of  hoof  was  a 
quality  of  prime  importance.     Of  the  Assyrian  invaders  Isaiah 
says:  "Their  horses'  hoofs  shall  be  counted  like  flint."     From 
the  mountainous  nature  of  their  country  the  Hebrews  could  not 
make  much  use  of  horses  in  war.     Moses  forbade  the  future 
kings  of  Israel  to  multiply  horses,  lest  a  desire  of  returning  to 
that  country  should  thus  be  awakened,  for  the  horses  of  the 
Israelites  came  from  Egypt  (Deut.  17 : 1C ;  1  Kings  10 : 28 ;  etc.) ; 
probably  also  as  a  precaution  against  regal  luxury  and  ostenta 
tion,  since  there  follows  immediately  a  caution  against  the  mul 
tiplication  of  wives  and  silver  and  gold  in  the  royal  establish 
ment.     Deut.  17 : 17. 

13.  We  add,  as  a  sort  of  appendix  to  this  chapter,  a  few  words 


CARE  OF  FLOCKS  ^D  HERDS.  381 

respecting  hunting  and  fishing.  The  chase  was  a  favorite  pas 
time  of  the  oriental  monarchs.  To  this  the  Assyrian  tablets,  as 
well  as  the  ancient  historians,  be*ir  abundant  testimony.  But 
hunting  as  a  simple  sport  did  not  suit  the  grave  and  earnest 
spirit  of  the  Hebrews.  Of  hunting  and  fowling  for  food  we 
have  frequent  notices  (Gen.  27:3,  seq.;  1  Sam.  26:20;  Prov. 
6:5;  12:27;  Jer.  5:26,  27;  Hosea9:8);  but  the  chief  encoun 
ters  of  the  Hebrews  with  wild  beasts  were  in  defence  of  their 
flocks,  and  to  these  we  find  many  allusions  in  the  Old  Testa 
ment.  David  recounts  before  Saul  his  adventures  with  a  lion 
and  a  bear  (1  Sam.  17 : 34^36),  and  the  prophets  describe  with 
Homeric  vividness  the  assault  of  the  lion  upon  the  sheep-fold : 
"  Like  as  the  lion  and  the  young  lion  roaring  on  his  prey,  when 
a  multitude  of  shepherds  is  called  forth  against  him,  he  will  not 
be  afraid  of  their  voice,  nor  abase  himself  for  the  noise  of  them : 
so  shall  the  Lord  of  hosts  come  down  to  fight  for  Mount  Zion, 
and  for  the  hill  thereof "  (Isa.  31 : 4) ;  "  The  remnant  of  Jacob 
shall  be  among  the  Gentiles  in  the  midst  of  many  people  as  a 
lion  among  the  beasts  of  the  forest,  as  a  young  lion  among  the 
flocks  of  the  sheep :  who,  if  -he  go  through,  both  treadeth  down, 
and  teareth  in  pieces,  and  none  can  deliver"  (Micah  5:8).  The 
flocks  were  also  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  leopards  and  wolves, 
as  they  are  now,  in  some  parts  of  Syria  and  Palestine. 

The  mode  of  hunting,  where  the  use  of  fire-arms  is  unknown,  is  essen 
tially  the  same  in  all  ages  and  countries.  The  larger  animals  were  ancient 
ly  hunted  down  in  the  chase,  and  despatched  with  arrows  and  spears,  or 
they  were  taken  in  pits  over  which  a  thin  covering  had  been  spread,  and 
sometimes  in  nets,  or  in  the  two  combined.  Isa.  51 :  $0  ;  Ezek.  19  :  4,  8  ; 
Psa.  35  :  7.  The  lion  slain  in  a  snowy  day  by  Benaiah  in  a  well,  or  cistern 
as  the  Hebrew  reads  (2  Sam.  23 : 20 ;  1  Chron.  11 : 22),  appears  to  have 
fallen  into  the  cistern  when  its  mouth  was  concealed  by  the  snow.  The 
less  powerful  animals,  and  especially  birds,  were  taken  in  traps,  nets,  and 
snares ;  and  to  these  there  are  numerous  allusions  in  Scripture.  Job 
18  : 8-10  ;  19  :  6  ;  Psa.  9  : 15  ;  10  : 9  ;  91 :  3  ;  124  :  7 ;  140  : 5  ;  142  :  3  ;  Prov. 
7  :  23  ;  Eccles.  9  : 12  ;  etc. 

The  modes  of  fishing  are  so  much  alike  in  all  places  and 
ages  that  this  department  of  Hebrew  industry  needs  no  particu- 


382  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

lar  illustration.  Fish  were  taken  as  now,  with  hooks  (Job  41 : 1 ; 
Isa.  19  : 8 ;  Hab.  1 : 15 ;  Matt.  17  :  27),  fish-spears  (Job  41 :  7),  and 
in  nets  (Eccles.  9  : 12 ;  Isa.  19,:  8 ;  Hab.  1 : 15 ;  Matt.  4 : 18 ;  etc.). 
The  Nile  was  famous  for  its  fisheries,  to  which  there  are  frequent 
allusions  in  the  Old  Testament.  Exod.  7  : 18,  21 ;  Numb.  11 :  5 ; 
Psa.  105:29;  Tsa.  19:8;  Ezek.  29:4,  5.  The  sea  of  Galilee, 
abounding  as  it  did  in  fish  of  a  fine  quality,  afforded  employ 
ment  to  a  race  of  hardy  fishermen,  several  of  whom  were  called 
by  our  Lord  to  be  his  apostles,  and  thus  made  fishers  of  men. 
Mark  1 : 17.  The  fish  of  this  sea  remain,  but  the  fishing-boats 
that  anciently  covered  its  surface  have  disappeared;  and  now 
the  fishermen  cast  their  nets  from  the  shore,  or  they  wade  out 
into  the  water. 

Of  domestic  birds  no  mention  is  made  in  the  Old  Testament.     But  in 
the  Saviour's  day  hens  were  common  in  Palestine. 


- 


HOUSES  AND  THEIR  APPOINTMENTS.  383 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


HOUSES    AND    THEIR     APPOINTMENTS. 

1.  CAVES  abound  in  the  limestone  formation  of  Palestine. 
The  region  about  En-gedi  is  full  of  caverns,  which  serve  as  a  ref 
uge  for  robbers  and  outlaws.     Underground  rooms  also  furnish 
to  the  inhabitants  of  some  regions,  as  those  about  Bagdad  and 
Mosul,  a  retreat  from  the  heat  of  summer.     Robinson  describes 
a  system  of  subterranean  apartments  in  the  vicinity  of  Eleuthe- 
ropolis  which  were  evidently  designed  as  residences.     We  must 
not  suppose,  however,  that  the  Hebrews  ever  made  caves  their 
dwelling-places,  except  temporarily  in  times  of  necessity.    Judg. 
6  :  2 ;  1  Sam.  13  :  6 ;  Isa,  2  : 19-21 ;  Heb.  11 :  38.      The  Horites 
(that  is,  cave-dicetters,  called  by  the  Greeks  troglodytes)  were  an 
earlier  race  dwelling  in  Mount  Seir,  and  dispossessed  by  the 
Edomites.      Gen.  14:6;  Deut.  2:22.     Their  excavated  dwell 
ings  still  remain  in  the  sandstone  cliffs  and  mountains  of  Edom. 
The  cave-dwellings  in  the  south  of  Palestine  may  have  belonged 
to  them,  or  more  probably  to  the  Avim,  who  were  one  of  the 
early,  if  not  aboriginal  tribes,  of  this  region  before  the  arrival  of 
the  Philistines.     Deut.  2  :  23. 

2.  A  sharp  distinction  should  be  made  between  the  humble 
huts  in  which  so  many  thousands  of  the  poor  reside,  and  regular 
oriental  houses.     The  dwellings  of  the  poor  are  mere  huts  of 
mud  or  unbumt  bricks,  of  one  story  only,  and  often  containing 
but  a  single  apartment ;  the  whole  covered  with  a  roof  formed  of  a 
plaster  of  mud  and  straw  laid  upon  boughs  or  rafters,  or  perhaps 
simply  of  dry  cornstalks  and  straw.     "  Sometimes  a  small  court 
for  the  cattle  is  attached ;  and  in  some  cases  the  cattle  are  housed 
in  the  same  building,  or  the  people  live  on  a  raised  platform,  and 
the  cattle  round  them  on  the  ground."  ....     "In  Lower  Egypt 
the  oxen  occupy  the  width  of  the  chamber  farthest  from  the 


384  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

entrance;  it  is  built  of  brick  or  mud,  about  four  feet  high,  and 
the  top  is  often  used  as  a  sleeping  place  in  winter."  See  Smith's 
Bible  Diet,  and  the  authorities  there  quoted.  These  mud-huts 
need  constant  repair ;  otherwise  they  soon  crumble  to  a  shape 
less  mass  under  the  power  of  the  weather. 

3.  The  general  plan  of  an  ancient  oriental  house  may  be  gath 
ered  with  much  certainty  from  the  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  mon 
uments,  from  the  notices  of  ancient  writers,  sacred  and  profane, 
and  especially  from  the  modern  houses  of  'Palestine  and  the  ad 
jacent  regions;  for  in  this  respect,  as  well  as  others,  the  eastern 
nations  are  very  tenacious  of  their  ancestral  usages.  "  When  a 
traveller  in  Palestine  describes  a  house  of  the  present  day,  he 
describes  very  much  what  existed  in  the  age  of  our  Lord,  or  in 
still  more  ancient  times.  The  climate,  which  is  one  great  cause 
of  the  architectural  arrangements  of  different  countries,  is  the 
same,  and  the  unchanging  habits  of  the  East  have  always  been 
proverbial."  Fairb aim's  Bible  Diet.,  Art.  House.  The  primary 
idea  of  an  oriental  home  is  comfortable  seclusion.  Hence  its  plan 
differs  essentially  from  that  of  our  western  houses.  It  is  a  build 
ing  or  series  of  buildings  around  an  open  court  or  range  of  courts 
communicating  with  each  other;  so  that  we  may  say,  in  an  im 
portant  sense,  that  it  fronts  imcardly.  The  exterior  of  a  dwell- 
iiig-house,  even  of  the  better  kind,  presents  a  blank  and  mean 
appearance,  being  relieved  only  by  the  door  and  a  few  latticed 
and  projecting  windows  set  high  up  in  the  wall.  It  is  a  parallel 
ogram  of  dull  gray  walls,  with  only  a  single  entrance.  Hence  a 
street  of  such  houses,  itself  narrow,  crooked,  and  filthy,  presents 
a  gloomy  and  forbidding  appearance.  The  doorway  or  yate  is  in 
the  middle  of  the  front  side  of  the  house.  It  is  sometimes  richly 
ornamented,  but  is  generally  mean  in  appearance,  even  when 
leading  to  a  sumptuous  dwelling.  The  Hebrews  regarded  orna 
mental  display  here  as  a  mark  of  vanity  displeasing  to  God. 
"  He  that  exalteth  his  gate,"  says  the  wise  man  (Prov.  17 : 19), 
"seeketh  destruction."  What  men  do  in  these  western  regions 
by  the  general  style  of  the  house,  the  ostentatious  orientalist 
accomplished  by  exalting  his  gate.  "  The  passage  from  the  door- 


HOUSES 


AND  THEIR  APPOINTMENTS.  385 


way  into  the  court  is  usually  so  contrived  that  no  view  can  be 
had  from  the  street  into  it ;  this  is  sometimes  done  by  the  erec 
tion  of  a  wall,  or  by  giving  a  turn  to  the  passage  that  leads  into 
the  court."  Fairbairn's  Diet,  as  above.  The  passage  from  the 
gateway  into  the  court  is  usually  furnished  with  seats  for  the 
porter  and  other  servants.  • 

This  gateway  (Greek  pulon)  is  called  in  our  version  the  porch.  Matt. 
26  :  71 ;  Mark  14  :  68.  The  porch  through  which  Ehud  passed  after  slaying 
Eglon  (Judg.  3  :  23)  was  an  internal  gallery  or  balcony  fronting  on  the  court, 
from  the  rear  of  which  there  was  access  to  the  summer  parlor.  See  below 
No.  10.  Elsewhere  the  porch  (Greek  stoa)  is  an  external  portico.  John 
10  :  23  ;  Acts  3  : 11 ;  5  : 12.  But  the  true  porch  was  an  anteroom  or  vesti 
bule  to  the  building  proper,  as  in  the  case  of  Solomon's  temple.  Such 
porches  supported  by  pillars  were  not  uncommon  in  Egyptian  houses,  but 
they  did  not  belong  to  the  ordinary  houses  of  Palestine. 

4.  The  gateway  conducts  to  the  court  or  courts  around  which 
the  different  apartments  of  the  house  are  built  and  into  which 
they  open.  The  number  of  these  courts  varies  from  one  to  three, 
and  in  some  of  the  best  houses  of  Damascus  there  are  said  to  be 
seven.  Large  buildings,  such  as  convents,  follow  the  same  gen 
eral  plan.  Robinson  says  of  the  convent  of  Mount  Sinai  (vol  1, 
p.  92) :  "  The  space  enclosed  within  the  walls  is  cut  up  into  a 
number  of  small  courts,  by  various  ranges  of  buildings  running 
in  all  directions,  forming  quite  a  labyrinth  of  narrow  winding 
passages  ascending  and  descending."  The  court  is  open  to  the 
air  above,  with  the  exception  that  an  awning  is  sometimes  drawn 
over  it.  In  houses  of  the  better  quality  the  courts  are  paved 
with  marble,  adorned  with  fountains,  often  with  trees,  shrubs, 
and  flowers,  particularly  the  interior  courts  where  there  is  more 
than  one,  and  compassed  round  with  divans  and  splendid  apart 
ments.  Robinson  (ubi  supra)  describes  little  courts  of  the  Sinai 
convent  as  ornamented  with  a  cypress  or  other  small  trees,  and 
beds  of  flowers  and  vegetables ;  and  in  the  inner  court  of  a  house 
at  Damascus  were  "two  immense  tanks  of  flowing  water,  and 
also  two  smaller  ones.  In  the  court  was  a  profusion  of  trees 
and  flowering  shrubs,  the  orange,  citron,  and  the  like."  Bib. 
Res.,  vol.  3,  pp.  455,  456.  In  the  court  wells  were  also  dug, 

OeoS.  *  Antiq.  17 


386  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

when  occasion  required,  and  cisterns  excavated.    2  Sam.  17 : 18 ; 
Jer.  38 : 6. 

The  courts  of  private  dwellings,  palaces,  etc. ,  which  were,  as  we  have 
seen,  within  the  enclosure  of  the  building,  must  be  distinguished  from  the 
court  of  the  tabernacle  and  those  of  the  temple,  which  were  without  the 
temple  proper.  The  Psahnjst  says  (Psa.  52  :  8)  :  "  I  am  like  a  green  olive- 
tree  in  the  house  of  God ;"  and  (Psa.  92  : 13)  :  "  Those  that  be  planted  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord  shall  flourish  in  the  courts  of  our  God."  There  can 
not  be  in  these  words  any  allusion  to  trees  literally  planted  in  the  courts  of 
the  tabernacle  or  temple ;  for  such  a  custom  never  prevailed.  The  house 
of  God  here  is  not  his  outward  material  sanctuary,  but  that  which  this 
sanctuary  shadows  forth,  his  spiritual  presence  and  favor.  Within  this 
spiritual  house,  not  made  with  hands,  the  righteous  man  flourishes,  like  an 
olive-tree  or  a  palm-tree  planted  in  the  court  of  an  oriental  monarch,  and 
watered  from  its  ever-flowing  fountains. 

5.  Let  us  now  examine  one  of  the  better  class  of  houses  fur 
nished  with  a  single  court  or  with  two  courts.  Taking  our  stand 
in  the  outer  court,  we  see  around  part  of  it,  if  not  the  whole,  a 
verandah,  often  nine  or  ten  feet  deep,  with  apartments  opening 
into  it.  If  there  be  more  than  one  story,  we  see  over  this  veran 
dah  a  gallery  of  like  depth  protected  in  front  by  a  balustrade, 
the  apartments  of  the  second  floor  opening  into  this  gallery,  as 
those  of  the  first  do  into  the  verandah.  Shaw's  Travels  in  Bar- 
bary,  chap.  3,  sect.  5.  According  to  the  various  uses  assigned  to 
the  rooms  around  the  court,  they  are  open  in  front,  or  are  en 
tered  by  doors.  The  rooms  around  the  court  differ  in  number 
and  quality  according  to  the  character  of  the  house.  When  there 
is  more  than  one  story,  the  best  rooms  are  above,  the  ground 
floor  being  appropriated  to  storerooms  and  the  daily  uses  of 
the  family.  When  the  house  has  an  inner  court,  it  is  generally 
of  a  larger  size  and  more  elaborately  finished.  Here  the  mas 
ter  of  the  house  has  his  private  apartments,  and  here  are  the 
rooms  for  the  women  and  children  carefully  guarded  from  all 
intrusion.  In  general  the  orientals  prefer  a  single  ground  floor, 
to  which  in  the  country  sheds  for  cattle  and  stables  for  horses 
are  not  unfrequently  attached ;  but  in  cities  houses  of  three  or 
more  stories  are  common.  When  Tristram  entered  Hebron,  he 


HOUSES  AND  THEIR  APPOINTMENTS.  387 

was  conducted  through  dark  ruined  passages  and  up  broken 
staircases,  till  up  the  fourth  flight  of  stone  steps  he  found  the 
sheikh  of  whom  he  was  in  search  in  bed  in  a  vaulted  chamber. 
Land  of  Israel,  p.  389.  Cellars  for  storage  are  also  found  under 
the  better  class  of  houses. 

6.  In  the  rear  of  the  court  or  on  one  side  of  it  is  the  re^f  ion- 
room,  where  visitors  are  received  by  the  master  of  the  house. 
"  It  is  often  open  in  front,  and  supported  in  the  centre  by  a  pil 
lar.  It  is  generally  on  the  ground  floor,  but  raised  above  the 
level."  Fail-bairn's  Bible  Diet.  All  the  circumstances  of  the 
evangelic  narrative  agree  with  the  supposition  that  this  was  the 
room  in  the  high  priest's  palace  where  Jesus  was  arraigned.  It 
was  open  in  front,  and  not  much  raised  above  the  pavement  of 
the  court  where  Peter  was  "without  in  the  palace"  warming 
himself  by  the  fire ;  so  that  Peter  could  see  the  Saviour,  and  the 
Saviour  could  turn  and  look  upon  Peter.  Luke  22 : 61.  The 
whole  situation  is  well  described  by  Kobinson  (Harmony  of  the 
Gospels,  §  144) :  "  An  oriental  house  is  usually  built  around  a 
quadrangular  interior  court ;  into  which  there  is  a  passage  (some 
times  arched)  through  the  front  part  of  the  house,  closed  next 
the  street  by  a  heavy  folding  gate,  with  a  small  wicket  for  single 
persons,  kept  by  a  porter.  In  the  text"  (Matt.  26  :  57,  58,  69-75 
and  the  parallel  passages)  "the  interior  court,  often  paved  or 
flagged,  and  open  to  the  sky  is  the  hcdl  (aide,  Luke  22 :  55)  where 
the  attendants  made  a  fire ;  and  the  passage  beneath  the  front 
of  the  house,  from  the  street  to  this  court,  is  \heporch"  (proau- 
lion  or  pul'on,  Matt.  26  :  71 ;  Mark  14  :  68).  "  The  place  where 
Jesus  stood  before  the  high  priest,  may  have  been  an  open  room 
or  place  of  audience  on  the  ground-floor,  in  the  rear  or  on  one 
side  of  the  court ;  such  rooms,  open  in  front,  being  customary. 
It  was  close  upon  the  court ;  for  Jesus  heard  all  that  was  going 
on  around  the  fire,  and  turned  and  looked  upon  Peter.  Luke 
22  :  61."  That  it  was  in  such  a  room  that  our  Lord  ate  his  last 
passover  with  his  disciples  is  more  doubtful.  It  is  called  simply 
a  large  chamber  (Greek  anagaion,  a  term  used  only  in  the  present 
connection,  Mark  14  : 15 ;  Luke  22  : 12),  which  is  not  necessarily 


388  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

identical  with  either  the  room  just  described  or  the  upper  cham 
ber  on  the  roof  (huperdorij  see  below).  Oriental  houses  are  also 
furnished  with  guest  chambers  fitted  up  in  the  best  style  which 
the  means  of  their  owners  will  allow ;  often  paved  with  marble 
or  colored  tiles,  with  a  fountain  in  the  centre,  and  a  raised  plat 
form  (divan]  on  each  of  three  sides,  with  mattresses  and  cush 
ions  at  the  back.  In  addition  to  this  the  ceilings  are  often  richly 
panelled  and  ornamented.  There  are  usually  no  special  bed 
rooms  in  eastern  houses.  A  low  divan  raised  round  the  sides  of 
the  room  serves  for  seats  by  day  and  for  sleeping  by  night.  It 
should  be  noticed  that  the  corner  of  the  divan  is  the  place  of 
honor,  which  the  master  never  quits  in  receiving  strangers. 

7.  From  the  court  to  the  roof  or  upper  stories  there  are 
sometimes  two  flights  of  stairs ;  but  from  the  galleries  upward 
a  single  flight  generally  suffices.  Jehu  was  proclaimed  king  on 
the  top  of  the  stairs,  where  those  assembled  in  the  court  below 
could  witness  the  transaction.  2  Kings  9  : 13.  It  is  only  in  the 
humblest  class  of  dwellings  that  the  roof  is  reached  by  a  ladder 
from  the  outside.  The  window*  are  without  glass,  but  have  a 
lattice  which  can  be  opened  or  shut  at  pleasure.  This  furnishes 
fresh  air,  while  it  shelters  those  within  from  the  sun.  Most  of 
the  windows  look  into  the  court  within  the  house ;  but  one  or 
more  open  outwardly,  projecting  considerably  beyond  the  lower 
part  of  the  building,  so  as  to  overhang  the  street.  When  the 
lattice  is  closed  those  within  can  look  out  without  being  them 
selves  visible.  Judg.  5  :  28  ;  2  Sam.  6  :  16.  When  Jezebel 
"  painted  her  face,  and  tired  her  head,  and  looked  out  at  a  win 
dow  "  (2  Kings  9  :  30),  the  window  was  manifestly  open.  Through 
this  the  eunuchs  within  looked  out  to  Jehu,  and  at  his  command 
threw  down  their  mistress.  The  chamber  in  Daniel's  palace  at 
Babylon  had  several  windows,  which  he  left  open  when  he 
prayed,  that  his  acts  of  worship  might  not  be  concealed.  Dan. 
f> :  10.  "  The  projecting  nature  of  the  window,  and  the  fact  tlmt 
a  divan  or  raised  seat  encircles  the  interior  of  each,  so  that  usu 
ally  persons  sitting  in  the  window  are  seated  close  to  the  aper 
ture,  explains  how  Ahaziah  may  have  fallen  through  the  lattice 


HOUSES  AND  THEIll  APPOINTMENTS.  389 

of  his  "upper  chamber  (2  Kings  1:2),  and  Eutychus  from  his 
window-seat  (Acts  20  : 9),  especially  if  the  lattices  wore  open  at 
the  time."  Fairbairn's  Bible  Diet. 

8.  The  roofs  of  oriental  houses  are  flat  and  made  of  various 
materials.  "  The  flat  roofs  of  the  houses  in  this  region  [Leba 
non]  are  constructed,"  says  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.  3,  p.  39),  "  by 
laying,  first,  large  beams  at  intervals  of  several  feet ;  then  rude 
joists ;  on  which  again  are  arranged  small  poles  close  together, 
or  brushwood;  and  upon  this  is  spread  earth  or  gravel  rolled 
hard.  This  rolling  is  often  repeated,  especially  after  rain ;  for 
these  roofs  are  apt  to  leak.  For  this  purpose  a  roller  of  stone,  is 
kept  ready  for  use  on  the  roof  of  every  house.  Grass  is  often 
seen  growing  on  these  roofs ;"  and  again  (p.  44) :  "  The  roof  was 
of  the  usual  kind,  supported  by  rude  props.  It  rained  heavily 
during  the  night;  and  the  water  found  its  way  through  upon 
us.  Quite  early  in  the  morning  we  heard  our  host  at  work  roll 
ing  the  roof;  and  saw  the  same  process  going  on  with  other 
houses.  Goats,  also,  were  cropping  the  grass  growing  on  sev 
eral  roofs."  Similar  is  Thomson's  description  (vol.  2,  p.  7) :  "  The 
materials  now  employed  are  beams  about  three  feet  apart,  across 
which  short  sticks  are  arranged  close  together,  and  covered  with 
the  thickly  matted  thorn-bush,  called  bettan.  Over  this  is  spread 
a  coat  of  stiff  mortar,  and  then  comes  the  marl  or  earth  which 
makes  the  roof."  Eoofs  of  an  inferior  kind  are  formed  of  palm- 
leaves,  cornstalks,  reeds,  etc.,  covered  with  a  layer  of  earth.  These 
flat  earthen  roofs  furnish,  as  the  above  accounts  show,  but  a 
poor  protection  against  a  heavy  rain-storin.  They  soon  become 
thoroughly  soaked  through,  and  begin  to  drip  upon  those  under 
neath.  "This  continual  dropping — tuk,  tuk — all  day  and  all 
night,  is  the  most  annoying  thing  in  the  world,  unless  it  be  the 
ceaseless  clatter  of  a  contentious  woman."  Thomson,  vol.  1, 
p.  453.  It  is  to  this  "  continual  dropping  "  of  water  through  the 
roof  to  which  Solomon,  has  reference  when  he  says  (Prov.  27 : 15)  : 
"A  continual  dropping  in  a  very  rainy  day  and  a  contentious 
woman  are  alike ;"  and  again  (Prov.  19  : 13) :  "  The  contentions 
of  a  wife  are  a  continual  dropping." 


390  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  how  grass  can  spring  up  on  an  oriental  house 
top  during  the  rainy  season,  and  how  certainly  it  must  wither  and  die  us 
soon  as  the*dry  season  sets  in.  Psa.  129  :  6,  7. 

The  account  given  by  the  evangelists  of  the  healing  of  the  paralytic 
(Mark  2  : 3,  seq.  ;  Luke  5  : 18,  seq. )  naturally  raises  in  the  reader's  mind  two 
questions:  (1.)  How  did  those  who  bore  the  sick  man  get  access  to  the 
roof  ?  Not  apparently  by  the  stairs  within  the  court,  for  that  was  filled 
by  the  throng.  They  could,  however,  easily  reach  it  from  a  neighboring 
roof ;  and  this  supposition  is  more  probable  than  that  the  stairs  were  on 
the  outside  of  the  house,  where  they  are  rarely  placed  "except  in  moun 
tain  villages,  and  where  roofs  are  but  little  used."  Thomson,  vol.  1,  p.  53. 
(2.)  How  could  they  safely  uncover  the  roof  above  such  a  crowd  ?  That 
they  did  this  is  plain  from  the  narrative.  Mark  says  that  ' '  they  uncov 
ered  the  roof  where  he  was,  and  having  dug  through "  (so  the  original 
reads),  "they  let  down  the  bed  wherein  the  paralytic  lay."  According  to 
Luke  they  "let  him  down  through  the  tiles  with  his  couch."  The  couch 
was  merely  a  quilt  well  padded  ;  and  the  roof  a  covering  of  tiles,  over  which 
we  may  suppose  that  a  layer  of  earth  was  spread.  It  was  no  difficult  work 
to  scrape  away  the  earth  and  remove  the  tiles  and  cross-pieces  on  which 
they  rested  over  a  space  sufficient  to  admit  the  descent  of  the  couch,  with 
out  danger  to  those  who  stood  below.  See  Thomson,  vol.  2,  pp.  6-8. 

8.  The  mm  made  of  the  roof  by  the  orientals  are  almost 
innumerable.  "  During  a  large  part  .of  the  year  the  roof  is 
the  most  agreeable  place  about  the  establishment,  especially  in 
the  morning  and  evening.  There  multitudes  sleep  during  the 
summer,  in  all  places  where  malaria  does  not  render  it  danger 
ous.  This  custom  is  very  ancient."  Thomson,  vol.  1,  pp.  49,  50. 
It  is  also  a  place  for  social  intercourse  and  for  meditation  and 
prayer.  When  Samuel  and  Saul  had  come  down  from  the  high 
place  into  the  city,  they  communed  together  on  the  roof  of  the 
house.  "  And  they  arose  early :  and  it  came  to  pass  as  the  morn 
ing  dawned  that  Samuel  called  to  Saul  upon  the  roof"  (that  is, 
called  from  below  to  Saul,  who  was  upon  the  roof,  and  had  slept 
there,  perhaps  in  the  "upper  chamber"  erected  upon  it),  "say 
ing,  Up,  that  I  may  send  thee  away."  David  walked  on  the  roof 
of  his  house  for  refreshment  at  eventide  «(2  Sam.  11 : 2) ;  Peter 
went  upon  the  house-top  to  pray  (Acts  10  :  9) ;  and  the  people  in 
Nehemiah's  day  made  booths  upon  the  roofs  of  their  houses  at 
the  feast  of  tabernacles  (Neh.  8  : 16).  Idolaters  also  celebrated 


HOUSES  AND  THEIR  APPOINTMENTS.  391 

their  rites  on  the  roofs  of  houses  and  upper  chambers.  Zeph.  1:5; 
Jer.  19  : 13 ;  2  Kings  23  : 12.  The  roof  also  serves  a  variety  of 
domestic  purposes.  Rahab  hid  the  two  spies  on  her  roof  "  with 
the  stalks  of  flax  which  she  had  laid  in  order  upon  the  roof." 
Josh.  2  :  G.  Here  in  modern  times  "  the  farmer  suns  his  wheat 
for  the  mill,  and  the  flour  when  brought  home,  and  dries  his  figs, 
raisins,  etc.,  etc.,  in  safety  both  from  animals  and  from  thieves." 
Thomson,  vol.  1,  p.  49.  It  is  a  matter  of  course  that  in  times  of 
public  excitement,  the  people  should  throng  to  the  roofs  of  their 
houses  to  watch  the  progress  of  events.  Isa.  22  : 1. 

The  roof  of  the  temple  of  Dagon  at  Gaza  was  capable  of  holding  three 
thousand  persons,  and  it  was  so  constructed  that  they  who  were  upon  it 
could  see  what  was  going  on  in  the  area  of  the  temple  below.  It  Is  mani 
fest,  therefore,  that  it  did  not  cover  the  whole  temple.  It  was  probably  a 
wide  gallery  or  tier  of  galleries  one  above  another,  projecting  far  into  the 
temple,  and  supported  in  front  by  a  row  of  pillars,  the  two  middle  pillars, 
on  which  the  greatest  weight  rested,  being  near  together.  When  these 
were  pulled  down,  the  central  part  fell,  and  earned  down  with  itself  the 
whole  gallery,  loaded  as  it  was  with  the  weight  of  three  thousand  persons. 

9.  A  place  of  such  constant  resort  as  the  oriental  roof  needs 
battlements  for  the  protection  of  those  upon  it.  The  law  of  Moses 
made  the  building  of  these  an  imperative  duty :  "  When  thou 
buildest  a  new  house,  then  thou  shalt  make  a  battlement  for  thy 
roof,  that  thou  bring  not  blood  upon  thy  house,  if  any  man  fall 
from  thence."  Deut.  22  :  8.  "  Upper  chambers"  (Heb.  aliybth) 
are  also  erected  upon  the  roof.  Robinson  says :  "  "We  were  ad 
mitted  to  the  top  of  a  sheikh's  house  [at  Tulluzah]  to  take  bear 
ings.  The  house  was  built  around  a  small  court,  in  which  cattle 
and  horses  were  stabled.  Thence  a  stone-staircase  led  up  to  the 
roof  of  the  house  proper ;  on  wrhich,  at  the  northwest  and  south 
east  corners,  were  high  single  rooms  like  towers,  with  a  staircase 
inside  leading  to  the  top."  Bib.  Ees.,  vol.  3,  p.  302.  Such  an 
upper  chamber  on  the  roof  is  peculiarly  cool  and  comfortable. 
Samuel  would  naturally  assign  it  to  Saul  as  his  lodging-place 
during  the  night.  Besides  these  upper  chambers,  Kobinson 
mentions  (Rib.  Res.,  vol.  1,  p.  213),  as  a  mode  of  building  appa- 


392  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

rently  peculiar  to  Judea,  small  domes  on  the  roofs,  sometimes  two 
or  three  to  each  house.    He  did  not  notice  this  north  of  NAlmlus. 

In  our  Saviour's  prediction  of  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  when  the 
time  for  escape  has  come,  he  admonishes  him  that  is  upon  the  housetop 
not  to  come  down  to  take  anything  out  of  his  house.  Matt.  24  : 17.  This 
may  mean  either  that  in  descending  within  the  court  from  the  roof  to  the 
street  he  shall  not  stop  to  enter  any  apartment  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
away  his  effects,  or  that  he  shall  pass  from  his  own  roof  to  the  next,  and 
so  on  by  the  most  speedy  route  to  the  city  gate. 

The  housetop  is  in  the  East  the  place  for  public  proclamations.  "At 
the  present  day,  local  governors  in  county  districts  cause  their  commands 
thus  to  be  published."  Thomson,  vol.  1,  p.  51.  It  is  with  allusion  to  this 
practice  that  our  Lord  says  (Matt.  10  :  27)  :  "What  I  tell  you  in  darkness, 
that  speak  ye  in  light ;  and  what  ye  hear  in  the  ear  " — whispered  into  the 
ear — "that  preach  ye  upon  the  housetops;"  and  (Luke  12:3):  "That 
which  ye  have  spoken  in  the  ear  in  closets,  shall  be  proclaimed  upon  the 
housetops;"  where  proclaiming  from  the  housetops  means  simply  pro 
claiming  in  the  most  public  manner.  , 

10.  Oriental  houses  have  no  chimneys.  When  the  fire  is  made 
in  the  court,  as  on  the  occasion  of  our  Lord's  trial  (Luke  22  : 55), 
the  smoke  escapes  into  the  open  air.  Within  the  house  the  fire 
place  (which  is  a  mere  indentation  in  the  floor,  like  a  pan  or 
basin,  to  hold  the  ashes)  may  be  in  any  part  of  the  room,  with 
a  small  hole  in  the  roof  as  a  vent  for  the  smoke;  or  it  may 
escape  by  the  doors  and  windows.  Eobinson,  Bib.  Kes.,  vol.  3, 
pp.  40,  44.  The  nearest  approach  to  a  chimney  which  Hobinson 
noticed  was  "  a  hearth  in  one  corner,  with  a  funnel  over  it  for 
the  smoke."  Bib.  Res.,  vol.  3,  p.  60.  The  monarchs  and  nobles 
of  Judah  and  Israel  had  summer-houses  and  winter-houses  (Jer. 
36  :  22 ;  Amos  3  : 15),  wliich  were  not  necessarily  distinct  struc 
tures,  like  the  summer  and  winter  residences  of  the  Persian 
kings;  but  may  have  been  different  sections  of  the  same  palace. 
The  summer  loft  of  Eglon  (Judg.  3  : 20),  called  also  the  summer 
chamber  (ver.  24)  was  an  upper  room,  probably  the  upper  cham 
ber  on  the  roof  already  described. 

The  houses  of  Egypt  have  a  hollow  frame  on  the  roof  open  to  the  north 
to  receive  the  cool  breeze  from  that  quarter,  whence  it  is  conducted  by 
pipes  to  the  different  apartments  of  the  house. 


HOUSES  AND   THEIK  APPOINTMENTS.  393 

11.  The  materials  of  eastern  houses  vary  with  their  quality. 
Where  stone  is  abundant,  as  in  the  larger  part  of  Palestine, 
houses  of  the  better  class,  are  constructed  of  it.  In  the  absence 
of  stone,  bricks,  more  commonly  unbumed,  are  employed;  but 
thousands  of  dwellings  in  Palestine  have  only  mud  walls,  which, 
when  neglected,  speedily  crumble  intaan  undistinguishable  mass 
of  ruins.  Such  houses  were  as  common  in  ancient  times  as  they 
are  now,  especially  on  the  Mediterranean  plain  where  stone  is 
wanting.  Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  timber,  wood  is  not  now  em 
ployed  in  Palestine  for  the  framework  and  covering  of  houses, 
nor  was  it  in  ancient  times,  the  use  of  it  in  Ordinary  buildings 
being  dispensed  with  as  far  as  possible.  Ceilings  of  cedar  were 
a  part  of  the  ostentation  for  which  Jeremiah  reproached  the 
king  of  Judah.  Chap.  22 : 14,  15.  We  have  seen,  in  the  case  of 
Solomon's  temple  (Chap.  2,  No.  32),  what  an  immense  amount 
of  labor  was  bestowed  upon  the  foundation.  At  the  present  day, 
all  who  are  able  to  do  so  dig  deep  and  lay  the  foundation  of  their 
houses  on  the  rock.  Our  Saviour's  figure,  drawn  from  the  two 
houses  built  one  upon  the  rock  and  the  other  on  the  sand  (Matt. 
7  :  24-27 ;  Luke  6  : 47-49),  was  doubtless  suggested  by  examples 
in  actual  life.  It  might  easily  happen  that  an  improvident  man, 
constructing  in  the  dry  season  his  frail  tenement  of  unburnt 
bricks  or  mud,  would  build  upon  the  sand,  only  to  be  swept 
away  with  it  by  the  winds  and  torrents  of  winter.  * 

In  Egypt  siin-dried  bricks  were  the  common  material  for  private  edifi 
ces.  Those  made  of  pure  clay  needed  no  straw ;  but  those  formed  of  the 
Nile  mud  had  not  sufficient  tenacity  without  the  addition  of  straw.  Exod. 
5  :  7,  seq.  The  Israelites,  as  a  nation  of  slaves,  were  extensively  employed 
in  brick-making.  The  monuments  contain  representations  of  the  whole 
process,  superintended  by  task-masters  with  rods.  Bricks  were  also  em 
ployed  to  some  extent  among  the  ancient  Israelites  in  Palestine  (Isa.  9  : 10), 
but  their  use  does  not  seem  to  have  been  common  except  on  the  Mediter 
ranean  plain,  most  of  which  was  in  possession  of  the  Philistines.  The 
Assyrians  and  Babylonians  also  used  bricks  for  building  purposes.  In 
Babylonia  burned  and  sun-dried  bricks  were  both  employed ;  the  former 
especially  for  the  paving  of  floors  and  courts,  the  casing  of  massive  walls, 
and  wherever  strength  and  durability  were  required.  The  burned  bricks 
were  cemented  with  hot  bitumen.  Herodotus  thus  describes  the  manner 

17* 


394  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

in  which  the  walls  of  Babylon  were  built :  "As  fast  as  they  dug  the  moat 
[the  great  moat  around  the  walls]  the  soil  which  they  got  from  the  cutting 
was  made  into  bricks,  and  when  a  sufficient  number  were  completed  they 
baked  the  bricks  in  kilns.  Then  they  set  to  building,  and  began  with 
bricking  the  borders  of  the  moat,  after  Avhich  they  proceeded  to  construct 
the  wall  itself,  using  throughout  for  their  cement  hot  bitumen,  and  inter 
posing  a  layer  of  wattled  reecjs  at  every  thirtieth  course  of  the  bricks." 
Book  1,  chap.  179.  All  this  illustrates  the  scriptural  account  of  the  mate 
rials  used  in  building  the  tower  of  Babel.  Gen.  11 :  3.  In  Assyria  they 
had  no  bitumen,  and  there  baked  bricks  were  less  used.  The  ancient 
bricks  were  much  larger  than  those  employed  in  modern  times,  as  the  sam 
ples  in  all  our  museums  show.  The  burned  bricks,  as  well  as  the  stone 
slabs  employed  in  building,  are  covered  with  cuneiform  inscriptions,  and 
vast  numbers  of  them  bear  the  name  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 

12.  Among  the  appointments  of  an  oriental  house,  the  divan 
or  raised  seat  around  the  borders  of  the  room  occupies  a  con 
spicuous  place.     In  the  houses  of  the  wealthy,  the  divans  are 
floored  and  adorned  with  marbles  inlaid  in  patterns.     These 
serve  for  seats  by  day,  and  on  them  they  place  their  beds  by 
night.     Among  the  ancients  bedsteads  of  iron  and  other  materi 
als  were  not  unknown.    Og's  bedstead  was  of  iron  (Deut.  3  : 11), 
Amos  speaks  of  beds  of  ivory  (chap.  6  : 4),  and  bedsteads  of  vari 
ous  patterns  are  represented  on  the  Egyptian  monuments.     But 
the  bed  in  common  use  was  simply  a  mattress  with  a  pillow,  that 
could  be  spread  anywhere  as  convenience  required.    Carpets  and 
mats,  curtains  and  awnings,  abound  in  the  better  class  of  orien 
tal  houses.     The  monuments  of  ancient  Egypt  exhibit  stools, 
chairs,  and  tables,  as  well  as  couches ;  but  such  articles  are  not 
common  at  the  present  day,  and  perhaps  never  were  except 
among  the  rich  and  luxurious.    In  describing  a  house  at  Tibnin, 
Eobinson  says  (Bib.  Res.,  vol.  3,  p.  60) :  "  In  our  room  was  a 
single  wooden  chair,  of  the  rudest  and  most  ordinary  kind;  a 
wonder  in  this  region,  and  probably  procured  with  a  view  to  the 
entertainment  of  Franks."      The  oriental  fashion  is  to  sit  on  the 
divan  with  the  lower  limbs  crossed. 

13.  The  forbidding  aspect  of  the  streets  in  oriental  cities, 
owing  partly  to  their  narrowness  and  filth  and  partly  to  the 
absence  of  windows  opening  into  them  from  the  houses,  has 


HOUSES  AND  THEIR  APPOINTMENTS.  395 

already  been  noticed.  Where  the  ground  is  level  and  the  houses 
are  of  the  same  height,  one  may  easily  pass  over  the  roofs  from 
one  house  to  another.  Before  the  invention  of  gunpowder,  walls 
with  gates  and  bars,  and  towers  upon  them  at  intervals,  were 
indispensable.  Although  of  little  value  in  modern  warfare,  they 
remain  in  multitudes  of  cases  as  monuments  of  the  past.  The 
references  to  these  walls  and  gates  are  very  numerous  in  Scrip 
ture;  but  their  use  will  best  be  considered  under  another  divis 
ion  of  this  work. 


396  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTEE  XVII. 

DRESS  AND   PERSONAL   ORNAMENTS. 

1.  WE  here  confine  ourselves  to  an  account  of  the  ordinary 
garments  of  the  Hebrews.     Those  belonging  to  priestly  and  mil 
itary  attire  will  be  considered  elsewhere.     Of  the  dress  of  the 
ancient  Israelites  we  have  only  incidental  notices  in  Scripture. 
Omitting  minute  details,  we  give  a  brief  description  of  those  in 
daily  use.    ulhe  general  form  of  these  may  be  gathered,  as  in  the 
case  of  oriental  houses,  from  the  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  monu 
ments,  from  the  notices  of  ancient  writers,  and  especially  from 
the  articles  of  modern  apparel  now  in  use  in  these  regions. 
"With  the  exception  of  the  foreign  Turkish  costume,  and  the 
modifications  thereof,  and  with  certain  local  exceptions,  chiefly 
in  mountainous  regions,  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  one  prevail 
ing  costume  in  all  the  coimtries  of  Asia  between  the  Tigris  and 
Mediterranean,  and  throughout  Northern  Africa,  from  the  Nile 
to  Morocco  and  the  banks  of  the  Senegal."     Alexander's  Kitto. 
The  substantial  icfentity  of  this  costume  with  that  of  the  ancient 
Israelites  and  their  neighbors  cannot  be  reasonably  doubted. 
In  its  loose  and  flowing  character  it  differs  strikingly  from  our 
western  style  of  dress.     Many  articles  of  apparel  or  ornament 

'are  mentioned  by  the  sacred  writers,  particularly  in  reference  to 
female  attire ;  but  there  are  three  garments  that  deserve  especial 
notice,  which,  for  want  of  more  exact  terms,  we  may  call  the  tunic 
ox  frock,  the  robe,  and  the  mantle  or  outer  garment.  Of  these 
three,  two  only,  the  first  and  the  last,  with  the  girdle  and  san 
dals,  appear  to  have  been  customarily  worn  by  the  masses  of  the 
people. 

2.  The  tunic  or  frock  (kdlioneth,  generally  but  inappropriately 
rendered  coat  in  our  version)  was  a  shirt  or  frock  worn  next  to 
the  skin.     It  might  be  of  any  material — leather,  haircloth,  wool, 


DRESS  AND  PERSONAL  ORNAMENTS.  397 

cotton,  linen — and  was  of  various  lengths.  In  its  simplest  form, 
as  represented  on  the  monuments,  it  was  without  sleeves,  reach 
ing  about  to  the  knees,  but  sometimes  to  the  ankles.  A  more 
costly  kind,  worn  by  the  better  classes,  extended  to  the  ankles, 
and  also  had  sleeves.  The  tunic  was  common  to  men  and  wom 
en  (2  Sam.  13  : 18 ;  Cant.  5  :  3),  probably  with  some  distinction 
of  style  and  pattern  for  the  different  sexes. 

In  warm  weather  the  tunic  often  forms  the  sole  dress  of  the 
lower  classes.  Persons  of  higher  rank  may  wear  this  garment 
alone  within  doors,  but  no  respectable  person  appears  out  of 
doors  or  receives  calls  without  an  outer  garment.  The  term 
naked  seems  to  be  occasionally  applied  to  those  who  are  clad 
with  the  tunic  alone.  Isa;  20 :  2-4 ;  Micah  1:8;  perhaps  also 

John  21 : 7. 

• 

The  tunic  which  Jacob  gave  to  Joseph  (Gen.  37 : 3)  is  rendered  in  our 
version,  after  the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate,  a  coat  of  many  colors.  But  in 
2  Sam.  13 : 18,  where  the  Hebrew  expression  is  the  same,  the  Greek  and 
Latin  give  a  sleeved  tunic;  and  this  is  the  rendering  generally  preferred  by 
biblical  scholars.  It  is  not  certain,  however,  that  this  was  the  proper  tunic 
worn  next  to  the  skin.  That  of  Taniar  seems  to  have  been  the  robe  to  be 
presently  described.  It  is  remarkable  that  Herodotus  (book  7,  chap.  61) 
describes  the  Persians  who  took  part  in  Xerxes'  expedition  against  Greece 
as  having  about  their  bodies  sleeved  tunics  of  divers  colors. 

3.  An  essential  accompaniment  of  the  tunic  was  the  girdle, 
worn  alike  by  men  and  women,  and  made  of  very  different  mate 
rials.  Girdles  of  the  plainest  kind  were  made  of  leather.  2  Kings 
1:8;  Matt.  3:4;  Mark  1 :  6.  Those  of  a  finer  quality  were  made 
of  linen  (Jer.  13 : 1 ;  Ezek.  16  : 10),  and  frequently  adorned  with 
gold  and  gems.  Dan.  10:5;  Eev.  1:13;  15:6.  In  a  word, 
the  girdle  was  anciently,  as  it  is  now,  an  article  of  apparel  on 
which  much  ornament  could  be  lavished.  The  high  priest's  gir 
dle  was  "  of  gold,  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  linen." 
Exod.  28 : 8.  Costly  girdles,  especially  military  girdles,  were 
sometimes  given  as  presents.  1  Sam.  18  : 4 ;  §2  Sam.  18  : 11. 
Girding  up  the  loins  everywhere  in  Scripture  represents  prepara 
tion  for  activity.  "The  orientals  dress,"  says  Robinson  (Lex. 


398  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

New  Test.),  "  in  long  loose  robes  flowing  clown  around  the  feet ; 
so  that  when  they  wish  to  run,  or  fight,  or  apply  themselves  to 
any  business,  they  are  accustomed  to  bind  their  garments  close 
around  them."  Hence  the  direction  to  the  Israelites  that  they 
should  eat  their  first  passover  in  Egypt  with  their  loins  girded, 
their  shoes  on  their  feet,  and  their  staff  in  their  hand,  ready  to 
commence  their  journey  at  any  moment.  Exod.  12  : 11.  So  also 
Elijah  girded  up  his  loins  to  run  before  Ahab's  chariot  (1  Kings 
18 : 46) ;  Gehazi  to  go  in  haste  from  Mount  Carmel  to  Shunem 
(2  Kings  4  :  29) ;  and  the  young  prophet  to  go  at  Elisha's  bidding 
to  anoint  Jehu  (2  Kings  9:1).  But  it  was  not  simply  conveni 
ence  of  labor  and  travel  that  was  accomplished  by  the  girdle.  It 
added  strength  also  and  capacity  of  endurance,  especially  the 
military  girdle.  Hence  we  can  readily  understand  how  the  act 
of  girding  up  the  loins  was  employed  metaphorically  to  repre 
sent  vigor,  physical  and  mental,  as  well  as  preparation  for  active 
service,  especially  spiritual  preparation  and  watchfulness.  Job 
12:18;  38:3;  Isa.  22:21;  Luke  12:35;  1  Pet.  1:13.  In  Isa. 
11 :  5,  righteousness  is,  by  a  beautiful  figure,  represented  as  the 
girdle  of  the  Messiah's  loins;  and  in  Ephes.  6:14,  the  apostle 
makes  truth  the  Christian  soldier's  girdle. 

In  2  Sam.  20  : 8,  Joab's  sword  girdle  is  apparently  distinct  from  the 
girdle  of  his  garment ;  that  is,  it  is  a  sword  belt.  The  girdle  seems  to  have 
served  for  carrying  various  articles,  as  a  writer's  inkhorn  (Ezek.  9  :  2,  where 
the  Hebrew  reads  a  writer's  inkhorn  upon  his  loins,  apparently  attached  to 
his  girdle),  and  probably  pouches  and  other  necessaiy  things.  See  Jahn's 
Archaeology,  §121. 

4.  The  robe  (mett,  sometimes  rendered  mantle  in  our  version) 
was  a  sort  of  second  tunic,  fuller  and  more  flowing,  worn  over 
the  first  and  reaching  to  the  feet.  It  was  made  of  linen,  and 
was  ordinarily  destitute  of  sleeves.  Josephus  describes  the  high 
priest's  robe  as  consisting  not  of  two  pieces  sewed  together,  but 
of  a  single  piece  woven  quite  around  its  whole  length,  with  a  slit 
for  the  head  in  £he  direction  from  the  breast  to  the  back  between 
the  shoulders,  and  with  slits  also  for  the  armholes.  Antiq.  3. 
7.  4.  The  seamless  coat  of  our  Saviour  (called  tunic  by  John, 


DRESS  AND   PERSONAL  ORNAMENTS.  399 

chap.  19  :  23,  a  term  applied  also  by  Josephus  to  the  high  priest's 
robe)  was  evidently  woven  in  the  same  way.  The  robe  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  worn  by  the  masses,  but  only  by  persons  in 
the  higher  walks  of  life.  Besides  the  notices  of  the  high  priest's 
robe  (Exod.  28  :  31,  etc.),  it  is  mentioned  as  worn  by  Job  and  his 
three  Mends  (Job  1:20;  2:12);  by  Samuel  (1  Sam.  2:19; 
28  : 14) ;  by  Saul  and  Jonathan  (1  Sam.  15  :  27 ;  18  :  4 ;  24  : 4) ; 
by  David  when  he  danced  before  the  ark  (1  Chron.  15  :  27) ;  by 
Ezra  (Ezra  9:3,  5);  by  the  princes  of  the  sea  (Ezek.  26:16); 
and  by  kings'  daughters  when  it  was  furnished  with  sleeves 
(2  Sam.  13  :  18).  With  these  notices  agree  also  the  figura 
tive  uses  of  the  word.  Job  29  : 14;  Psa.  109  : 29;  Isa.  59  : 17; 
61:10. 

5.  The  outer  garment  or  mantle  (simlah  or  salmah,  frequently 
rendered  cloak  in  our  version)  was,  like  the  tunic,  an  indispensa 
ble  article  for  all  classes.  It  was  simply  a  square  piece  of  cloth, 
varying  in  size  and  quality,  worn  on  the  body  by  day,  and  used 
as  a  covering  by  night.  Hence  the  law  forbidding  the  creditor 
to  keep  the  debtor's  outer  garment  over  night  when  taken  as  a 
pledge :  "  If  thou  at  all  take  thy  neighbor's  mantle  to  pledge, 
thou  shalt  deliver  it  unto  him  by  that  the  sun  goeth  down ;  for 
that  is  his  only  covering ;  it  is  his  mantle  for  his  skin :  wherein 
shaU  he  sleep?"  Exod.  22:26,  27;  Deut.  24:13.  The  wide 
mantle  (adderetli)  is  mentioned  as  a  rich  outer  robe  of  Babylonian 
origin  (Josh.  7 : 21,  24),  and  as  worn  by  the  king  of  Nineveh 
(Jonah  3  : 6).  It  might  be  also  a  rough  garment  of  hair  (Gen. 
25  : 25),  and  worn  by  prophets  (1  Kings  19  : 19;  2  Kings  2  :  8, 13, 
14 ;  Zech.  13  : 4).  The  precise  difference  between  this  and  the 
common  outer  garment  (simlah)  cannot  be  determined. 

The  corresponding  female  garment  (or  at  least  a  variety  of  it)  seems  to 
be  that  named  milpahath,  wide  mqntle.  In  Ruth  3  : 15  it  is  rendered  veil, 
but  in  the  margin  sheet,  or  apron.  In  Isa.  3  : 22  it  is  rendered  wimple,  an 
old  English  term  for  a  sort  of  veil  or  hood,  "formerly  worn  as  an  out-door 
covering,  and  still  retained  in  the  dress  of  nuns  in  conventual  costume." 
Webster.  But  the  use  to  which  Boaz  put  it  indicates  more  naturally  a 
wide  outer  garment,  which  was  so  far  forth  a  veil  as  that  the  whole  body, 
the  face  included,  might  be  wrapped  in  it. 


400  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

A  writer  in  Alexander's  Kitto  (Art.  Dress)  describes  three  kinds  of  outer 
garments  worn  by  the  Arab  tribes:  (1.)  The  abba,  a  cloak  made  of  wool 
and  hair,  of  various  degrees  of  fineness,  "altogether  shapeless,  being  like 
a  square  sack,  with  an 'opening  in  front,  and  with  slits  at  the  sides  to  let 
out  the  arms.  The  Arab  who  wears  it  by  day  sleeps  in  it  by  night,  as  does 
also  the  peasant  by  whom  it  has  been  adopted;"  (2.)  The  burnus  (more 
generally  worn  by  the  Arabs  of  North  Africa),  a  wooUen  cloak  not  unlike 
the  abba,  but  furnished  with  a  hood  ;  (3.)  The  Jtaik,  a  large  woollen  blanket, 
either  white  or  brown,  and  in  summer  a  cotton  sheet  (usually  blue  or 
white,  or  both  colors  together).  Putting  one  corner  before  over  the  left 
shoulder,  the  wearer  brings  it  behind,  and  then  under  the  right  arm,  and 
so  over  the  body,  throwing  it  behind  over  the  left  shoulder,  and  leaving 
the  right  arm  free  for  action. " 

Linen  breeches  or  drawers  were  worn  by  the  priests  in  their  ministra 
tions  (Exod.  28:  42  ;  Lev.  6  : 10  ;  16  :  4  ;  Ezek.  44  : 18);  but  they  are  not 
mentioned  elsewhere,  and  seem  to  have  been  unknown  in  daily  usage. 

6.  The  oriental  shoe  (of  our  version)  is  a  sandal  made  of  leath 
er,  skin,  felt,  wood,  etc. ;  protecting  simply  the  sole  of  the  foot, 
and  bound  to  it  by  thongs.  On  the  Egyptian  monuments  the 
sandals  are  usually  represented  as  turned  up  at  the  toe ;  but 
some  forms  are  rounded  and  pointed.  Assyrian  sandals  some 
times  encased  simply  the  heel  and  sides  of  the  foot.  Modem 
oriental  ladies  bestow  much  attention  upon  their  slippers,  em 
broidering  them  with  flowers  and  other  figures  wrought  in  silk, 
silver,  and  gold.  The  same  care  seems  to  have  been  given  by 
Hebrew  women  of  rank  and  wealth  to  their  sandals.  Cant.  7:1; 
Ezek.  16 : 10.  Compare  Judith  10  : 4 ;  16  :  9.  The  stranger,  upon 
entering  an  oriental  house,  was  met  by  a  servant  who  unloosed 
the.latchet  of  his  sandals,  removed  them,  and  brought  water  to 
wash  his  feet.  Gen.  18  :  4 ;  19  :  2 ;  43 :  24 ;  1  Sam.  25  : 41.  As 
the  offices  belonged  to  the  lowest  among  the  servants,  the  per 
formance  o£  them  naturally  became  the  symbol  of  humility.  So 
John  the  Baptist  said  of  the  Saviour:  "He  that  cometh  after 
me  is  mightier  than  I,  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  bear ;" 
"There  cometh  one  mightier  than  I  after  me,  the  latchet  of 
whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  stoop  down  and  unloose  "  (Matt 
3  : 11 ;  Mark  1:7;  Luke  3  : 16) ;  and  so  afterwards  the  Saviour 
washed  the  feet  of  his  disciples,  as  an  example  that  they  should 


DRESS  AND  PERSONAL  ORNAMENTS.  401 

do  likewise  (Jolm  13  :  4,  seq.).  Among  the  qualifications  which 
entitled  a  widow  to  be  "taken  into  the  number"  (enrolled  for 
special  service  in  the  church,  and  probably  also  for  maintenance 
in  part),  it  is  required  that  she  shall  have  washed  the  feet  of 
strangers.  1  Tim.  5  : 10.  Upon  entering  a  room,  the  orientals 
always  remove  then*  sandals.  No  one  can  pass  the  threshold  of 
a  sanctuary  till  he  has  first  laid  aside  his  shoes.  Eobinson,  Bib. 
Hes.,  vol.  2,  p.  36.  In  general  the  eastern  people  remove  their 
shoes  where  we  uncover  the  head,  as  a  mark  of  reverence.  So 
Moses  before  the  burning  bush,  and  Joshua  before  the  captain 
of  the  Lord's  host,  receive  the  command :  "  Put  off  thy  shoes 
from  off  thy  feet ;  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy 
ground."  Exod.  3:5;  Josh.  5  : 15.  In  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  this  command,  the  priests  in  the  temple  are  said  to  have 
officiated  barefoot. 

We  learn  from  Ruth  4 : 7  that  it  was  anciently  a  custom  among  the 
Israelites  that  the  seller  should  give  his  sandal  to  the  buyer  as  a  ratifica 
tion  of  the  bargain.  So  Elimelech's  kinsman,  when  he  transferred  to  Boaz 
his  hereditary  field  and  the  rights  connected  with  it,  drew  off  his  shoe  and 
gave  it  to  Boaz,  as  a  sign  of  the  transfer.  The  same  custom  is  said  to  have 
prevailed  among  the  Indians  and  ancient  Germans.  Keil,  Archreologie,  vol. 
2,  p.  66,  and  the  authorities  there  quoted.  The  same  symbolic  act,  in  a 
somewhat  modified  form,  appears  elsewhere.  When  a  man  refused  to 
marry  the  widow  of  his  deceased  brother,  she -was  to  draw  off  his  .shoe  in 
the  presence  of  the  magistrates,  and  spit  in  his  face.  Deut.  25  :  5,  seq.  By 
this  act  of  unloosing  the  shoe  "she  divested  him  of  the  place  which  he 
held  towards  her  and  the  deceased  brother,  or  towards  the  ancestral  house." 
Keil,  ubi  supra. 

The  Psalmist  says  (Psa.  60  :  8  ;  108  :  9) :  "  Over  Edom  [or,  upon  Edom] 
will  I  cast  my  shoe."  This  cannot  have  been  as  a  symbol  of  possession,  in 
accordance  with  the  custom  just  referred  to ;  for  that  custom  would  make 
it  rather  a  symbol  of  demitting  his  right  over  Edom.  The  modern  com 
mentators  render:  "Upon  Edom  [into  Edom's  hands,  considered  as  a 
menial  servant]  will  I  cast  my  shoe  J"  namely,  that  it  may  be  borne  by 
him  ;  and  this  agrees  well  with  the  context,  which  may  be  thus  rendered  : 
"Gilead  is  mine,  and  Mauasseh  is  mine  ;  Ephraim  is  also  the  defence  of 
my  head  [that  is,  my  helmet] ;  Judah  is  my  sceptre ;  Moab  is  my  wash 
basin  ;  upon  Edom  will  I  cast  my  shoe,"  etc.  While  Epliraim  and  Judah 
have  honorable  stations  under  him,  menial  offices  are  assigned  to  Moab  and 
Edom. 


402  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

7.  The  Egyptian  men  shaved  the  hair  of  the  head  and  the 
beard,  as  we  learn  from  the  monuments  and  the  testimony  of 
ancient  writers.     To  let  the  hair  and  beard  grow  was  with  them 
a  sign  of  mourning.     Herodotus,  2.  36.     In   accordance  with 
this  usage  Joseph,  when  called  to  stand  before  Pharaoh,  "  shaved 
himself  and  changed  his  raiment."    Gen.  41 : 14.     The  Egyptian 
women  wore  their  natural  hair  long  and  plaited,  reaching  down 
over  their  shoulders.      Many  female  mummies  have  been  found 
with  the  hair  thus  plaited,  and  in  a  good  state  of  preservation. 
Wilkinson,  Ancient  Egyptians,  chap.  10.    The  Hebrews,  in  com 
mon  with  the  Assyrians  and  orientals  generally,  wore  their  beard 
long,  and  trimmed  it  with  care,  neglecting  it  or  plucking  it  out 
only  in  times  of  deep  affliction.     2  Sam.  19  :  24;  Ezra  9:3.     To 
shave  or  mar  the  beard  was  a  great  indignity  (2  Sam.  10  : 4-10 ; 
1  Chron.  19  :  3-5) ;  and  no  one  was  permitted  to  touch  the  beard 
except  intimate  friends  in  the  act  of  kissing  (2  Sam.  20  : 9). 

The  head-dress  of  the  Assyrian  men  and  of  the  Egyptians  of 
both  sexes  is  familiar  to  us  from  the  monuments.  Respecting 
the  form  of  the  various  coverings  and  ornaments  of  the  head 
worn  by  the  ancient  Hebrews,  we  have  almost  no  definite  infor 
mation.  We  only  know  that  the  noble  and  rich  bestowed  much 
care  and  lavished  much  wealth  upon  them ;  and  that  hence  the 
crown  and  the  diadem  are  in  the  Old  Testament  standing  sym 
bols  of  dignity  and  honor.  Job  29:14;  31:36;  Prov.  4:9; 
12:4;  16:31;  Isa.  28:5;  62:3;  Jer.  13:18;  Ezek.  21:26.  In 
the  New  Testament  the  crown  represents  the  royal  dignity  of 
the  redeemed  in  heaven.  1  Cor.  9  :  25 ;  2  Tim.  4:8;  Jas.  1 : 12 ; 
IPet.  5:4;  Rev.  2:10;  3:11. 

8.  As  appendages  to  the  apparel  of  men,  we  may  notice : 
(1.)  The  staff 9  so  frequently  mentioned  in  Scripture  as  the  trav 
eller's  companion.    Gen.  32 : 10 ;  38 : 18,  25 ;  Exod.  12 : 11 ;  1  Sam. 
17  :  40  ;  2  Kings  4  :  29 ;   Zech.  8:4;  Mark  6:8;  etc.     (2.)  The 
signet  or  seal.    This  was  suspended  by  a  cord  from  the  neck  over 
the  breast  (Gen.  38  : 18,  25 — where  we  should  translate :  "  Thy 
signet,  and  thy  cord,  and  thy  staff;"  Cant.  8:6);  or  it  was  at 
tached  to  the  ring,  as  in  the  case  of  the  signet  rings  of  monarchs 


DRESS  AND  PERSONAL  ORNAMENTS.  403 

(Gen.  41 : 42 ;  Estli.  3  : 10, 12 ;  8  :  2 ;  Jer.  22 :  24).  The  monarch's 
seal  attached  to  any  ordinance  was  his  signature  giving  it  valid 
ity.  Hence  the  delivery  of  the  king's  seal  to  one  of  his  subjects, 
as  that  of  Pharaoh  to  Joseph  (Gen.  41 : 42) ;  that  of  Ahasuerus 
to  Haman  and  afterwards  to  Mordecai  (Esth.  3  : 10,  12 ;  8  : 2), 
invested  him  with  the  right  of  acting  authoritatively  in  his  mon 
arch's  name.  It  was  the  custom  also  at  the  same  time  to  clothe 
the  royal  favorite  with  official  robes,  in  token  of  his  exaltation 
(Gen.  41 : 42 ;  Esth.  8 : 15 ;  Dan.  5 : 29) ;  and  when  he  was  removed 
from  office  these  were  given  to  his  successor  (Isa.  22 : 21).  (3.)  The 
necklace  of  gold  or  precious  gems,  worn  only  by  men  of  high  rank. 
Gen.  41 : 42 ;  Dan.  5  :  29.  In  allusion  to  tliis  usage,  the  psalmist 
says  of  rich  and  powerful  sinners  (Psa.  73  :  6) :  "  Pride  compass- 
eth  them  about  as  a  chain;  violence  covereth  them  as  a  gar 
ment;"  that  is,  they  glory  in  their  pride  and  violence,  as  in  a 
golden  necklace  or  a  sumptuous  garment;  and  Solomon  com 
mends  to  the  young  man  his  instructions  as  an  ornament  of 
grace  to  his  head,  and  chains  about  his  neck  (Prov.  1:9;  3 :  22). 
9.  The  veil  is  peculiarly  an  article  of  female  apparel,  in  use 
from  very  ancient  times.  The  concealment  of  the  female  face 
was  not  enforced  among  the  ancient  Hebrews  as  rigidly  as  it  is 
now  in  Mohammedan  regions;  yet  the  etiquette  in  this  respect 
was  stricter  than  among  us.  In  their  ordinary  life,  the  women 
seem  to  have  had  their  faces  uncovered.  Gen.  12  : 14 ;  24  : 16 ; 
26  :  7.  Rebecca  travelled  with  her  face  unveiled,  but  when  she 
saw  Isaac  approaching,  "  she  took  a  veil  and  covered  herself." 
Gen.  24 : 65.  The  bride  of  Solomon's  song  goes  forth  into  the 
streets  of  the  city  veiled  (Cant.  5:7);  and  though  the  whole 
description  be  allegorical,  it  still  represents  the  standing  usage 
for  women  of  her  rank  and  in  her  circumstances. 

Tlie  muslin  veil,  which  conceals  the  whole  face  except  the  eyes,  and 
reaches  nearly  to  the  feet,  is  now  a  regular  part  of  an  Egyptian  lady's 
attire,  whenever  she  appears  on  the  street ;  but  the  ancient  Egyptian  mon 
uments  represent  the  women  without  veils.  It  may  be  that  Tamar  veiled 
herself  for  the  purpose  of  concealment,  while  she  indicated  her  assumed 
character  by  sitting  in  an  open  place  by  the  way.  Gen.  38  : 14.  Concern 
ing  the  different  forms  of  veils,  see  below. 


404  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

10.  The  following  passage  from  Ezekiel  (chap.  16 : 10-13) 
contains  a  gorgeous  portraiture  of  the  apparel  of  a  noble  Hebrew 
woman:  "I  clothed  thee  also  with  broidered  work"  (garments 
embroidered  with  needlework),  "  and  shod  thee  with  badgers' 
skin"  (see  above,  Chap.  7,  No.  28),  "and  I  girded  thee  about 
with  fine  linen,  and  I  covered  thee  with  silk.  I  decked  thee  also 
with  ornaments,  and  put  bracelets  upon  thy  hands,  and  a  chain 
on  thy  neck.  And  I  put  a  jewel  on  thy  nose "  (marginal  ren 
dering),  "and  ear-rings  in  thine  ears,  and  a  beautiful  crown 
upon  thy  head.  Thus  wast  thou  decked  with  gold  and  sil 
ver  ;  and  thy  raiment  was  of  fine  linen  and  silk,  and  broidered 
work." 

Isaiah  gives  also  (chap.  3  : 18-24)  a  catalogue 'of  th'e  articles  of 
female  ornament  employed  in  liis  day  by  the  luxurious  daugh 
ters  of  Zion.  We  notice  in  order  each  term,  giving  first  the 
word  employed  in  our  version,  and  adding  a  brief  account  of  the 
article  so  far  as  anything  can  be  determined  concerning  it : 

Tinkling  oi*naments  about  their  feet — ankle  bands,  for  the  use  of  which  see 
below  under  ornaments  of  the  legs. 

Cauls — caps  of  network.  But  many  prefer  the  rendering  sunlets,  orna 
ments  resembling  little  suns  worn  upon  the  neck,  and  this,  agrees  well  with 
the  next  term.  • 

Bound  tires  like  the  moon— crescents,  little  moons  worn  as  an  ornament  on 
the  neck ;  worn  also  on  the  necks  of  men  and  of  camels.  Judg.  8  :  21,  2G. 

Chains — rather  ear-drops. 

Bracelets — worn  round  the  arms  and  wrists. 

Mufflers — veils.  The  corresponding  Arabic  word  denotes,  according  to 
Freytag,  "a  species  of  veil  consisting  of  two  parts,  which  is  fastened  over 
the  eyes  by  means  of  clasps ;  one  part  being  thrown  back  over  the  head, 
and  the  other  part  hanging  down  over  the  breast,  so  as  to  cover  the  lower 
part  of  the  face."  This  is  probably  a  near  representation  of  the  Hebrew 
veil  denoted  by  the  corresponding  word. 

Bonnets — head-dresses,  probably  of  various  forms. 

Ornaments  for  the  legs — generally  understood  of  the  ankle-chains  attached 
to  the  ankle-bands  mentioned  above,  which  the  oriental  women  employed 
to  give  themselves  a  short  mincing  step.  See  ver.  16  of  this  chapter. 

Head-bands — rather  girdles. 

Tablets— literally,  houses  of  the  soul  or  of  breath;  and  rightly  interpreted 
to  mean  boxes  of  perfume. 


NTIQUE  GARLANDS,   DIADEMS,  AND  CROWNS. 


TETLS. 


^^S^S^pa^f^M*  - 

ANCIENT  HAND-MILL. 


DRESS  AND  PERSONAL  ORNAMENTS.  405 

Ear-rings — a  rendering  supported  by  high  Jewish  authority ;  but  many 
prefer  the  signification  amulets,  that  is,  gems  or  metallic  plates  inscribed 
with  magical  forms  of  words,  and  superstitiously  used  as  charms. 

Rings — signet-rings,  as  the  Hebrew  word  denotes. 

Nose-jewels — a  common  oriental  ornament. 

Changeable  suits  of  apparel — holiday  suits  worn  on  special  occasions. 

Mantles— wrappers,  as  the  Hebrew  word  signifies;  apparently  a  wide 
outer  garment  that  could  be  wrapped  over  the  whole  body.  See  Hart- 
mann's  Hebrew  Bide,  vol.  3,  p.  310. 

Wimples — see  above  under  No.  5. 

Crisping  pins — rather  purses. 

Glasses — small  metallic  mirrors  earned  in  the  hand.  Some  understand 
the  word  of  fine  transparent  vestments. 

Fine  linen — probably  female  tunics  or  chemises  of  fine  materials. 

Hoods — turbans  wound  round  the  head ;  worn  also  by  men  of  rank.  Isa. 
62  :  3  ;  Zech.  3  :  5. 

Veils — probably  a  thin  gauze-Like  covering  thrown  over  the  other  ap 
parel.  It  may  have  contained,  in  part  at  least,  the  "broidered  work" 
referred  to  by  Ezekiel. 

Sweet  smell — that  coming  from  perfumes  and  fragrant  ointments. 

Girdle — the  ornamental  girdle  worn  around  the  dress.  Instead  of  this 
shall  come  the  cord  or  rope  (so  the  Hebrew  should  be  rendered)  with  which 
they  are  led  away  as  captives. 

Well-set  hair — probably  braided  locks  and  curls,  in  the  place  of  which  is 
to  come  baldness. 

Stomacher — perhaps  a  wide  flowing  holiday  mantle,  in  the  place  of 
which  was  to  come  a  girding  of  sackcloth. 

The  practice  of  painting  the  eyebroics  has  prevailed  among 
oriental  women  from  very  ancient  times.  Among  the  Hebrews, 
however,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  notices  of  it  which  we  find  in 
the  Old  Testament,  it  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  a  meretri 
cious  art.  When  Jezebel  prepared  herself  to  defy  Jehu,  "  she 
put  her  eyes  in  painting"  (marginal  rendering),  "and  tired  her 
head,  and  looked  out  at  a  window"  (2  Kings  9  : 30;)  Jeremiah, 
comparing  Judah  to  an  adulterous  woman,  says :  "  Though  thou 
clothest  thyself  with  crimson,  though  thou  deckest  thee  with 
ornaments  of  gold,  though  thou  rendest  thine  eyes  with  paint 
ing,  in  vain  shalt  thou.  make  thyself  fair :  thy  lovers  will  despise 
thee,  they  will  seek  thy  life "  ( Jer.  4  :  30) ;  and  Ezekiel,  employ 
ing  the  same  figure,  says  (chap.  23  : 40) :  "  For  whom  thou  didst 


406  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

wash  thyself,  paintedst  thy  eyes,  and  deckedst  thyself  with  orna 
ments." 

The  paint  of  the  ancients  (pule)  is  said  to  have  been  a  black  powder 
consisting  of  a  preparation  of  antimony.  The  modern  Egyptian  women 
prepare  a  like  black  powder  from  various  materials.  They  apply  it  with 
a  small  probe  of  wood,  ivory,  or  silver,  first  moistened  and  then  dipped  in 
the  powder,  and  drawn  along  the  edges  of  the  eyelids.  The  effect  is  said 
to  be  an  apparent  enlargement  of  the  eye  and  a  heightening  of  its  expres- 


Horns  made  of  gold  or  silver  are  used  at  the  present  day 
among  the  Druses  of  Lebanon  (Thomson,  vol.  1,  p.  101);  but 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  such  artificial  horns  constitu 
ted  a  part  of  the  Hebrew  woman's  apparel.  With  the  sacred 
writers  the  horn  is  simply  a  symbol  of  dignity  and  power.  See 
1  Sam.  2:1;  Job  16  : 15 ;  Psa.  75  : 4,  10 ;  and  especially  1  Kings 
22 : 11. 

11.  The  earliest  material  employed  for  clothing  was  the  skins 
of  animals.  Gen.  3  : 21.  In  process  of  time  men  added  cloth 
made  of  the  hair  of  animals,  of  wool,  of  linen,  and  of  cotton. 
All  these  articles  were  well  known  to  the  Egyptians,  and  of 
course  to  the  Hebrews ;  but  not  silk  (mesJti)  until  the  later  days 
of  their  history.  Silk  is  mentioned  only  in  Ezek.  16  : 10,  13 ;  for 
in  Gen.  41 : 42,  margin,  and  Prov.  31 : 22,  the  term  employed 
denotes  linen. 

The  term  cotton  does  not  occur  in  our  version  ;  yet  the  article  was  in  use 
in  Egypt  from  an  early  date.  The  mummy- wrappings,  however,  are  of 
linen  (Wilkinson  on  the  Ancient  Egyptians,  chap.  9)  ;  and  this,  not  cotton, 
seems  to  have  been  the  dress  of  both  the  Egyptian  and  the  Hebrew  priests. 

The  Hebrews  were  forbidden  to  wear  garments  of  mixed 
materials,  woollen  and  linen.  Lev.  19  : 19  ;  Deut.  22  : 11.  This 
precept  connects  itself  immediately  with  others  of  the  same 
kind — that  they  should  not  sow  their  vineyard  with  divers  seeds, 
nor  plough  with  an  ox  and  an  ass  together.  The  object  of  these 
precepts,  as  is  suggested  by  certain  commentators,  was  appa 
rently  to  inculcate  reverence  for  the  order  and  distinctions  of 
nature.  In  the  same  spirit,  and  not  merely  to  guard  against 


DRESS  AND  PERSONAL  ORNAMENTS.  407 

impurity,  the  two  sexes  were  forbidden  to  exchange  apparel 
(Deut  22  : 5),  and  all  unnatural  practices  were  prohibited  (Lev. 

18  : 22,  23).    The  fringes  on  the  borders  of  their  garments,  which 
became  in  later  ages  a  matter  of  hypocritical  ostentation  (Matt. 
23  :  5),  were  originally  prescribed  to  the  Israelites  as  a  memorial 
that  they  were  a  holy  nation  consecrated  to  God's  service  (Numb. 
15  : 38,  39).     The  phylacteries  worn  by  the  later  Jews  are  little 
leathern  cases  containing  texts  from  the  law,  written  on  strips  of 
parchment,  and  worn  on  the  forehead  and  left  arm.     They  had 
their  origin  in  the  superstitious  interpretation  of  Exod.  13  :  9, 16 ; 
Deut.  6 : 8,  9,  and  do  not  appear  to  have  been  in  use  till  after 
the  captivity.     Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  Pharisees  magnified  the 
letter  of  the  law,  but  lost  its  spirit. 

12.  Among  the  Hebrews,  as  among  other  nations,  white  was 
the  symbol  of  purity,  and  also  of  prosperity  and  victory.  2  Chron. 
5:12;  Esth.  8:15;  Eccl.  9:8;  Kev.  3:4,  18;  7:9,"  13;  15:6; 

19  : 8,  14.     Sackcloth,  on  the  contrary,  made  of  black  hair,  was 
the  sign  of  mourning  and  affliction.     Gen.  37  :  34 ;  2  Sam.  3  :  31 ; 
1  Kings  20 :  31 ;  etc.      Purple,  often  associated  with  blue  and 
scarlet,  was  the  color  appropriate  to  persons  of  rank.     The  Mid- 
ianitish  kings  slain  by  Gideon  were  clad  in  purple  raiment  ( Judg. 
8  :  26) ;  Nehemiah  and  Daniel,  upon  their  exaltation,  were  clothed 
with  garments  of  purple  and  scarlet  (Esth.  8  : 15  ;  Dan.  5  : 29) ; 
and  Jeremiah  ascribes  to  the  statues  of  the  heathen  gods  clo 
thing  of  blue  and  purple  (chap.  10  : 9).    The  blue  and  purple  and 
scarlet  colors  employed  about  the  curtains  of  the  sanctuary  and 
the  dress  of  the  high  priest  (Exod.  chaps.  26,  27,  28)  represented 
the  dignity  and  excellence  of  God's  service,  as  did  also  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  the  materials. 

Costly  apparel  contributed  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  wealth  of  the 
orientals,  and  the  gift  of  "changes  of  raiment"  was  with  them  a  common 
token  of  honor.  Gen.  45  :  22  ;  Judg.  14  : 12,  13  ;  2  Kings  5  :  5. 


408  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTEE  XVIII. 

THE  ^REPARATION  OF  FOOD  AND  MEALS. 

1.  FOR  crushing  the  kernels  of  grain,  or  other  substances 
used  for  food,  the  simplest  apparatus  consists  of  the  mortar  and 
pestle.     Mortars  are  mentioned  along  with  mills  as  used  in  the 
preparation  of  manna   (Numb.  11 : 8),  and  in  the  bruising  of 
wheat  (Prov.  27  :  22) :  "  Though  thou  bray  the  fool  in  the  mortar 
among  the  bruised  corn  (compare  2  Sam.  17  : 19,  where  the  same 
Hebrew  word  is  rendered  in  our  version  ground  corn)  with  the 
pestle,  his  folly  will  not  depart  from  him." 

The  same  mode  of  preparing  grain  for  cooking  prevails  among  the 
modern  Arabs.  Niebithr  (quoted  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.)  saw  an  Arab 
sailor  on  board  a  vessel  take  every  afternoon  the  durra  or  millet  necessary 
for  a  day's  consumption  and  pound  it  upon  a  stone,  'of  which  the  surface 
was  a  little  curved,  with  another  stone  which  was  long  and  rounded.  So 
also  Thomson  (Land  and  Book,  vol.  1,  pp.  134, 135)  describes  a  man  "brav 
ing  wheat  with  a  pestle  in  a  mortar  to  make  kibby,  the  national  dish  of  the 
Arabs,  and  a  very  good  one  it  is.  Every  family  has  one  or  more  of  these 
large  stone  mortars,  and  you  may  hear  the  sound  of  the  *  braying '  at  all 
hours,  as  you  walk  the  streets  of  the  city."  He  adds  the  correct  interpre 
tation  :  "  I  suppose  Solomon  means  that,  if  we  pound  a  fool  in  a  mortar, 
among  wheat,  with  a  pestle,  into  a  batch  of  kibby,  yet  will  not  his  foolish 
ness  depart  from  him."  There  is  no  occasion  for  assuming  an  allusion  to 
a  mode  of  putting  criminals  to  death  by  pounding  them  in  a  mortar,  a  cus 
tom  which  is  said  to  have  existed  in  some  oriental  nations ;  but  it  certainly 
did  not  among  the  Hebrews. 

2.  For  the  more  perfect  trituration  of  grain,  the  mill  is  neces 
sary.     The  ancient  Hebrew  mill,  like  that  of  the  modern  Arabs, 
was  worked  by  hand.     Oriental  travellers  describe  it  as  consist 
ing  of  two  circular  stones,  from  eighteen  inches  to  two  feet  in 
diameter,  and  about  half  a  foot  thick.     The  lower  stone  is  fixed, 
and  rises  by  a  slight  convexity  from  the  circumference  to  the 
centre.     The  upper,  which  turns  upon  it,  is  fitted  to  it  by  a  cor- 


PREPARATION   OF  FOOD  AND  MEALS.  409 

responding  concavity,  has  a  hole  in  the  centre  through  which  the 
corn  to  be  ground  is  admitted,  and  a  handle  by  which  it  ft  turned 
upon  the  lower  stone,  and  the  grain  thus  crushed.  The  work  of 
grinding  is  regarded  as  a  menial  employment,  and  is  regularly 
assigned  to  women,  but  sometimes  to  male  prisoners.  God's 
threatening  to  the  Egyptians  was  that  he  would  slay  all  the  first 
born  of  Egypt  "  from  the  firstborn  of  Pharaoh  that  sitteth  upon 
his  throne,  even  unto  the  firstborn  of  the  maid-servant  that  is 
behind  the  mill  " — that  is,  that  sits  behind  it  in  the  act  of  grind 
ing.  Exod.  11 : 5.  The  haughty  daughter  of  Babylon  is  thus 
addressed  by  the  prophet :  "  Come  down,  sit  in  the  dust ;".... 
"  take  the  millstones  and  grind  meal."  Isa.  47  : 1,  seq.  She  is 
to  be  carried  captive,  stripped  of  her  royal  apparel,  and  employed 
as  a  captive  in  grinding  at  the  mill.  So  Samson,  when  taken 
captive  by  the  Philistines,  was  deprived  of  his  eyes,  and  made  to 
grind  in  the  prisonhouse  (Judg.  16  :  21) ;  as  were  the  young  men 
of  Judah  in  a  later  age  by  the  Babylonians  (Lam.  5  : 13).  These 
hand-mills  are  worked  sometimes  by  one  woman,  sometimes  by 
two.  Where  one  is  employed,  she  sits  or  squats  before  the  mill, 
"  pouring  in  corn  with  one  hand  and  holding  on  to  a  peg  in  the 
stone  with  the  other"  (Osborn,  Palestine  Past  and  Present,  chap. 
22) ;  or,  according  to  Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  vol.  1,  p.  485),  she 
"turns  the  mill  with  both  hands,  feeding  it  occasionally  with 
one."  When  the  mill  is  worked  by  two  women,  they  sit  facing 
each  other  (Matt.  24:41);  "both  have  hold  of  the  handle  by 
which  the  upper  is  turned  round  on  the  '  nether '  millstone.  The 
one  whose  right  hand  is  disengaged  throws  in  the  grain  as  occa 
sion  requires  through  the  hole  in  the  upper  stone,  which  is  called 
the  rekkab  (rider)  in  Arabic,  as  it  was  long  ago  in  Hebrew.  It 
is  not  correct  to  say  that  one  pushes  it  half  round,  and  then  the 
other  seizes  the  handle.  This  would  be  slow  work,  and  would 
give  a  spasmodic  motion  to  the  stone.  Both  retain  then:  hold, 
and  pull  to,  or  push  from,  as  men  do  with  the  whip  or  cross-cut 
saw."  Thomson,  vol.  2,  p.  295.  In  the  Saviour's  day  there  were 
larger  mills,  worked  by  an  ass.  Hence  the  expression  ass-miU- 
stone  (mulos  onikos,  Matt.  18 :  6).  The  orientals  grind  every  day. 

U«og.  AAntiq.  18 


410  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Hence  the  sound  of  the  millstone  is  a  sign  of  the  activity  of  life, 
as  its  absence  is  of  the  silence  of  desolation.  "  I  will  take  from 
them,"  says  Jehovah  (Jer.  25  : 10),  "  the  voice  of  mirth,  and  the 
voice  of  gladness,  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom,  and  the  voice  of 
the  bride,  the  sound  of  the  millstones,  and  the  light  of  the  can 
dle."  Compare  Rev.  18 : 22.  In  the  beautiful  allegorical  de 
scription  of  old  age  (Eccl.  12  : 1-7),  one  of  the  marks  of  decay  is 
that  "the  grinding  women  cease  because  they  are  few,"  and 
"  the  doors  are  shut  in  the  street  when  the  sound  of  the  grinding 
is  low;"  that  is,  dies  away.  The  millstones  being  thus  in  daily 
use,  the  Israelites  were  forbidden  to  take  them  in  pledge :  "  No 
man  shall  take  the  nether  or  the  upper  millstone  to  pledge :  for 
he  taketh  a  man's  life  to  pledge."  Deut.  24 :  6. 

Of  Leviathan  it  is  said  (Job  41 :  24,  ver.  16  of  the  Hebrew) :  "His  heart 
is  solid  like  a  stone ;  yea,  solid  like  the  nether  millstone"  (not,  a  piece  of 
the  nether  millstone) ;  where  the  nether  millstone  seems  to  be  chosen  be 
cause  of  its  fixed  position. 

3.  The  Icneading-trougJis  of  the  Hebrews  (Exod.  8:3;  12  :  34) 
appear  to  have  been  small  wooden  bowls,  such  as  are  represent 
ed  on  the  Egyptian  monuments ;  but  some  think  that  they  con 
sisted  of  pieces  of  leather,  that  could  be  drawn  up  into  a  bag  by 
means  of  a  running  cord  along  the  border,  such  as  those  in  winch 
the  Bedouin  Arabs  prepare  and  often  carry  their  dough. 

4.  The  bread  of  the  Hebrews  was  of  two  kinds,  leavened  and 
unleavened.     On  all  occasions  of  haste  unleavened  cakes  were 
prepared,  and  baked  in  the  ashes,  as  was  done  by  Sarah.     Gen. 
18 :  6.     These  are  called  from  their  shape  vggofJi,  round  cakes, 
and  unleavened  round  cakes.     Exod.  12  :  39.     Having  considera 
ble  thickness  they  would  require  turning ;  otherwise  they  would 
be  dough  on  the  one  side,  and  burned  on  the  other,  as  the  prophet 
describes  the  Israelitish  nation :  "  Epliraim  is  a  cake  not  turned." 
Hosea  7 : 8. 

Robinson  describes  the  modern  process  as  follows :  ' '  They  " — the  Arabs — 
"had  brought  along  some  flour,  or  rather  meal  of  wheat  and  barley  filled 
with  chaff;  of  which  they  now  kneaded  a  round  flat  cake  of  some  thick- 


PREPARATION  OF  FOOD  AND  MEALS.          411 

This  they  threw  into  the  ashes  and  coals  of  a  fire  they  had  kindled ; 
and  after  due  time  brought  out  a  loaf  of  bread,  as  black  on  the  outside  as 
the  coals  themselves,  and  not  much  whiter  within.  After  breaking  it  up 
small  in  a  dish  while  still  warm,  they  mixed  it  with  some  of  the  butter  they 
had  stolen,  and  thus  made  their  meal."  Bib.  Res.,  vol.  2,  pp.  117,  118. 
Again  he  says  (ibid.,  p.  262):  "The  men  were  baking  a  large  round  flat 
cake  of  bread,  in  the  embers  of  a  fire  of  camel's  and  cow  dung.  Taking  it 
out  when  done,  they  brushed  off  the  ashes  and  divided  it  among  the  party, 
offering  us  also  a  portion.  I  tasted  it,  and  found  it  quite  as  gocJd  as  the 
common  bread  of  the  country.  They*had  no  other  provisions.  These 
were  men  of  Bethlehem  ;  and  this  is  the  common  fare  of  persons  travelling 
in  this  manner."  This  last  extract  serves  to  illustrate  a  passage  in  Ezekiel 
(chap.  4  : 9-17),  where  the  prophet  is  commanded  to  bake  his  bread  "with 
dung  that  cometh  out  of  man ;"  that  is,  with  this  dung  as  a  fuel.  Upon 
his  remonstrance  he  is  allowed  cow's  dung  instead.  Owing  to  the  scarcity 
of  wood,  dried  ordure  is  a  common  article  of  fuel  in  Palestine  and  the 
adjoining  regions. 

The  unleavened  bread  used  by  the  modern  Jews  at  the  pass- 
over  consists  of  "  very  thin  sheets,  almost  like  paper,  very  white, 
and  also  veiy  delicate  and  palatable  "  (Robinson,  Bib.  Res.,  vol. 
1,  p.  223);  and  it  probably  represents  with  tolerable  accuracy 
the  paschal  unleavened  bread  of  ancient  tunes.  The  question  of 
the  religious  significance  of  unleavened  bread  will  be  discussed 
in  another  place. 

The  leavened  bread  of  the  orientals  is  also  made  in  thin  loaves, 
which  are  broken,  not  cut.  Hence  the  common  expression  "  to 
break  bread." 

5.  Royal  establishments  had  then-  bakeries  (Gen.  40  : 1,  seq. ; 
1  Sam.  8:13),  and  public  ovens  existed  in  cities.  The  street  of  the 
bakers  (Jer.  37 : 21)  was  evidently  named  from  the  public  ovens 
found  there ;  and  such  are  also  the  ovens  mentioned  by  Hosea 
(chap.  7  : 4,  6) :  "  They  are  all  adulterers,  as  an  oven  heated  by 
the  baker,  who  ceaseth  from  raising  after  he  hath  kneaded  the 
dough  until  it  be  leavened ;"  "  their  baker  sleepeth  all  the 
night " — while  the  dough  is  in  process  of  being  leavened ;  "  in  the 
morning  it  burneth  as  of  a  flaming  fire."  Such  large  ovens  are 
now  made  of  brick,  and  are  not  very  dissimilar  to  our  own.  But, 
as  a  rule,  each  family  baked  in  its  own  private  oven,  which 


412  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

might  be  either  portable  or  fixed.  The  portable  oven  was  a  large 
jar  of  stone,  earthenware,  or  metal,  about  three  feet  high,  heated 
by  kindling  within  a  fire  of  brush-wood,  dried  grass,  or  the  stalks 
of  thistles,  weeds,  flowers,  etc.  Matt.  6  :  30.  When  the  fire  had 
burned  down,  the  thin  cakes  were  applied  to  it  inwardly  or  out 
wardly.  Such  ovens  were  in  use  anciently  among  the  Egyp 
tians,  and  are  still  common  among  the  Bedouin  Arabs.  See  in 
Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  Art.  Brea/L  The  fixed  oven  was  a  pit  sunk 
in  the  ground,  the  sides  being  coated  with  clay  or  cement,  and 
the  bottom  paved  with  stones.  "When  it  was  heated,  the  dough 
might  be  plastered  on  its  sides  for  a  few  moments  in  thin  flaps, 
and  then  removed  and  eaten  hot ;  or  placed  upon  the  stones  at 
the  bottom,  and  the  mouth  of  the  oven  closed.  Such  ovens  are 
common  in  Persia,  and  after  the  process  of  cooking  is  over,  they 
furnish  a  genial  warmth  to  the  members  of  the  household. 

6.  Other  simple  modes  of  cooking  are  in  use  now  among  the 
orientals,  and  doubtless  were  in  ancient  times.     One  of  these  is 
"  a  sort  of  pan  of  earthenware  or  iron  (usually  the  latter),  flat  or 
slightly  convex,  which  is  put  over  a  slow  fire,  and  on  which  the 
thin  flaps  of  dough  are  laid  and  baked  with  considerable  expedi 
tion."     Then,  again,  "there  is  a  cavity  in  the  fire-hearth,  in 
which,  when  required  for  baking,  a  fire  is  kindled  and  burned 
down  to  hot  embers.     A  plate  of  iron,  or  sometimes  copper,  is 
placed  over  the  hole,  and  on  this  the  bread  is  baked."     Alexan 
der's  Kitto,  Art.  Bread.     As  to  the  processes  of  boiling,  stewing, 
and  roasting,  they  are  in  all  ages  and  countries  substantially  the 
same,  and  need  no  elucidation. 

In  the  second  chapter  of  Leviticus  mention  is  made  of  an  oblation  baken 
in  the  oven  (ver.  4),  of  another  cooked  in  a  pan  (ver.  5),  and  of  a  third 
cooked  in  the  so-called  frying-pan  (ver.  7).  The  pan  (Heb.  mahabhath]  is 
probably  the  flat  plate  described  above  ;  but  the  so-called/rym^r-pem  (Heb. 
marlieshetfi)  is  probably  a  pot  or  kettle  for  boiling. 

7.  The  orientals  are,  in  general,  sparing  in  the  use  of  flesh. 
Their  diet  consists  mainly  of  bread,  vegetables*  of  various  kinds, 
especially  lentils  made  into  pottage,  and  fruits,  with  milk,  curd, 
and  honey.    Owing  to  the  difficulty  of  preserving  flesh  in  a  warm 


PKEPARATION  OF  FOOD  AND  MEALS.  413 

climate,  it  is  customary  when  an  animal  is  slain  to  cook  and  eat 
it  without  much  delay.  Locusts  were  allowed  to  the  Hebrews 
(Lev.  11 : 21,  22),  and  they  are  a  common  article  of  food  in  the 
East,  as  also  in  Africa.  They  are  boiled  or  roasted,  stewed  or 
fried.  Sometimes  they  are  ground  or  powdered,  mixed  with 
flour,  arid  made  into  cakes;  or  they  are  salted,  dried,  and  pre 
served  for  future  use.  Salt  is  an  essential  article  of  diet,  and 
the  symbol  of  inviolable  friendship.  To  eat  bread  and  salt 
together  is  the  sign  of  a  firm  league  of  amity ;  and  "  a  covenant 
of  salt"  (Numb.  18  : 19;  2  Chron.  13  : 5)  means  one  that  is  indis 
soluble. 

For  the  distinctions  of  clean  and  undedn  in  respect  to  food,  see  the 
eleventh  chapter  of  Leviticus.  The  religious  significance  of  these  distinc 
tions  will  be  considered  elsewhere.  The  Hebrews  were  forbidden  to  seethe 
a  kid  in  th(5  milk  of  its  mother.  Exod.  23  : 19  ;  34  : 26 ;  Deut.  14  :  21.  Of 
the  various  conjectured  reasons  assigned  for  this  prohibition,  that  which 
places  it  on  the  broad  ground  of  the  inculcation  of  humanity  is,  perhaps, 
the  most  probable. 

8.  In  respect  to  the  posture  in  which  food  was  taken  by 
the  ancient  Hebrews,  we  have  no  very  definite  information.  It 
seems  to  have  been  thaj;  of  sitting,  but  not  necessarily  sitting 
on  raised  seats.  On  ordinary  occasions  they  probably  sat  or 
squatted  on  the  floor  around  a  low  table,  while  at  meals  of  more 
ceremony  they  sat  on  chairs  or  stools.  Both  customs  prevailed 
in  Egypt.  Wilkinson's  Ancient  Egypt,  chap.  6.  Joseph's  breth 
ren  "  sat  before  him,  the  firstborn  according  to  his  birthright, 
and  the  youngest  according  to  his  youth "  (Gen.  43  :  33),  evi 
dently  on  proper  seats.  So  also  at  Saul's  table,  when  David's 
seat  was  empty ;  each  of  his  attendants  had  his  place  and  seat 
assigned  to  him.  1  Sam.  20  :  5, 18.  Homer  represents  his  heroes 
as  sitting  around  the  wall,  each  with  his  own  seat  and  table. 
Odyss.  1.  145;  17.  179. 

But  in  our  Saviour's  day  the  Jews  had  adopted  from  the 
Romans  the  custom  of  reclining  on  couches  at  supper,  which  was 
their  principal  meal.  The  Romans,  again,  had  borrowed  the 
usage  from  the  East.  The  couches  of  a  triclinium  (as  the  Ho- 


414  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

mans  called  it)  were  three  in  number,  arranged  on  the  three  sides 
of  a  square,  the  fourth  being  left  open  for  the  convenience  of 
the  servants.  On  each  couch  were  commonly  three,  though 
more  might  be  admitted.  "  They  lay  with  the  upper  part  of  the 
body  reclined  on  the  left  arm,  the  head  a  little  raised,  the  back 
supported  by  cushions,  and  the  limbs  stretched  out  at  full  length 
or  a  little  bent ;  the  feet  of  the  first  behind  the  back  of  the  sec 
ond,  and  his  feet  behind  the  back  of  the  third,  with  a  pillow  be 
tween  each.  -  The  head  of  the  second  was  opposite  to  the  breast 
of  the  first,  so  that,  if  he  wanted  to  speak  to  him,  especially  if 
the  thing  was  to  be  secret,  he  was  obliged  to  lean  upon  his 
bosom."  Adams'  Roman  Antiquities,  under  the  title,  Customs, 
No.  2.  The  couches,  as  well  as  the  places  in  each,  were  regu 
larly  numbered,  and  different  grades  of  dignity  belonged  to  them. 
By  the  first  place  (Eng.  version,  uppermost  rooms)  at  a  feast,  so 
much  coveted  by  the  Pharisees  (Matt.  23  :  6 ;  Mark  12  :  39  ;  Luke 
14  :  7 ;  20  :  46)  is  to  be  understood  the  most  honorable  place. 

From  this  usage  of  reclining  at  meals  several  passages  of  holy  writ 
receive  a  clear  illustration.  We  see  at  once  how  the  beloved  disciple,  in 
whispering  into  the  Saviour's  ear  the  question  suggested  by  Peter,  must 
have  lain  on  Jesus'  breast  (John  13  :  25) ;  also  what  is  the  high  meaning  of 
the  fact  that  Lazarus  "was  carried  by  the  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom," 
and  was  seen  by  the  rich  man  in  that  position  (Luke  16  :22,  23).  He  was 
reclining  at  the  heavenly  feast,  in  Abraham's  bosom,  that  is,  admitted  to 
Bhare  with  him  the  bliss  of  Paradise.  Compare  our  Saviour's  words  (Matt. 
8  : 11) :  "  Many  shall  come  from  the  east  and  west,  and  shall  redine  (not,  sit 
down)  "with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
We  see  also  how,  as  Jesus  reclined,  with  his  feet  in  the  back  part  of  the 
couch,  and  his  shoes  left  without  (Chap.  17,  No.  6),  a  woman  could  stand 
behind  at  his  feet  and  wash  them  (Luke  7 : 38) ;  and,  in  general,  how, 
when  the  guests  were  seated  and  the  door  was  shut,  all  applications  for 
admission  must  have  been  out  of  place  (Matt.  25  : 10  ;  Luke  13  :  25). 

9.  At  an  oriental  supper,  the  old  adage  that  "  fingers  were 
made  before  forks "  has  its  full  illustration.  Knives  and  forks 
are  not  in  use  there.  The  guests  reclining-  upon  their  left  side 
(or,  as  in  modern  times,  sitting  around  a  common  dish),  take  the 
food  and  convey  it  to  the  mouth  with  their  right  hand.  Hence 
the  significance  of  the  expression :  "  He  that  dippeth  his  hand 


BEGINNING  AT  TABLE. 


V**F  r 

Si  .  i 


A  FOOT-BACK. 


ANCIENT  BOOKS,  PENS,  AND  INKSTAND. 


PREPARATION  OF  FOOD  AND  MEALS.  415 

with  ine  in  the  dish "  (Matt.  26 : 23),  to  indicate  one  reclining  at 
the  same  table.  There  is  an  allusion  to  the  same  way  of  taking 
food  when  the  wise  man  says  of  the  sluggard  that  he  "  hideth  his 
hand  in  the  dish"  that  is,  buries  it  in  the  food  of  the  dish  before 
him  (not  in  his  bosom,  as  in  our  version),  "  and  will  not  so  much 
as  bring  it  to  his  mouth  again"  (Prov.  19:24;  26:15).  The 
custom  prevailed  anciently,  as  now,  of  passing  a  morsel  of  bread 
dipped  in  the  gravy  to  a  friend  at  the  same  table.  John  13  :  26. 
"  The  very  polite  d  la  mode  oriental  will  tear  up  the  best  bits,  and 
either  lay  them  next  you,  or  insist  on  putting  them  into  your 
mouth.  I  have  had  this  done  for  me  by  digits  not  particularly 
fail*,  or  even  clean."  Thomson,  vol.  1,  pp.  181,  182. 

Where  this  mode  of  taking  food  prevails,  the  hands  will,  in  ordinary 
circumstances,  be  washed  before  meals  as  a  matter  of  cleanliness.  But  the 
Pharisees  had  exalted  this  usage,  so  proper  in  itself,  into  a  binding  reli 
gious  rite,  against  which  our  Saviour  thought  proper  to  protest  in  a  prac 
tical  way.  Matt.  15  : 1,  seq. ;  Mark  7  : 1,  seq.  ;  Luke  11  :  38.  At  the  close 
of  the. meal  a  servant  poured  water  on  the  hands  over  a  basin,  and  fur 
nished  a  towel  to  wipe  them.  2  Kings  3  :  11. 

Tristram  (Land  of  Israel,  pp.  262,  263)  gives  the  following  lively  pic 
ture  of  a  feast  among  the  Bedouin  Arabs  on  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea  : 

"Dinner  was  brought.  This  consisted  of  a  single  course,  served  in  a 
huge  bowl  about  a  yard  in  diameter.  The  bottom  was  filled  with  thin 
flat  cakes,  thinner  than  oat-cakes,  and  which  overhung  the  sides  as  grace 
ful  drapery.  On  them  was  heaped  boiled  rice,  saturated  with  butter  and 
soup ;  while  the  disjecta  meiribra  (dissected  parts)  of  the  sheep  which  had 
been  slain  for  the  occasion  were  piled  in  a  cone  over  ah*. 

"The  bowl  having  been  placed  in  the  corner,  in  front  of  us,  the  sheikh 
and  his  brother  sat  down  opposite  to  us,  but  without  partaking  ;  and  turn 
ing  up  our  sleeves,  we  prepared  for  action.  Knives  and  forks  are,  of 
course,  unknown,  and  we  were  expected,  using  only  one  hand,  to  make 
balls  of  the  greasy  mess,  and  devour,  chucking  the  morsels  into  the  mouth 
by  a  dexterous  movement  of  the  thumb.  This,  after  a  little  practice,  we 
contrived  to  do.  An  important  piece  of  etiquette  was  for  each  one  to 
have  his  own  digging  in  the  dish,  and  to  keep  his  ringers  to  it  alone.  To 
have  used  the  left  hand  would  have  been  as  great  a  solecism  as  putting 
the  knife  into  the  mouth  at  home.  The  meat  had  to  be  rent  in  strips 
from  the  bones,  and  eaten,  too,  with  the  fingers." 

When  Tristram  and  ^his  party  were  satisfied,  water  and  soap  were 
brought.  The  water  was  poured  from  a  silver  ewer  on  their  hands  over 


416  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

a  basin  of  silver  covered  with  a  perforated  plate.  Coffee,  black  and  strong, 
served  in  tiny  cups,  concluded  the  feast. 

Meanwhile  the  huge  dish  above  described  had  been  removed  a  little 
to  the  left,  where  the  Arab  retainers  of  the  better  class  were  sitting. 
After  these  were  sufficiently  gorged,  the  bowl  was  passed  outside  the  tent, 
where  all  the  rest  of  the  rabble,  about  twenty-five  in  number,  anxiously 
awaited  it.  Here  it  "  was  cleared  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  ;  the  monkey 
paws  of  sundry  urchins  being  inserted  from  behind  their  seniors,  and 
extracting  large  flaps  of  greasy  cakes  with  marvellous  dexterity.  Finally, 
the  pack  of  poor  hungry  dogs  had  a  scramble  and  a  fight  over  the  well- 
picked  bones." 

For  a  good  description  of  a  modern  Syrian  meal,  see  in  Thomson, 
vol.  1,  p.  181. 

On  more  formal  occasions,  as,  for  example,  weddings  and 
birthday  celebrations,  sumptuous  preparations  were  made  among 
the  Hebrews.  The  guests  were  invited  beforehand,  and  sent 
for  at  the  appointed  hour  (Matt.  22:3,  4;  Luke  14:16,  17); 
flesh  and  wine  were  provided  in  abundance,  with  music  and 
dancers ;  and  a  master  of  the  feast  presided  at  the  table,  who 
had  the  general  direction  of  the  entertainment  and  arranged  the 
guests.  John  2  : 9.  Such  feasts  were  always  held  in  the  even- 
ning  in  halls  brilliantly  lighted,  and  were  often  the  occasion 
of  riotous  excesses,  which  the  sacred  writers  condemn  in  severe 
terms.  Isa.  5  : 11 ;  Amos  6  :  4r-6.  Nevertheless,  festive  occa 
sions,  being  in  themselves  innocent,  furnish  a  favorite  sym 
bol  of  the  heavenly  feast  under  the  reign  of  the  Messiah  (Isa. 
25  :  6 ;  Matt.  8^11;  22  : 1,  seq.;  Luke  14  : 16,  seq.;  Kev.  19  :  7-9) ; 
and  exclusion  from  this  feast  is  represented  under  the  similitude 
of  being  cast  out  of  the  brilliantly  lighted  banqueting  hall,  where 
joy  and  mirth  abound,  into  "  the  outer  darkness "  where  there 
is  "  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth."  Matt.  8  : 12  ;  22  : 13 ;  25  : 30. 

It  has  been  commonly  assumed  that  the  "wedding  garment"  men 
tioned  in  the  parable  (Matt.  22  : 11-13)  was  provided  by  the  king,  and  that 
on  this  ground  the  guest  who  appeared  without  it  was  inexcusable.  The 
assumption  is  not  improbable,  when  we  consider  how  common  was  the 
custom  of  making  presents  of  changes  of  raiment  (Gen.  45  : 22 ;  Judg. 
14 : 12 ;  2  Kings  5 : 22),  and  especially  that  at  the  festivities  connected 
with  the  worship  of  Baal  the  worshippers  were  regularly  provided  with 


PREPARATION  OF  FOOD  AND  MEALS.  417 

vestments.  2  Kings  10 : 22.  But  it  is  not  susceptible  of  direct  proof. 
This  only  is  certiiiii,  that  the  guest  knew  what  was  required  of  him,  and 
that  he  might  in  some  way  have  met  the  requirement. 

10.  Hospitality  is  everywhere  enjoined  in  the  Holy  Scrip 
tures  as  a  cardinal  virtue;  and  the  circumstances  of  men  in 
the  primitive  ages  made  it  especially  obligatory.  In  the  history 
of  Abraham,  who  "entertained  angels  unawares,"  we  have  a 
beautiful  illustration  of  hospitality  in  both  its  spirit  and  its 
form  (Gen.  18 : 1-8) ;  and  many  other  like  examples  occur  in  holy 
writ.  Gen.  19:1-11;  24:31-33;  Exod.  2:20;  Judg.  19:16, 
seq.;  Acts  16  : 15,  etc.  The  circumstances  of  the  Bedouin  Arabs 
make  the  same  virtue  equally  imperative,  and  the  sacredness 
of  its  obligation  is  everywhere  acknowledged  by  them,  at  least 
in  the  outward  form.  The  stranger  who  is  received  by  them 
as  a  guest  may  count  himself  safe,  though  as  a  simple  traveller 
he  might  be  liable  to  be  robbed  and  maltreated. 

Robinson  (Bib.  Res.,  vol.  1,  p.  81)  gives  an  amusing  example  of  the 
sternness  of  the  Arab  law  of  hospitality,  and  of  the  adroitness  with  which 
it  may  be  abused.  He  and  his  companion  had  bought  a  kid  of  some 
Arabs  whom  they  met  on  their  journey,  and  presented  it  to  their  Arab 
guides,  intending  thus  to  furnish  them  with  a  good  supper.  They  received 
it  joyfully  at  the  hand  of  the  travellers,  and  at  evening  "the  kid  was  killed 
and  dressed  with  great  dexterity  wnd  despatch ;  and  its  still  quivering 
members  were  laid  upon  the  fire  and  began  to  emit  savory  odors,  particu 
larly  gratifying  to  Arab  nostrils.  But  now  a  change  came  over  the  fair 
scene.  The  Arabs  of  whom  we  had  bought  the  kid,  had  in  some  way 
learned  that  we  were  to  encamp  near ;  and  naturally  enough  concluding 
that  the  kid  was  bought  in  order  to  be  eaten,  they  thought  good  to  honor 
our  Arabs  with  a  visit,  to  the  number  of  five  or  six  persons.  Now  the  stern 
law  of  Bedouin  hospitality  demands  that  whenever  a  guest  is  present  at 
a  meal,  whether  there  be  much  or  little,  the  first  and  best  portion  must  be 
laid  before  the  stranger.  In  this  instance  the  five  or  six  guests  attained 
their  object,  and  had  not  only  the  selling  of  the  kid,  but  also  the  eating  of 
it;  while  our  poor  Arabs,  whose  mouths  had  been  long  watering  with 
expectation,  were  forced  to  take  up  with  the  fragments.  Besharah,  who 
played  the  host,  fared  worst  of  all ;  and  came  afterwards  to  beg  for  a  bis 
cuit,  saying  he  had  lost  the  whole  of  his  dinner." 

In  those  parts  of  Syria  which  have  not  yet  been  corrupted 
by  the  frequency  of  Frank  travellers,  the  stranger  is  hospitably 

18* 


418  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

entertained  by  the  inhabitants  without  the  expectation  of  a 
reward.  In  every  village  there  is  a  public  room,  or  more  than 
one,  called  a  menzil  or  medafeli,  devoted  to  the  entertainment 
of  strangers.  The  guest  lodges  in  the  menzil,  and  his  food  is 
supplied  by  the  families  to  whose  circle  it  belongs.  He  gives 
nothing  when  he  leaves.  To  offer  money  would  be  taken  as  an 
insult;  and  to  receive  it  would  be  a  great  disgrace.  In  such 
places,  lying  off  the  ordinary  track  of  travellers,  one  sees  gen 
uine  samples  of  the  ancient  hospitality.  But  as  soon  as  he 
comes  upon  the  more  travelled  roads,  it  no  longer  exists ;  for  the 
Franks  have  taught  the  people  to  take  pay  for  everything.  See 
Bobinson,  Bib.  Res.,  vol.  1,  p.  445;  vol.  2,  pp.  18,  19,  71,  268. 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES.  419 


CHAPTEE   XIX. 

DOMESTIC  DELATIONS  AND    USAGES. 
I.   THE  FAMILY. 

1.  THE  abuse  of  polygamy  had  its  origin  partly  in  the  desire 
of  offspring,  but  oftener  in  man's  selfishness  and  sensuality. 
It  existed  before  the  flood  (Gen.  4 : 19),  and  we  find  it  agaiu 
prevalent  in  the  early  patriarchal  age.     To  say  that  God  sanc 
tioned  it  among  the  covenant  people  would  not  be  so  correct 
as  to  say  that  he  tolerated  it  for  the  time  being,  and  prescribed 
various  regulations  for  mitigating  the  evils  connected  with  it. 
Exod.  21 : 10,  11 ;  Deut.  21 : 15-17.     The  Israelitish  kings  were 
forbidden  to  multiply  wives  (Deut.  17:17),  after  the  example 
of  the  ancient  oriental  monarchs,  among  whom  the  splendor  of 
their  kingdom  was  measured,  to  a  great  extent,  by  that  of  their 
harem.     This  precept  was,  indeed,  sadly  disregarded  by  Solo 
mon  to  his  cost,  and  by  other  Jewish  kings.     1  Kings  11 : 1,  seq.; 
2  Chron.  11:18-23;  13:21.     But  it  is  admitted  that  the  ten 
dency  of  the  Mosaic  institutions  was  to  restore  the  primitive 
idea  of  the  marriage  relation,  that  of  the  union  of  one  man  with 
one  woman.     After  the  Babylonish  captivity  polygamy  appears 
to  have  been  less  prevalent  than  before,  though  it  was  still 
practised;  particularly  in  the  case  of  princes,  like  Herod  the 
Great,  who  had  nine  wives  at  the  same  time,  the  names  of  wrhom 
are  given  by  Joseplms.     Antiq.  17.  1.  3.     Under  the  gospel  the 
practice  was  abolished,  not  so  much  by  explicit  command,  as 
by  the  general  scope  and  spirit  of  our  Lord's  precepts  and  those 
of  his  apostles. 

2.  Ancient  oriental  usage  made  a  marked  distinction   be 
tween  wives  and  concubines.     When  a  man  had  two  or  more 
wives,  they  were  of  equal  rank,  like  Leah  and  Eachel  (Gen., 
ohap.  29),  the  wives  of  Esau  (Gen.  26:34;  28:6-9),  Elkanah's 


420  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

two  wives  (1  Sam.  1:2,  seq.),  and  apparently  Solomon's  "seven 
hundred  wives,  princesses"  (1  Kings  11:3);  or,  if  there  was  a 
difference,  it  was  that  of  simple  precedence,  not  of  legal  relation. 
But  a  concubine  was  a  wife  of  lower  rank  and  having  lower 
privileges.  We  must  be  careful  not  to  regard  her  in  the  light 
of  a  kept  mistress.  She  was  a  true  wife,  but  in  a  lower  condi 
tion.  Her  children,  also,  were  legitimate,  but  apparently  not 
entitled  to  inherit  with  the  children  of  the  proper  wife  without 
the  special  action  of  the  father.  The  concubine  was  generally 
a  maid-servant  bought  of  her  father  (Exod.  21 : 7-11)  or  coming 
into  the  family  as  the  servant  of  the  proper  wife  (Gen.  29 : 24,  29), 
and  remaining  in  the  servile  condition;  or  she  was  a  female 
captive  taken  in  Avar.  Deut.  21:10,  seq.  The  rights  of  both 
these  classes  of  inferior  wives  were  protected,  as  we  see  in  the 
passages  referred  to.  In  the  case  of  Hagar,  Sarai's  maid,  and 
of  the  maid-servants  of  Leah  and  Rachel,  it  was  by  the  sugges 
tion  of  the  wives  themselves,  that  they  entered  into  the  relation 
of  concubines,  and  the  motive  was  the  desire  of  offspring  that 
should  be  reckoned  as  theirs.  Gen.  16 : 1-3 ;  30 : 3,  4,  9. 

It  may  appear  strange  to  some  that  the  Mosaic  law  should  have  allowed 
the  practice  of  polygamy  and  concubinage,  with  all  the  evils  attendant 
upon  this  perversion  of  the  marriage  relation.  But  in  the  case  of  organic 
evils  that  are  inwrought  into  the  texture  of  society  it  has  ever  been  God's 
way  to  proceed  slowly  and  cautiously,  providing  only  they  do  not,  like 
polytheism  and  idolatry,  strike  at  the  very  substance  of  religion.  So  he 
dealt  with  the  abuses  of  slavery  and  divorce,  as  well  as  of  polygamy ; 
establishing  principles  and  institutions  which  would  prepare  the  way  for 
their  final  abolition.  His  holy  soul  had  no  delight  in  these  abuses ;  but 
since  his  infinite  wisdom  saw  fit  to  tolerate  them  for  the  time  being,  it 
was  a  matter  of  course  that  he  should  prescribe  rules  for  the  mitigation 
of  the  evils  connected  with  them.  The  existence  of  such  rules  ought  not 
to  be  adduced  as  a  proof  that  God  sanctions  the  practices  themselves  as 
normal  institutions  in  his  moral  government,  and  valid  for  all  time. 

3.  In  regard  to  the  choice  of  a  wife,  the  young  man  enjoyed 
a  degree  of  freedom  in  the  primitive  ages,  yet  by  no  means 
such  as  exists  among  us.  Esau  selected  his  wives  (Gen.  26 : 34, 
35;  28:6-9);  so  also  Samson,  through  the  intervention  of  his 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES.  421 

father.  Judg.,  cliap.  14;  compare  Gen.  34:4,  seq.  Men  of  rank 
and  influence  enjoyed,  of  course,  much  liberty  in  this  respect. 
But  the  purely  patriarchal  method  is  that  exhibited  in  Abra 
ham's  mission  of  his  servant  to  Mesopotamia  to  select  there  a 
wife  for  his  son  Isaac. .  Gen.,  chap.  24.  Whether  Isaac  was 
consulted  in  the  matter  we  are  not  informed ;  but  it  is  certain 
that  neither  the  father  nor  the  son  had  seen  the  bride.  It  was 
done  as  a  matter  of  rightful  paternal  authority.  In  the  same 
spirit  Isaac  directs  Jacob  as  to  the  choice  of  a  wife  (Gen.  28 : 1, 
2),  and  Judah  chooses  a  wife  for  Er  (Gen.  38 : 6).  *In  the  case 
of  Ishmael,  who  had  been  sent  away  with  his  mother  from  his 
father's  abode,  she  performed  for  him  the  same  office,  and  "took 
him  a  wife  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt."  Gen.  21:21.  When 
there  were  brothers,  they  naturally  had  a  voice  in  the  question 
of  the  espousal  of  their  sister.  Gen.  24 : 50 ;  34  :  8,  seq.  In 
respect  to  the  young  women,  it  cannot  be  said  that  they  had, 
as  a  rule,  any  choice  in  the  matter  of  their  marriage/  In  par 
ticular  cases,  as  that  of  Rebekah  (Gen.  24:57,  58),  their  wishes 
might  be  gratified  on  minor  points;  but  even  she  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  consulted  on  the  main  question.  It  was 
not  to  her,  but  to  Bethuel  her  father  and  Laban  her  brother, 
that  Abraham's  servant  addressed  himself,  and  they  answered : 
"  Behold  Rebekah  is  before  thee ;  take  her,  and  go,  and  let  her 
be  thy  master's  son's  wife,  as  the  Lord  hath  spoken  "  (ver.  51). 
This  was  fully  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  and  usage  of  anti 
quity.  Daughters  were  disposed  of  in  marriage  at  the  will  of 
their  fathers  and  brothers,  and  the  cases  where  they  acted  accord 
ing  to  their  own  free  inclination  were  exceptional.  It  is  the 
gospel  of  Christ  that  has  raised  woman  to  her  present  dignity 
in  this  respect,  and  established  the  law  that  her  wishes  shall 
be  regarded. 

In  respect  to  the  choice  of  concubines  the  young  men  appear 
to  have  enjoyed  a  large  degree  of  liberty,  selecting  very  much 
according  to  their  inclination;  for  here  were  no  questions  of 
family  alliance  to  embarrass  them.  But  the  women  themselves 
had  no  voice  in  the  matter. 


422  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

4.  The  espoused  or  betrothal  was   a  contract  between  the 
father  of  the  bridegroom,  or  his  representative,  and  the  father 
and  brothers  of  the  bride,  accompanied,  in  all  ordinary  cases, 
by  presents  to  the  bride  and  her  parents.     A  written  contract 
was  not  in  use  until  after  the  Babylonish  captivity.     From  the 
time  of  this  betrothal  the  parties  were  considered  as  husband 
and  wife,  and  infidelity  was  regarded  and  punished  as  adultery. 
In  a  legal  and  religious  point  of  view  no  further  ceremony  was 
necessary.     The  bride  might  be  at  once  taken  to  the  home  of 
the  bridegroom,  as  in  the  case  of  Rebekah.     Gen.  24:61-67. 
But  in  ordinary  circumstances  she  remained  for  a  considerable 
period  of  time  at  her  father's  house,  and  all  communication  be 
tween  her  and  the  bridegroom  took  place  through  the  medium 
of  a  friend,  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  "  the  friend  of  the  bride 
groom"  referred  to  by  our  Saviour  in  John  3 : 29. 

5.  In  respect  to  the  marriage-dowry  the  custom  varied  wide- 
ly  from  tlfat  which  prevails  among  us.     It  was  the  bridegroom, 
or  his  father  on  his  behalf,  that  gave  the  dowry  to  the  bride 
accompanied  with  presents  to  her  relatives.     Thus,  when  Abra 
ham's  servant  had  obtained  the  consent  of  Rebekah's  parents, 
he  at  once  "  brought  forth  jewels  of  gold,  and  raiment,  and  gave 
them  to  Rebekah :  he  gave  also  to  her  mother  and  her  brother 
precious  things."     Gen.  24:53.     So  Shechem,  when  he  asks  of 
Jacob  and  his  sons  Dinah  as  his  wife,  says :  "  Ask  me  never  so 
much  dowry  and  gift"  (Gen.  34:12) — the  dowry  for  the  bride, 
the  gift  for  her  friends.     The  marriage-dowry  and  gift  might 
take  the  form  of  service  rendered  to  the  bride's  father.     So  it 
was  in  the  case  of  Jacob  (Gen.,  chap.  29),  of  Joseph  (Gen.  41 : 45), 
of  Moses  fExod.  2:21;  3:1),  of  Othniel  (Judg.  1:12,  seq.),  and 
of  David.     When  Saul  proposed  to  David  that  he  should  be 
his  son-in-law,  the  answer  was:  "Seerneth  it  to  you  a  light 
thing  to  be  the  king's  son-in-law,  seeing  that  I  am  a  poor  man, 
'and  of  low  rank?"  and  Saul's  answer  was:  "The  king  desireth 
not  any  dowry,  but  a  hundred  foreskins  of  the  Philistines,  to  be 
avenged  on  the  king's  enemies."     1  Sam.  18 :  22-25.     The  only 
customary  dowry  (if  it  may  be  so  called)  which  fathers  gave 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES.  423 

with  their  daughters  consisted  of  maid-servants.  Gen.  24 :  61 ; 
29 : 24,  29.  There  were,  however,  special  cases  where  a  father 
gave  a  portion  with  his  danghter.  When  Caleb  gave  to  Othniel 
Achsah  his  daughter  with  "a  south  land"  he  added,  at  her 
suggestion,  "  the  upper  springs  and  the  nether  springs."  Judg. 
1 : 14,  15.  But  this  was  a  case  where  very  eminent  service  had 
been  already  rendered  by  the  bridegroom. 

When  female  captives  were  taken  as  concubines,  they  were 
regarded  simply  as  prizes  of  war.  When  maid-servants  bought 
with  money  became  concubines,  the  price  paid  for  them  took 
the  place  of  the  customary  marriage-gift  In  neither  case  did 
they  receive  a  dowry. 

6.  The  marriage  was  ordinarily  consummated  by  the  removal 
of  the  bride  from  her  father's  house  to  that  of  the  bridegroom 
or  his  father.  Tliis  ceremony  took  place  in  the  evening,  and 
was  followed  by  the  marriage-feast.  The  bridegroom  and  bride 
were  both  arrayed  in  festive  robes  redolent  with  sweet  odors. 
Psa.  45 : 8 ;  Cant.  4 : 10,  11.  He  wore  on  his  head  a  nuptial 
turban  (Heb.,  pe-er,  Isa.  61 : 10 ;  Cant.  3 : 11),  and  she  a  bridal 
chaplet,  adorning  herself  also  with  jewels.  Psa.  45 : 13,  14 ;  Isa. 
49:18;  61:10;  Kev.  19:8;  21:2.  The  bridegroom  went  forth 
in  the  evening  from  his  own  house  to  that  of  the  bride's  father, 
attended  by  a  company  of  young  men — "the  children  of  the 
bride-chamber  "  (Matt.  9 : 15),  and,  as  we  may  well  suppose,  by 
musicians  and  singers  also.  After  a  delay,  which  was  often 
protracted  till  midnight,  he  with  his  companions  conducted  the 
bride  and  her  maidens  to  his  own  house  with  many  demonstra 
tions  of  joy.  On  then*  way  they  were  joined  by  a  party  of 
maidens,  friends  of  the  bridegroom  and  bride,  who  fell  into 
the  procession  bearing  in  their  hands  lighted  lamps;  and  at 
the  house  a  sumptuous  feast  was  prepared.  Matt.  22:1-10; 
25 : 1-10 ;  Luke  14 : 8 ;  John  2 : 1-10 ;  Eev.  19 : 9.  In  patriarchal 
times  the  festivities  of  the  occasion  seem  to  have  lasted  seven 
days.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  on  the  occasion  of 
this  procession  the  bride  was  closely  veiled  from  view,  as  she 
also  was  when  conducted  to  the  bridal  chamber.  Gen.  29 : 25. 


424  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

The  above-named  festivities  were  not  essential  to  the  consummation  of 
the  marriage  relation,  and  might,  in  certain  exigencies,  be  omitted,  as  they 
always  were  in  the  case  of  concubines. 

7.  The  so-called  law  of  the  kvirate  (from  the  Latin  levir,  //  >/*- 
band's  brother)  was  founded  on  a  custom  not  established  by 
Moses,  but  existing  prior  to  his  time  (Gen.  38 : 8),  the  object  of 
which  was  to  perpetuate  the  name  of  a  brother  who  had  died 
without  leaving  issue.  The  provisions  of  this  law  are  thus  sta 
ted  (Deut.  25 : 5,  6) :  "  If  brethren  dwell  together,  and  one  of 
the^n  die,  and  have  no  child,  the  wife  of  the  dead  shall  not  many 
without  unto  a  stranger :  her  husband's  brother  shall  go  in  unto 
her,  and  take  her  to  him  to  wife,  and  perform  the  duty  of  a  hus 
band's  brother  unto  her.  And  it  shall  be  that  the  firstborn  which 
she  beareth  shall  succeed  in  the  name  of  his  brother  who  is  dead, 
that  his  name  be  not  put  out  of  Israel."  But  this  was  not  made 
absolutely  imperative.  If  he  refused,  his  brother's  wife  was  to 
"  loose  his  shoe  from  off  his  foot,  and  spit  in  his  face,"  in  the 
presence  of  the  elders  of  his  city,  and  his  name  was  to  be  called : 
The  house  of  the  man  of  unloosed  shoe.  Deut.  25  :  7-10.  "  The 
disgrace,"  says  Jahn  (Antiq.,  §157),  "which  would  be  the  conse 
quence  of  such  treatment  from  the  widow,  was  not  so  great,  but 
that  a  person  who  was  determined  not  to  marry  would  dare  to 
encounter  it."  We  may  add  that  this  ignominious  treatment  was 
not  made  imperative  on  the  part  of  the  widow,  but  was  simply 
permitted. 

By  plucking  the  shoe  from  the  foot  of  the  brothor-in-law,  the  widow 
symbolically  took  from  him  the  place  which  he  held  to  her  and  to  the 
house  of  the  deceased  brother.  ' '  The  above-named  signification  of  this 
symbolic  act  is  explained  from  the  custom  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Ruth 
(4:7),  according  to  which  the  plucking  off  and  delivering  to  another  of 
one's  shoe  was  an  ancient  usage  in  Israel  in  matters  of  redemption  and 
exchange  to  confirm  every  bargain.  Since  we  take  possession  of  landed 
estate,  and  assert  our  right  to  it  by  setting  our  feet  upon  the  soil  and  stand 
ing  thereon  in  our  shoes,  the  plucking  off  and  delivering  to  another  of  the 
shoe  was  the  symbol  of  the  renunciation  of  one's  place  on  the  estate  and 
his  possession  of  it."  ...  "In  the  case  before  us,  the  symbol  was  some 
what  modified.  The  brother-in-law  who  declined  the  marriage  did  not 
take  off  his  own  shoe  and  give  it  to  the  brother's  widow,  but  she  plucked 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES.  425 

it  off  from  him,  and  thus  divested  him  of  the  position  which  he  held  to 
her  and  the  deceased  brother,  or  to  the  ancestral  house."  Keil,  Bib. 
Archseol.,  $108. 

8.  For  the  degrees  of  consanguinity  within  which  marriage  was 
forbidden  by  the  Levitical  law,  the  biblical  student  is  referred  to 
the  eighteenth  and  twentieth  chapters  of  Leviticus. 

The  meaning  of  the  prohibition  (Lev.  18  : 18) :  "  Neither  shalt  thou  take 
a  wife  to  her  sister"  (marginal  rendering,  "  one  wife  to  another"),  "to  vex 
her,  to  uncover  her  nakedness,  besides  the  other  in  her  life-time,"  has  been 
a  matter  of  much  controversy.  We  give,  in  a  somewhat  abridged  form,  the 
judicious  note  on  this  passage  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.  (Article,  Marriage) : 
' '  It  has  been  urged  that  the  marginal  translation,  '  one  wife  to  another, '  is 
the  correct  one,  and  that  the  prohibition  is  really  directed  against  polyg 
amy.  The  following  considerations,  however,  support  the  rendering  of 
the  text :  (1.)  The  writer  would  hardly  use  the  terms  .rendered  'wife'  and 
1  sister '  in  a  different  sense  in  ver.  18  from  that  which  he  assigned  to  them 
in  the  previous  verses.  (2.)  The  usage  of  the  Hebrew  language,  and  indeed 
of  every  language,  requires  that  the  expression  '  one  to  another '  should  be 
preceded  by  a  plural  noun.  The  cases  in  which  the  expression  woman  to 
her  sister  [as  the  Hebrew  reads]  is  equivalent  to  '  one  to  another '  (Exod. 
26  : 3,  5,  6,  17  ;  Ezek.  1 :  9,  23  ;  3  : 13),  instead  of  favoring,  as  has  generally 
been  supposed,  the  marginal  translation,  exhibit  the  peculiarity  above 
noted.  [It  may  be  added  that  they  are  all  cases  of  the  figurative  application 
of  the  terms  to  inanimate  objects.]  (3.)  The  consent  of  the  ancient  ver 
sions  is  unanimous.  (4.)  The  Jews  themselves,  as  shown  in  the  Mishna, 
and  in  the  works  of  Philo,  permitted  the  marriage.  (5. )  Polygamy  was 
recognized  by  the  Mosaic  law,  and  cannot  consequently  be  forbidden  in 
this  passage." 

The  Israelites  were  further  prohibited  from  intermarrying 
with  the  Canaanites  on  the  special  ground  that  such  connec 
tions  would  lead  them  into  idolatry  (Exod.  34 : 16 ;  Deut.  7:3,4; 
Josh.  23  : 12,  13),  a  result  which  actually  followed  the  violation  of 
the  rule  (Judg.  3  :  6,  7 ;  1  Kings  11 :  2,  seq. ;  16  :  31). 

Besides  these  prohibitions  which  had  respect  to  the  whole 
body  of  the  Hebrew  nation,  special  restrictions  were  laid  upon 
the  high  priest :  "  He  shall  take  a  wife  in  her  virginity.  A  widow, 
or  a  divorced  woman,  or  a  profane  woman  [who  is]  a  harlot — 
these  shall  he  not  take :  but  he  shall  take  a  virgin  of  his  own 
people  to  wife."  Lev.  21 : 13,  14.  The  common  priests  were  for- 


426  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

bidden  to  marry  a  harlot  or  a  divorced  woman,  but  not  a  widow. 
Lev.  21 : 7. 

In  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  these  special  proliibitions,  which  re 
quired  of  the  priest  more  caution  in  respect  to  his  outward  relations  than 
was  enjoined  upon  the  people  at  large,  we  are  probably  to  understand  the 
precepts  of  the  apostle  in  respect  to  bishops  and  deacons  (1  Tim.  3:2; 
Titus  1 :  6)  not  of  contemporaneous  polygamy — having  two  wives  at  the 
same  time,  but  rather  of  successive  polygamy — the  marriage  of  a  second 
wife  after  the  decease  of  the  first.  A  disregard  of  the  prevailing  public 
sentiment,  which,  though  it  did  not  disallow,  yet  disparaged  second  mar 
riages,  would  have  been,  in  this  age,  a  hinderance  to  the  bishops  and  dea 
cons  in  their  official  work.  On  the  same  general  ground,  the  widow  who 
was  enrolled  on  the  church -list  (probably  for  special  Cervices,  and  not  mere 
ly  for  maintenance)  was  required  among  other  things  to  have  been  "the 
wife  of  one  man  "  (1  Tim.  5:9),  while  the  apostle's  counsel  to  the  younger 
widows  (ver.  14)  was  that  they  should  marry  again. 

9.  With  us  divorce  is  an  act  of  the  civil  judicature,  made  (at 
least  in  the  intention  of  the  law)  upon  application  and  due  proof 
on  the  part  of  the  injured  party.  But  among  the  Jews  the  hus 
band  put  away  his  wife  by  liis  own  act.  The  precept  of  the 
Mosaic  law,  literally  translated,  reads  as  follows :  "  When  a  man 
shah1  take  a  woman  and  marry  her,  then  it  shah1  be,  if  she  do  not 
find  favor  in  his  eyes  because  he  hath  found  in  her  the  naked 
ness  of  a  thing,  that  he  shall  write  for  her  a  bill  of  divorce,  and 
give  it  into  her  hand,  and  send  her  away  from  his  house."  The 
wife  thus  divorced  might  be  married  to  another  man,  but  she  must 
in  no  case  return  to  her  former  husband.  Deut.  24 : 1-4.  In 
regard  to  the  true  interpretation  of  the  words,  "  the  nakedness  of 
a  thing,"  there  were  among  the  Jews  two  schools  of  interpreters ; 
that  of  Shammai,  who  limited  it  to  immoral  conduct  in  the  wom- 
'  an,  and  that  of  Hillel,  who  understood  it  to  mean  anything  offen 
sive  to  the  husband.  This  latter  interpretation  is  given  by  Jose- 
phus :  "  If  a  man  wish  to  be  separated  from  the  wife  who  lives 
(with  him  for  whatever  reasons  (but  many  such  might  occur  to 
men),  let  him  affirm  in  writing  his  purpose  no  longer  to  cohabit 
with  her,"  etc.  Antiq.,  4.  8.  23.  Our  Saviour  undoubtedly  sanc 
tioned  the  principle  for  which  the  school  of  Shammai  contended : 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES.  427 

"  Whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  except  it  be  for  fornication, 
and  shall  marry  another,  committeth  adultery  "  (Matt.  19  : 9) ; 
and  this,  with  the  added  clause,  "  Whosoever  marrieth  her  that 
is  put  away  committeth  adultery,"  contains  the  general  rule  for 
the  Christian  church.  But  it  does  not  follow  that  he  sanctioned 
Shaminai's  interpretation  of  the  Mosaic  rule.  On  the  contrary,  his 
words,  "  Moses  because  of  the  hardness  of  your  hearts  suffered 
you  to  put  away  your  wives ;  but  from  the  beginning  it  was  not 
so,"  imply  that  the  Mosaic  rule  departed,  for  a  special  reason, 
from  the  original  idea  of  the  marriage  relation  in  allowing  the 
husband  at  his  discretion  to  put  away  his  wife.  Adultery,  more 
over,  was  punished  with  death  by  the  Mosaic  law ;  and  we  can 
not  suppose  that  it  would  embody  two  contradictory  rules,  the 
one  commanding  that  the  adulteress  should  be  put  to  death  (Lev. 
20  : 10 ;  Deut.  22  :  22),  the  other  allowing  the  husband  to  give  her 
a  bill  of  divorce.  No  reciprocal  right  of  divorce  was  allowed  to 
the  Hebrew  wife.  This  would  have  been  foreign  to  the  whole 
spirit  of  the  Mosaic  institutions.  In  noticing  Salome's  act  of 
divorcing  her  husband  Costobarus,  Josephus  expressly  states  that 
it  was  not  according  to  the  Jewish  laws,  but  in  conformity  with 
prevailing  usage — the  later  Eoman  usage.  Antiq.,  15.  7.  10. 

10.  In  the  view  of  the  Mosaic  law,  adultery  is  unlawful  inter 
course  with  a  married  or  betrothed  woman.  Where  polygamy 
prevails,  no  other  conception  of  this  crime  can  well  be  formed. 
The  prescribed  penalty  was  the  death  of  both  the  guilty  parties. 
Lev.  20  :  10 ;  Deut.  22  :  22-24.  From  some  notices  of  Scripture 
we  gather  that  the  manner  of  the  execution  was  stoning.  Ezek. 
16  :  38-40 ;  John  8:5.  In  the  case  of  a  betrothed  woman  guilty 
of  unfaithfulness,  usage  allowed  the  husband  (at  least  in  New 
Testament  times)  to  put  her  away  by  a  bill  of  divorce,  if  he  did 
not  wish  to  proceed  with  her  according  to  the  extreme  rigor  of 
the  law.  Matt.  1 : 19.  A  mitigation  of  the  death  penalty  was 
prescribed  when  the  adulteress  was  a  bondmaid  betrothed  to  a 
husband.  In  this  case  both  parties  were  to  be  scourged,  and 
the  man  was  to  present  a  trespass-offering  before  the  Lord. 
Lev.  19  : 20-22.  For  the  solemn  ordeal  prescribed  in  the  case  of 


428  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

a  woman  suspected  of  adultery,  the  reader  may  consult  the  fifth 
chapter  of  the  book  of  Numbers. 

11.  The  desire  of  offspring  was  strong  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Hebrew  wife,  and  barrenness  was  considered  as  a  reproach. 
Gen.  16 : 1,  seq. ;  25  : 21 ;  29  :  31,  seq. ;  30 : 1,  seq. ;  Euth  4 : 13-15 ; 
1  Sam.,  chap.  1 ;  Luke  1 : 13  ;  John  16  :  21.  The  birth  of  a  son 
was  a  joyous  occasion,  and  its  anniversary  was  celebrated  with 
festivities  (Jer.  20  : 15  ;  Job  1 : 4,  where  his  day  means  his  birth 
day).  The  rite  of  circumcision  took  place  on  the  eighth  day 
after  his  birth,  on  which  occasion  the  child  was  named.  Gen. 
17  : 12  ;  Lev.  12  :  3  ;  Luke  1 :  59  ;  2  :  21 ;  Phil.  3:5.  The  offer 
ing  for  the  purification  of  the  mother  took  place,  in  the  case  of  a 
son,  at  the  end  of  forty  days  from  the  time  of  the  birth ;  in  the 
case  of  a  daughter,  at  the  expiration  of  eighty  days.  Lev., 
chap.  12. 

Hebrew  names  were  always  significant.  In  some  cases  they  referred  to 
pi^esenl  or  past  character  or  circumstances.  Adam  called  his  wife's  name 
Eve  (Heb.,  Havva,  life)  "because  she  was  the  mother  of  all  living"  (Gen. 
3:20);  Eve  called  her  firstborn  son  Cain,  acquisition,  saying:  "I  have 
acquired  a  man  from  the  Lord"  (Gen.  4:1).  So  also  the  names  Isaac, 
laughter  (Gen.  18  : 12 ;  21  : 6),  Jacob,  supplanted',  and  Esau,  hairy  (Gen. 
25  : 25,  26 ;  27  : 36),  of  Jacob's  sons  (Gen.,  chaps.  30,  31);  of  Moses,  v/ter- 
saved  (Exod.  2  : 10) ;  and  of  many  others  that  might  be  mentioned.  In 
other  cases  they  were  clearly  prophetic.  Examples  are  David,  beloved; 
Solomon,  pacific;  and  especially  Jesus,  salvation  (Matt.  1 : 21).  So  also 
Abel,  vanity,  unless,  as  some  think,  this  appellation  was  applied  to  him 
afterwards  in  allusion  to  his  untimely  end.  Among  some  of  the  orientals 
it  was  the  custom,  when  a  man  was  elevated  to  a  post  of  dignity,  to  confer 
upon  him  a  new  name.  So  Pharaoh  called  Joseph's  name  Zaphnath-paa- 
neaJi  (Septuagint,  Psonthomphanech) ,  which  is  generally  understood  to 
mean  savior  of  the  age.  For  other  examples  see  2  Kings  24 : 17 ;  Dan. 
1:6,  7.  In  like  manner  God  himself  changed  the  name  of  Abram,  father 
of  height,  to  that  of  Abraham,  father  of  a  multitude;  and  the  name  of  Sarai 
(of  uncertain  meaning)  to  that  of  Sarah,  princess;  and  gave  to  Jacob  the 
more  honorable  title  Israel,  prince  with  God,  or  contender  icith  God  (Gen. 
32  :  28).  Isaiah,  by  divine  direction,  confers  upon  his  children  names  pro 
phetic  of  the  future  destiny  of  the  covenant  people  or  their  enemies — 
Shear-jashifb,  the  remnant  shall  return;  Mahar-shalal-hash-baz,  hasten-booly, 
hurry-prey  (Isa.  7  :  3  ;  8  : 1,  3);  BO  also  Hosea  (chap.  1).  Isaiah,  moreover, 
bestows  upon  Zion  and  her  sons  a  multitude  of  new  names,  all  expressive 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES.  429 

of  her  prcciousness  in  God's  sight,  and  the  high  honor  that  awaits  her. 
She  is  called  TJie  city  of  the  Lord,  TJie  repairer  of  the  breach,  The  restorer  of 
paths  to  dwell  in,  Hephzi-bah,  My  delight  is  in  her,  Sought  out,  A  city  not  for 
saken;  her  land  is  named  Beulah,  married  p  her  walls  Salvation,  her  gates 
Praise;  and  her  children  are  called,  Trees  of  righteousness,  Priests  of  the 
Lord,  Ministers  of  God,  the  Holy  people,  the  Redeemed  of  the  Lord  (Isa.,  chaps. 
60-62).  See  also  the  epithets  bestowed  upon  the  Messiah.  Chaps.  7  : 14 ; 
8  : 10 ;  9  :  6. 

12.  The  poiver  of  the  father  over  his  children  in  ancient  times 
was  well  nigh  absolute.  It  included  the  right  of  disinheriting  his 
children,  and  even  of  putting  them  to  death.  Gen.  38  :  24.  By 
the  Mosaic  law,  however,  it  was  limited  in  several  respects. 

(1.)  The  father  could  not  put  his  son  to  death .  by  his  own 
arbitrary  act.  It  must  be  done  by  due  process  of  law  before  the 
elders  of  his  city,  it  being  understood  that  they  judged  respecting 
the  validity  of  the  charges  on  the  ground  of  which  the  condem 
nation  of  the  son  was  demanded.  If  it  could  be  shown  that  he 
was  stubborn  and  rebellious,  a  glutton  and  a  drunkard ;  or  that 
he  had  beaten  or  cursed  his  father  or  mother,  the  elders  w€re 
bound  to  give  sentence  against  him,  and  see  it  executed  by  the 
customary  process  of  stoning.  Exod.  21 : 15,  17 ;  Lev.  20  : 9 ; 
Deut,  21:18-21. 

The  honor  of  father  and  mother  required  by  the  law  did  not  lie  in 
words  alone.  It  was  to  be  manifested  by  deeds  of  love.  Matt.  15  : 4-6  ; 
Mark  7  : 10-13.  The  father's  blessing,  on  the  other  hand,  was  highly  val 
ued,  and  in  the  case  of  the  ancient  patriarchs  both  this  and  his  curse  had 
a  prophetic  efficacy.  Gen.  9  :  20-27  ;  chaps.  27,  49. 

(2.)  The  father  was  bound  to  recognize  the  right  of  the  first 
born  by  giving  him  a  double  portion  of  the  estate,  without  allow 
ing  himself  to  be  governed  by  his  .private  inclinations.  Deut. 
21 : 15-17.  Before  the  time  of  Moses  we  have  examples  of  the 
transfer  of  the  right  of  primogeniture  to  a  younger  son,  partly 
in  connection  with  the  misconduct  of  the  first-born,  and  partly 
by  the  sovereign  appointment  of  God.  Gen.  25  :  31-34 ;  chap. 
27;  48  : 14,  18-20;  49  :  3,  4,  compared  with  ver.  8. 

Besides  the  right  already  mentioned  of  receiving  a  double  portion  of 
the  father's  estate,  the  firstborn  son  enjoyed  other  prerogatives.  He  was 


430  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

naturally,  next  after  his  father,  the  head  of  the  family,  and  had  authority 
over  the  household.  It  was  announced  to  Bebekah  by  the  spirit  of  proph 
ecy,  as  an  inversion  of  the  ordinary  rule,  that  the  elder  should  serve  the 
younger.  Gen.  25  :  23.  When  Isaac  unwittingly  transferred  to  Jacob  the 
birthright,  it  was  with  the  declaration  :  "Be  lord  over  thy  brethren,  and 
let  thy  mother's  sons  bow  down  to  thee  "  (Gen.  27  :  29) ;  and  when  after 
wards  Jacob  gave  the  same  privilege  to  Judah,  he  added:  "Thy  father's 
children  shall  bow  down  before  thee  "  (Gen.  49  :  8).  In  the  same  way  the 
firstborn  son  of  a  monarch  was,  as  a  rule,  the  heir  to  his  father's  kingdom, 
though  in  special  cases,  like  that  of  Solomon,  it  was  given  to  a  younger 
brother.  1  Kings,  chap.  1. 

There  is  good  ground  for  believing  that,  before  the  Mosaic  law,  the 
functions  of  the  priesthood  belonged  to  the  firstborn  son,  as  the  head  of  the 
household.  This  much,  at  least,  is  certain,  that  when  the  Levites  were 
taken  "instead  of  all  the  firstborn  among  the  children  of  Israel"  (Numb. 
3  : 41),  the  priestly  office,  with  all  the  service  of  the  sanctuary  pertaining  to 
it,  was  transferred  to  them. 

We  see,  from  the  above  facts,  how  naturally  the  term  firstborn  came  into 
use  to  denote  dignity  and  privilege.  God  calls  Israel  his  son,  even  his  first 
born  (Exod.  4  :  22)  ;.and  promises  to  make  the  Messiah  his  firstborn,  higher 
tli^i  tickings  of  the  earth  (Psa.  89  ;  27).  Believers  are  called  "  the  church 
of  the  firstborn  "  (that  is,  consisting  of  the  firstborn)  "  enrolled  in  heaven  " 
(Heb.  12  : 23),  because  they  are  all  raised  to  the  dignity  of  kings  and 
priests  (Bey.  1:6).  Christ  is  "  the  firstborn  among  many  brethren  "  (Bom. 
8  :  29),  as  having  preeminence  among  his  redeemed  ;  and  "  the  firstborn  of 
the  whole  creation  "  (Col.  1 : 15),  because  he  is  its  author  and  head. 

II.     MASTEBS  AND  SERVANTS. 

13.  In  the  Hebrew  commonwealth,  as  in  the  ancient  nations 
generally,  the  distinction  between  employers  and  hired  servants  on 
the  one  hand,  and  masters  and  bond-servants  on  the  other,  was 
definite  and  well  understood.  The  hired  servant  entered,  of  his 
own  choice,  into  a  contract  with  his  employer  for  a  stipulated 
amount  of  wages ;  and  when  the  service  was  performed  and  the 
wages  were  received,  the  special  relation  between  the  two  ceased. 
But  the  master  had  a  permanent  claim  to  the  services  of  the 
bond-servant  without  wages,  except  so  far  as  the  maintenance 
and  protection  received  by  the  latter  might  be  regarded  in  the 
light  of  wages.  In  the  view  of  the  Mosaic  law,  however,  the 
servant  was  not  a  "personal  chattel"  divested  of  the  rights  of 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND   USAGES.  431 

humanity.  In  a  certain  sense  his  condition  was  that  of  slavery, 
since  he  might  be  transferred  by  sale  from  one  master  to  an 
other,  and  owed  service  without  compensation.  But  it  was  sla 
very  only  in  a  very  mitigated  sense  of  the  word.  The  absolute 
surrender  of  servants  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  the  master,  his 
right  to  chastise  them  without  limit,  and  even  to  kill  them  with 
impunity — all  these  were  set  aside  by  the  Mosaic  code  in  the 
case  of  foreign  as  well  as  Hebrew  servants.  This  code  recog 
nized  their  rights  as  men.  If,  for  example,  the  master  smote  out 
the  eye  or  the  tooth  of  his  servant,  he  was  to  let  him  go  free  for 
his  eye's  or  his  tooth's  sake.  Exod.  21 : 26,  27.  If  the  master 
smote  his  servant  or  maid  with  a  rod,  so  that  he  died  under  his 
hand,  he  was  to  be  punished;  "but,"  adds  the  statute,  "if  he 
continue  a  day  or  two,  he  shall  not  be  punished ;  for  he  is  his 
money."  Exod.  21 : 20,  21.  The  master  had  such  a  moneyed 
interest  in  the  continued  life  of  his  servant,  that  it  was  to  be  pre 
sumed,  in  this  case,  that  he  did  not  mean  to  kill  him.  The 
reader  will  notice  that  the  instrument  of  correction  is  "  the  rod." 
If  a  man  inflicted  a  mortal  wound  upon  his  servant  with  a  deadly 
instrument,  he  was  undoubtedly  dealt  with  as  a  murderer. 

Then  as  to  religious  privileges,  all  that  the  free  Israelite  en 
joyed  were  guaranteed  to  his  servants — the  rest  of  the  Sabbath 
(Exod.  20  : 10 ;  Deut.  5  : 14) ;  attendance  on  the  national  festi 
vals  (Deut.  16  : 1-17  compared  with  chap.  12 : 17,  18) ;  and  the 
pnblic  reading  of  the  law  (Deut.  31 : 10-13). 

In  respect  to  the  rite  of  circumcision,  Saalschiitz  maintains  (Mosaic  Law, 
chap.  101,  \  7,  note)  that  the  circumcision  of  servants  of  adult  age  bought 
•with  money  was  optional  on  their  part  ;  that  is,  that  they  were  permitted, 
if  they  desired  it,  to  become  fully  incorporated  with  the  household  by  cir 
cumcision,  and  thus  to  obtain  naturalization,  at  least  so  far  as  was  compat 
ible  with  their  relations.  But  Mielziner  (Slavery  among  the  Ancient  He 
brews,  in  the  Am.  Theol.  Review,  April  and  July,  1861)  maintains  with 
much  reason  the  common  view,  that  the  circumcision  of  such  servants  was 
obligatory  on  the  part  of  their  Hebrew  masters.  The  precept  (Exod. 
12:44)  may  be  thus  fairly  rendered :  "And  as  to  every  servant — a  man 
bought  with  money,  thou  shalt  circumcise  him  ;  then  shall  he  eat  thereof. " 
So  the  translators  and  interpreters  generally.  But  in  respect  to  the  later 


432  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

RdlMnic  usage,  it  is  agreed  that  coercion  of  conscience  was  not  used  with 
a  Gentile  servant  of  adult  age.     See  further  in  Bib.  Sacra  for  1862,  pp. 


14.  The  body  of  servants  consisted  of  the  following  classes  : 
First,  captives  taken  in  war.     Deut.  20  :  13,  14  ;  21  :  10-14, 

where  the  female  captive  taken  as  a  wife  is  already  in  the  con 
dition  of  servitude.  This  was  in  accordance  with  the  general 
usage  of  antiquity. 

Secondly,  debtors  or  their  children.  Exod.  21  :  7  ;  Lev.  25  :  39  ; 
2  Kings  4:1;  Neh.  5  :  4,  5  ;  Isa.  50  :  1.  This  also  was  the  com 
mon  law  among  the  ancients.  Matt.  18  :  25. 

Thirdly,  persons  sold  for  tJieft.     Exod.  22  :  3. 

Fourthly,  the  children  of  servants.  Gen.  14:14;  17:23; 
21  :  10. 

Man-stealing  was  punished  by  the  law  of  Moses  with  death. 
Exod.  21:16;  Deut.  24  :  7.  But  the  Israelites  might  purchase 
Hebrew  servants,  and  also  servants  of  foreigners.  Exod.  21  :  2, 
seq.  ;  Lev.  25  :  39,  seq. 

15.  In  respect  to  the  limitation  of  the  time  of  servitude,  the 
Mosaic  law  contains  tivo  classes  of  passages,  the  reconciliation  of 
which  is  a  matter  of  some  difficulty.    In  Exod.  21  :  2-6  the  direc 
tion  is  :  "If  thou  buy  a  Hebrew  servant,  six  years  shall  he  serve 
thee  ;  and  in  the  seventh  he  shall  go  out  free  for  nothing.    If  he 
came  in  by  himself,  he  shall  go  out  by  himself  ;  if  he  were  mar 
ried,  then  his  wife  shall  go  out  with  him.     If  his  master  have 
given  him  a  wife,  and  she  hath  borne  him  sons  or  daughters; 
the  wife  and  her  children  shall  be  her  master's,  and  he  shall  go 
out  by  himself."     If  he  do  not  choose  to  part  with  his  family, 
then  by  submitting  to  the  ceremony  of  having  his  ear  bored 
through  with  an  awl,  he  becomes  his  master's  servant  for  ever. 
In  Deut.  15  :  12-18  we  have  substantially  the  same  precept,  with 
the  addition:  "And  also  unto  thy  maid-servant  thou  shalt  do 
.likewise."     These  passages  belong  to  fhefrst  class. 

The  law  respecting  a  maid-servant  sold  by  her  father  (Exod.  21  :  7-11), 
does  not  come  into  account  here  ;  for  it  is  a  case  where  the  purchaser  is 
expected  to  take  her  as  his  wife,  or  at  least  betroth  her  to  his  son.  He 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND   USAGES.  433 

must  oitlier(l)  take  her  to  be  his  wife  ;  (2)  give  her  as  a  wife  to  his  son  (her 
rights  being  in  either  case  protected  if  a  second  wife  is  taken) ;  or  (3)  let 
her  go  out  free  without  money. 

The  second  class  of  passages  is  'found  in  Lev.  25  :  39-43,  and 
ver.  47-55 ;  where  the  Hebrew  servant  goes  out,  not  at  the  expi 
ration  of  six  years,  but  in  the  year  of  jubilee. 

If,  now,  we  assume,  as  is  commonly  done,  that  both  classes 
of  passages  refer  to  the  same  persons,  we  may  adopt  the  expla 
nation  given  long  ago  by  Michaelis,  wliich  is  th6  following :  "  Or 
dinarily  the  man  became  free  after  six  years  of  service,  that  is, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  year ;  but  if  he  had  been  sold 
into  servitude  a  few  years  before  the  year  of  jubilee,  he  was  not 
to  wait  for  the  seventh  year;  but  he  regained  his  freedom  in  the 
year  of  jubilee."  Commentary  on  the  Laws  of  Moses,  §127. 
But  Saalschiitz.  maintains  that  the  two  classes  of  passages  refer 
to  different  classes  of  servants.  He  would  refer  the  second  class 
of  passages,  Lev.  25 : 39^3,  and  ver.  47-55,  to  impoverished 
Israelites,  wiiose  hereditary  possessions  were  to  revert  to  them 
at  the  year  of  jubilee;  but  the  first  class,  Exod.  21 : 2-6,  Deut. 
15  : 12-18,  to  a  peculiar  class  of  servants,  constituting  a  sort  of 
middle  class  between  impoverished  Israelites  and  Gentile  slaves 
purchased  of  the  heathen: — a  class  made  up,  in  his  viewr,  of  per 
sons  born  in  the  house  of  an  Israelite  from  the  marriage  of  ser 
vants,  and  also  of  servants  bought  with  money  who  had  become 
incorporated  with  the  family  by  circumcision,  and  thus  attained 
to  a  kind  of  naturalization.  According  to  this  view  the  servant 
had,  upon  every  change  of  masters,  the  privilege  of  freedom  after 
six  years  of  service.  See  the  two  views  fully  presented  by  Miel- 
ziner  (Am.  Theol.  Review  for  April,  1861),  and  Saalschtitz  (Bib. 
Sacra  for  January,  1862). 

There  has  been  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  words  : 
"  He  shah1  serve  him  for  ever  "  (Exod.  21 :  6  ;  Deut.  15  : 17),  spoken  of  the 
servant  whose  ear  had  been  bored  with  an  awl.  The  common  Jewish  opin 
ion  is  that  the  period  designated  extended  only  to  the  year  of  jubilee.  But 
some  maintain  that  the  servant,  by  submitting  himself  to  this  rite,  re 
nounced  absolutely  all  claim  to  liberty  at  any  future  time. 

It  is  maintained,  again,  by  many  that  the  words  of  Moses  in  reference 

Over,-.  A  Autiq.  19 


434  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

to  the  year  of  jubilee,  ' { And  ye  shall  hallow  the  fiftieth  year,  and  proclaim 
liberty  throughout  all  the  land  to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof  "  (Lev.  25  : 10), 
apply,  by  fair  interpretation,  to  servants  of  foreign  origin  also,  as  being  a 
part  of  "  the  inhabitants  of  the  land."  But  others  argue  with  much  force 
from  the  context  that  the  provisions  of  this  verse  refer,  like  all  the  rest 
contained  in  the  chapter,  to  impoverished  Israelites  returning  to  their 
hereditary  possessions.  Such  has  ever  been  the  view  of  Jewish  commen 
tators.  While  they  have  held  that  Hebrew  servants,  whose  ears  had  been 
bored,  were  released  at  the  year  of  jubilee,  they  have  not  extruded  this 
rule  to  Gentile  servants. 

16.  Servitude  among  tJie  Gentile  nations,  the  Greeks  and  Bo- 
mans  included,  differed  widely  from  Hebrew  servitude.     It  was 
slavery  in  the  full  sens  3  of  the  term ;  and  it  was  a  merciful  pro 
vision  of  the  laAV  of  Moses  that  fugitive  slaves  fleeing  to  the 
Hebrews  should  not  be  forcibly  returned  to  their  former  mas 
ters.     Deut.  23  : 15,  16. 

III.     FOKMS  OF  SOCIAL  INTERCOURSE. 

17.  The  lively  temperament  of  the  orientals  manifests  itself 
in  their  forms  of  salutation,  which  among  us  would  carry  an  air  of 
extravagance,  "when  in  truth,"  as  Jahn  remarks,  "those  ges 
tures  and  expressions  mean  no  more  than  very  moderate  ones 
among  us."     Examples  of  the  etiquette  of  primitive  times  occur 
in  the  history  of  the  patriarchs.     Before  the  three  strangers  who 
presented  themselves  at  his  tent-door  Abraham  "  bowed  himself 
towards  the  ground."     Gen.  18  :  2.     So  also,  in  negotiating  with 
the  children  of  Heth  for  a  burying-place,  he  twice  "  bowed  down 
himself  before  the  people  of  the  land."     Geii.  23  :  7,  12.     When 
Laban  heard  of  Jacob's  arrival,  "  he  ran  to  meet  him,  and  em 
braced  him,  and  kissed  him  "  (Gen.  29 : 13) ;  and  afterwards  Jacob 
"  bowed  himself  to  the  ground  seven  times,  until  he  came  near 
to  his  brother,"  whom  he  met  not  as  an  equal,  but  as  a  chieftain 
at  the  head  of  an  armed  band,  upon  whose  favor  his  life  and  all 
his  possessions  depended.     Then  Esau  "ran  to  meet  him,  and 
embraced  him,  and  fell  on  his  neck,  and  kissed  him ;  and  they 
wept."    "Then  the  handmaidens  came  near,  they  and  their  chil 
dren,  and  they  bowed  themselves.    And  Leah  also  with  her  chil- 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES.  435 

dren  came  near,  and  they  bowed  themselves:  and  after  came 
Joseph  near  and  Rachel,  and  they  bowed  themselves."  Gen. 
33  : 1-7.  In  this  narrative  we  have  a  true  picture  of  an  oriental 
meeting  of  the  more  formal  kind.  Another  example  is  that  of 
Jacob's  sons,  who,  upon  their  presentation  to  Joseph,  "  bowed 
down  themselves  before  him  with  their  faces  to  the  earth."  Gen. 
42  :  6 ;  43  : 28.  Prostration  of  the  body  before  a  man  of  rank 
continued,  to  be  the  usual  token  of  respect,  as  it  is  at  the  present 
day  in  eastern  lands.  1  Sam.  20:41;  24:8;  25:41;  2  Sam, 
1:2;  9:6;  14  : 4,  22 ;  etc.  They  who  came  to  our  Saviour  with 
petitions  for  themselves  or  their  friends  often  fell  down  at  his 
feet  and  did  him  reverence.  Though  it  was  not  necessarily  as  a 
divine  being  that  they  thus  honored  him,  it  was  certainly  as  a 
messenger  of  God  invested  with  superhuman  dignity. 

Various  forms  of 'greeting  are  given  in  the  Old  Testament, 
such  as:  "The  Lord  be  with  you;"  "the  Lord  bless  you;"  "-the 
blessing  of  Jehovah  be  upon  thee  "  (Ruth  2:4;  Psa.  129 :  8) ;  but 
the  current  form,  still  retained  in  the  East,  was :  "  Peace  be  unto 
thee ;"  or  more  formally  and  fully :  "  Unto  thee  be  peace,  and 
unto  thy  house  be  peace,  and  unto  all  that  thou  hast  be  peace" 
(1  Sam.  25 : 6) ;  "  Peace,  peace  be  unto  thee,  and  peace  be  to 
thine  helpers"  (1  Chron.  12:18).  So  also  it  was  customary  to 
take  leave  with  wishes  of  peace.  Exod.  4 : 18 ;  1  Sam.  1 : 17 ; 
20  :  42 ;  Mark  5  :  34 ;  etc.  It  is  in  allusion  to  both  the  salutation 
and  the  parting  that  our  Saviour  says :  "  Peace  I  leave  with  you, 
my  peace  I  give  unto  you :  not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto 
you."  John  14 : 27.  The  peace  which  the  world  gives  is  too 
often  an  empty  form,  and  when  sincere,  not  efficacious.  But 
when  the  blessed  Saviour  says :  "  Peace  be  unto  you ;"  "  Go  in 
peace,"  there  is  both  a  divine  fulness  of  meaning  in  his  words, 
and  a  divine  efficacy  accompanying  them. 

To  the  above-named  inflections  and  salutations  the  modern  orientals 
add  various  other  gestures  and "  actions.  ' '  In  pronouncing  the  form  of 
salutation  just  given,  the  orientals  place  the  right  hand  upon  the  left 
breast,  and  with  much  gravity  incline  the  head.  'If  two  Arab  friends  of 
equal  rank  in  life  meet  together,  they  mutually  extend  to  each  other  the 


436  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

right  Land,  and  having  clasped,  they  elevate  them,  as  if  to  kiss  them. 
Having  advanced  thus  far  in  the  ceremony,  each  one  draws  back  his  hand, 
and  kisses  it  instead  of  his  friend's,  and  then  places  it  upon  his  forehead. 
If  one  of  the  Arabs  be  more  exalted  in  point  of  rank  than  the  other,  he  is 
to  give  the  other  an  opportunity  of  kissing,  instead  of  his  own,  the  hand 
oJ  his  superior.  The  parties  then  continue  the  salutation  by  reciprocally 
kits,  ing  each  other's  beards,  having  first  placed  the  hand  under  it,  in  which 
case  alone  it  is  lawful  to  touch  the  beard.  2  Sam.  20  : 9.  It  is  sometimes 
the  c:ise  that  persons,  instead  of  this  ceremony,  merely  place  their  cheeks 
together.  It  is  the  common  practice  among  the  Persians  for"  persons  in 
saluting  to  kiss  each  other's  lips ;  if  one  of  the  individuals  be  a  person  of 
high  rank,  the  salutation  is  given  upon  the  cheeks  instead  of  the  lips. " 
Jahii,  Archaeol.,  $175.  These  modern  oriental  modes  of  salutation  un 
doubtedly  represent,  for  substance,  the  usage  of  ancient  scriptural  times. 

To  the  salutations  succeeds  an  elaborate  series  of  mutual  inquiries  and 
expressions  of  joy,  which  are  not  only,  for  the  most  part,  heartless,  but 
consume  much  time,  often  followed  by  protracted  trivial  conversation. 
Hence  we  may  illustrate  Elisha's  direction  to  Gehazi,  when  he  sent  him  in 
haste  to  Mount  Carmel :  "If  thou  meet  any  man,  salute  him  not;  and  if 
any  salute  thee,  answer  him  not  again"  (2  Kings  4:29),  and  the  similar 
command  of  our  Lord  when  he  sent  out  the  seventy  disciples  :  ' '  Salute  no 
man  by  the  way  "  (Luke  10  : 4).  See  Thomson,  The  Land  and  the  Book, 
vol.  1,  p.  534 ;  Lane,  Modern  Egyptians,  vol.  1,  pp.  253,  254. 

"  In  the  presence  of  the  great  and  the  noble,  the  orientals  incline  them 
selves  almost  to  the  earth,  kiss  their  knees  or  the  hem  of  their  garment,  and 
place  it  upon  their  forehead.  When  in  the  presence  of  kings  and  princes 
more  particularly,  they  go  so  far  as  to  prostrate  themselves  at  full  length 
upon  the  ground ;  sometimes  with  their  knees  bent,  they  touch  their  fore 
head  to  the  earth,  and  before  resuming  an  erect  position  either  kiss  the 
earth,  or,  if  they  prefer  it,  the  feet  of  the  king  or  prince  in  whose  presence 
they  are  permitted  to  appear."  Jahn,  Archrcol.,  $175  ;  Herodotus,  1.  134. 
The  Romans  were  not  accustomed  to  render  such  servile  honor  to  their 
rulers.  When  Cornelius  fell  down  at  Peter's  feet  and  did  him  reverence, 
he  regarded  him  as  a  messenger  of  God  invested  with  superhuman  dig 
nity.  But  the  apostle  promptly  lifted  him  up,  with  the  words:  "Stand 
up  ;  I  myself  also  am  a  man."  Acts  10  :  25,  26. 

18.  On  occasions  of  great  national  joy  dancing,  always  with 
the  accompaniment  of  music,  took  jfche  character  among  the 
Hebrews,  of  a  religions  act.  This  was  in  accordance  with  the 
general  usage  of  antiquity.  See  in  Smith's  Diet,  of  Greek  and 
Roman  Antiquities,  Art.,  Chorus.  So,  upon  the  occasion  of  the 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES.  437 

deliverance  of  the  Israelites  at  the  Ked  sea,  "Miriam  the  proph 
etess,  the  sister  of  Aaron,  took  a  timbrel  in  her  hand ;  and  all 
the  women  went  out  after  her  with  timbrels  and  with  dances ;" 
and  under  her  guidance  they  sung,  with  music  and  dancing,  the 
divine  song  composed  by  Moses  on  that  occasion.  Exod.  15  : 20, 
21.  In  like  manner,  when  Saul  was  returning  with  David  from 
the  slaughter  of  the  Philistines,  "  the  women  came  out  of  all  cit 
ies,  singing  and  dancing,  to  meet  king  Saul,  with  tabrets,  with 
joy,  and  with  instruments  of  music.  And  the  women  answered 
one  another,  as  they  played,  and  said,  Saul  hath  slain  his  thou 
sands,  and  David  his  ten  thousands."  1  Sam.  18  :  6,  7.  See  also 
Judg.  11 :  34 ;  21 :  21.  When  the  ark  was  removed  to  Jerusalem, 
"  David  danced  before  the  Lord  with  ah1  his  might,  girded  with 
a  linen  ephod ;"  and  when  Michal  reproached  him  for  the  act, 
which  was  certainly  unusual  in  the  case  of  a  monarch,  he  vindi 
cated  himself  with  the  answer:  "It  was  before  the  Lord." 
2  Sam.  6  : 14,  seq. 

But  the  Hebrews  delighted  in  social  dancing  also.  Jer. 
31 : 4,  13.  In  accordance  with  the  general  spirit  and  usage  of 
the  East  (see  below),  in  all  modest  dances  the  sexes  performed 
separately.  In  idolatrous  festivals,  as  at  the  worship  of  the 
golden  calf  (Exod.,  chap.  32),  men  and  women  may  perhaps  have 
danced  together  promiscuously  in  imitation  of  like  heathen  orgies, 
but  certainly  not  in  any  dances  of  the  true  Hebrew  character. 

19.  The  Mosaic  law  recognized  the  essential  equality  of  the 
sexes,  describing  them  both  as  man,  made  in  God's  image,  male 
and  female.  Gen.  1 : 26,  27.  The  subordination  of  the  woman 
to  the  man  is  one  of  office,  rather  than  of  nature.  •  Gen*  2 : 18,  23. 
The  ancient  Hebrew  women  enjoyed  a  large  degree  of  liberty, 
though  they  had  neither  that  unrestrained  freedom,  nor  that  high 
position  assigned  to  them  hi  modem  Christian  nations.  In  orient 
al  countries  the  social  intercourse  between  the  sexes  has  always 
been  marked  by  a  degree  of  reserve  unknown  among  the  Chris 
tians  of  the  West ;  Paganism  and  Mohammedanism  are  alike  in 
consigning  them  to  their  present  condition  of  degradation  and 
seclusion. 


438  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

"Oriental  women,"  says  Thomson  (vol.  1,  p.  187),  "are  never  regarded 
or  treated  as  equals  by  the  men."  Of  this  fact  he  gives  (ibid.,  and  pp.  175, 
176)  various  illustrations:  they  never  eat  with  the  men,  but  the  husband 
and  brothers  are  first  served,  and  the  wife,  mother,  and  sisters  wait  and 
take  what  is  left ;  in  a  walk  the  women  never  go  arm  in  arm  with  the  men, 
but  follow  at  a  respectful  distance ;  the  woman  is,  as  a  rule,  kept  closely 
confined,  and  watched  with  jealousy ;  when  she  goes  out  she  is  closely 
veiled  from  head  to  foot.  Moslem  women  never  join  in  the  prayers  at  the 
mosques ;  and  in  churches  the  Christian  women  are  accommodated  with 
a  part  railed  off,  and  latticed  to  shield  them  from  public  gaze ;  the  guest, 
as  he  enters  a  home,  finds  no  ladies  to  entertain  him,  and  he  never  sees 
them  in  evening  gatherings.  All  this,  and  much  more  of  the  same  kind 
that  might  be  named,  is,  as  Thomson  remarks,  "a  necessary  compensation 
for  true  modesty  in  both  sexes,"  and  nothing  but  a  pure  and  enlightened 
Christianity  can  remove  the  evil. 

Such  being  the  degradation  of  woman,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
birth  of  a  son  should  be  hailed  as  a  joyful  event,  while  that  of  a  daughter 
is  often  looked  upon  as  a  calamity ;  and  cases  occur  where  the  brutal  hus 
band  divorces  his  wife  for  no  other  reason.  "  This  accounts,"  says  Thom 
son,  ' '  for  the  intense  desire  which  many  of  these  poor  creatures  manifest 
to  become  mothers  of  sons.-"  Compare  Gen.  30  : 1 ;  1  Sani.  1  : 11. 

20.  Oriental  visits  are  accompanied  by  no  little  ceremony. 
"When  one  enters  the  room,  all  rise  to  their  feet,  and  stand 
steadfast  and  straight  as  a  palm-tree  to  receive  him.  The 
formal  salam  is  given  and  taken  all  round  the  room,  with  the 
dignity  of  a  prince  and  the  gravity  of  a  court;  and  when  the 
new-comer  reaches  his  seat,  the  ceremony  is  repeated  in  pre 
cisely  the  same  words.  In  one  of  your  full  divans,  therefore, 
a  man  gives  and  receives  about  fifty  salams  before  he  is  fairly 
settled  and  at  his  ease.  Then  comes  the  solemnity  of  coffee 
and  smoking,  with  a  great  variety  of  apparatus."  Thomson, 
vol.  1,  p.  163.  The  coffee  and  smoking  are  of  modern  introduc 
tion;  but  the  ceremonial  of  oriental  visits  has  come  down  in 
great  part  from  ancient  times.  Jalm  (Archseol.,  §  176)  mentions 
a  custom  of  regaling  a  visitor  with  incense  or  burnt  perfume, 
as  a  polite  intimation  that  it  is  time  to  bring  the  interview  to  a 
close. 

There  was  an  open  space  near  the  gate  of  the  ancient  city  where  jus 
tice  was  administered,  public  deliberations  were  held,  and  all  kinds  of 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES.  439 

business  were  transacted.  Deut.  21 : 19  ;  Ruth  4  : 1;  11 ;  1  Kings  22  : 10 ; 
Job  5:4;  Prov.  22  : 22.  This  was  of  course  a  common  resort  for  those 
who  wished  to  learn  the  news  of  the  day,  and  hold  conversations  with 
those  assembled  there.  Gen.  19  : 1 ;  Psa.  69  : 12  ;  Prov.  31 : 23,  31. 

21.  Among  equals  the  bestowal  of  gifts  seems  to  have  been 
a  matter  left  to  ever}*  one's  discretion.     The  gifts  brought  to 
rulers  and  religious  teachers  by  those  who  approached  them  will 
be  considered  elsewhere.     Alms-giving  was  inculcated  in  both 
the  Old  and  the  New  Testament,  as  one  of  the  imperative  duties 
of  religion.     Besides  the  provisions  made  for  the  poor  in  con 
nection  with  the  harvest  and  vintage   (Chap.  14,  No.  13),  the- 
duty  of  relieving  their  wants  by  gifts  of  charity  was  inculcated 
in  both  the  law  and  the  prophets.     Deut.  15  : 7,  8 ;  Isa.  58 :  7 ; 
Ezek.  18 : 7,  16.     The  New  Testament  reaffirms  these  precepts, 
and  insists  on  the  necessity  of  obeying  them  not  in  the  letter 
alone,  but  in  the  spirit  also.     Matt.  6 : 1-4 ;  1  Cor.  13 : 1-3. 

It  has  been  from  ancient  times  a  question  with  interpreters,  whether 
our  Lord's  words,  "When  thou  doest  thine  alms,  do  not  sound  a  trumpet 
before  thee,  as  the  hypocrites  do  in  the  synagogues  and  in  the  streets, 
that  they  may  have  glory  of  men"  (Matt.  6:2),  refer  to  an  actual  prac 
tice,  or  are  simply  a  figurative  expression  for  ostentations  display.  But, 
taken  either  way,  the  caution  which  they  give  in  respect  to  deeds  of  char 
ity  is  the  same,  and  .one  that  deserves  careful  consideration  on  the  part 
of  ah1  who  hope  for  a  heavenly  approval  upon  their  alms. 

IV.     THE  BURIAL  OF  THE  DEAD. 

22.  That  the  body  should  be  left  after  death  unburied,  a 
prey  to  wild  beasts  and  birds,  was  considered  by  all  the  ancient 
nations  as  a  great  calamity.     No  greater  insult  could  be  offered 
to  the  corpse  of  an  enemy  than  to  deprive  it  of  burial  cere 
monies.     1  Sam.  31:8-10;  2  Sam.  4:12;  Jer.  22:19.     Goliath 
says  to  David,  in  the  true  spirit  of  an  ancient  warrior :  "  Come 
to  me,  and  I  will  give  thy  flesh  unto  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and 
to  the  beasts  of  the  field ;"  and  David,  in  turn,  threatens  that  he 
will  do  the  same  to  "the  carcasses  of  the  host  of  the  Philis 
tines."      1  Sam.  17:44,  46.      Such  threats  are  common  with 
Homer's  heroes ;   and  God  by  the  prophets  often  denounces 


440  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

upon  the  wicked  "a  like  doom  for  their  persistent  disobedi 
ence  to  Iris  commands.  Deut.  28:26;  1  Kings  14:11;  16:4; 
21:24;  Jer.  7:33;  15:3;  16:4;  34:20;  Ezek.  29:5;  32:4.  "The 
supper  of  the  great  God  "  to  which  all  the  feathered  fowls  and 
wild  beasts  are  invited  (Ezek.  39:17-20;  Rev.  19:17,  18)  is 
made  up  of  the  flesh  of  men  and  horses  that  have  perished  in 
their  vain  attempt  to  make  war  upon  God  and  his  Messiah. 

23.  Of  the  methods  of  embalming  practised  among  the  Egyp 
tians  notice  has  been  taken  elsewhere  (Chap.  8,  No.  19) ;  also 
of  the  forms  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  sepulchres  (Chap.  2,  No.  43). 
It  remains  "to  say  a  few  words  on  the  funeral  rites  of  the  ancient 
Hebrews.  These  appear  to  have  been  in  primitive  times  of  a 
very  simple  character.  The  sacred  record  notices  the  closing 
of  the  eyes,  the  kissing,  and  the  washing  of  the  corpse  (Gen. 
46:4;  50:1;  Acts  9: 37) — all  simple  customs  common  to  every 
nation.  Coffins  were  used  in  Egypt  and  Babylon,  but  not 
among  the  Hebrews.  The  body  was  swathed  in  grave-clothes, 
with  a  bandage  also  around  the  head  (John  11 : 44),  laid  on  a 
frame  or  bier,  and  thus  conveyed  to  its  final  resting-place.  Wher 
ever  the  means  of  the  friends  would  allow  it,  the  materials  em 
ployed  were  of  the  most  costly  character — fine  linen  with  an 
abundance  of  spices  and  ointments.  Mark  15 : 46 ;  16 : 1 ;  Luke 
23:56;  24:1;  John  19:39,  40.  That  the  spices  and  ointment 
were  commonly  employed  is  manifest  from  our  Lord's  words: 
"  She  is  come  beforehand  " — that  is,  in  the  counsels  of  God — 
"to  anoint  my  body  for  the  burial"  {Mark  14: 8) ;  and  also  from 
the  remark  of  the  Evangelist :  "  as  the  manner  of  the  Jews  is  to 
bury "  (John  19 : 40).  Compare  the  burial  of  Asa,  whom  they 
laid  "  in  the  bed  which  was  filled  with  sweet  odors  and  divers 
kinds  of  spices  prepared  by  the  apothecary's  art:  and  they 
made  a  very  great  burning  for  him."  2  Chron.  16:14.  The 
burning  which  they  made  for  Asa,  and  refused  afterwards  to 
make  for  Jehoram  (2  Chron.  21 : 19),  was  one  of  fragrant  incense. 
Compare  Jer.  34 : 5.  The  burning  of  the  corpse  was  a  Grecian 
and  Roman  custom.  It  was  practised  among  the  Hebrews  only 
in  exceptional  cases.  1  Sam.  31 : 12 ;  Amos  6 : 10. 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES.  441 

24.  The  oriental  expressions  of  mourning  agree  with  their 
lively  and  demonstrative  character.  We  have  abundant  notices 
of  them  in  the  Old  Testament.  Among  these  may  be  men 
tioned— (1.)  Rending  the  garments  (Gen.  37:29,  34;  44:13;  Josh. 
7: 6,  etc.),  for  which  the  Jewish  doctors  prescribe  several  degrees 
corresponding  to  those  of  relationship.  (2.)  Putting  on  sack- 
doth;  that  is,  a  coarse  and  dark-colored  cloth  made  of  hair,  or 
other  dark-colored  apparel.  The  custom  was  so  common  that 
no  references  are  needed.  (3.)  Sprinkling  ashes  or  earth  on  the 
person,  particularly  the  head.  Josh.  7 :  6 ;  1  Sam.  4 : 12 ;  2  Sam. 
13 : 19 ;  15 : 32.  Sitting,  lying,  or  wallowing  in  ashes  was  a  kin 
dred  usage.  Esther  4 : 3 ;  Job  2 : 8 ;  Isa.  58 : 5 ;  Jer.  6 : 26 ;  25 : 34 ; 
Ezek.  27 : 30.  (4.)  Shaving  the  head  and  plucking  off  the  hair  are 
mentioned  as  tokens  of  deep  affliction.  Job  1:20;  Ezra  9:3; 
Jer.  7:29;  16:6;  Amos  8:10.  The  captive  woman  whom  a 
Hebrew  took  to  be  his  wife  was  to  shave  her  head  in  connection 
with  the  month's  mourning  allowed  her.  Deut.  21 : 12.  On  the 
other  hand,  covering  tJie  head  is  mentioned  as  a  sign  of  grief 
(2  Sam.  15 : 30 ;  Jer.  14 : 4) ;  also  covering  the  upper  lip.  Ezek. 
24 : 17-22 ;  Micah  3 : 7.  This  last  rite  was  specially  prescribed 
in  the  case  of  the  leper.  Lev.  13:45.  (5.)  Removal  of  orna 
ments  and  general  neglect  of  person.  Exod.  33:4;  2  Sam.  14:2; 
19 : 24 ;  Dan.  10 : 3 ;  Micah  1 : 11.  The  Pharisees  disfigured  their 
faces  and  went  with  a  sad  countenance  when  they  fasted; 
whereas  the  Saviour  directs  that  when  we  fast  we  wash  the 
face  and  anoint  the  head.  Matt.  6 : 16-18.  Such  voluntary  neg 
lect  of  the  person  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  forced  naked 
ness  and  humiliation  of  captives.  2  Sam.  10:4;  Isa.  20:4; 
47:2;  Jer.  13:22,  26;  Nah.  3:5.  (6.)  Abstinence  from  food  and 
drink,  a  sign  of  mourning  so  natural  and  common  that  refer 
ences  are  unnecessary.  The  abstinence  was  sometimes  simply 
from  pleasant  food,  wine,  and  other  luxuries.  Dan.  10 : 3.  When 
long  continued  it  was  necessarily  so,  except  in  cases  of  mirac 
ulous  support.  (7.)  Equally  natural  signs  of  mourning  are 
weeping r,  toaiUng,  and  beating  the  breast  and  thigh.  Gen.  23:2; 
1  Sam.  1:7;  30:4;  2  Sam.  15:30;  Esther  4:1;  Ezek.  21:12; 

19* 


442  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Nahum  2:7;  Luke  18:13;  23:48;  etc.  (8.)  The  practice  of 
employing  professional  mourners  is  mentioned  by  the  Hebrew 
prophets.  Such  were  the  persons  "skilful  of  lamentation"  (Amos 
5:16),  and  the  "mourning  and  cunning  women"  of  whom  the 
prophet  says :  "  Let  them  make  haste,  and  take  up  a  -wailing  for 
us,  that  our  eyes  may  run  down  with  tears,  and  our  eyelids  gush 
out  with  water."  Jer.  9 : 17,  18.  In  the  Saviour's  day  this  was 
an  established  usage.  When  he  came  to  the  house  of  Jaims, 
he  found  there  "minstrels"  playing  mournful  strains,  and  "them 
that  wept  and  wailed  greatly;"  and  it  was  to  these  hired  mourn 
ers  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively,  that  he  directed  his  rebuke :  "  Why 
make  ye  this  ado  and  weep?"  Matt.  9:23,  24;  Mark  5:38,  39. 
The  children  sitting  in  the  markets  imitated  in  their  sports  wed 
dings  and  funerals.  At  a  mimic  wedding,  some  "piped" — played 
a  lively  air,  either  actually  or  by  way  of  imitation,  while  their 
companions  were  expected  to  dance.  At  a  mimic  funeral,  some 
"mourned" — played  a  funeral  dirge,  at  which  their  companions 
were  to  set  up  the  customary  wail.  Matt.  11 : 16,  17.  See 
further  the  article  on  mourning  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  from 
which  the  above  particulars  have  been  mainly  condensed. 

The  oriental  expressions  of  mourning  have  been  handed  down  from 
high  antiquity,  and  they  still  prevail  as  in  olden  times.  "There  are," 
says  Thomson,  ' '  in  every  city  and  community  women  exceeding  cunning 
in  this  business.  These  are  always  sent  for  and  kept  in  readiness.  When 
a  fresh  company  of  sympathizers  comes  in,  these  women  '  make  haste '  to 
take  up  a  wailing,  that  the  newly  come  may  the  more  easily  unite  their 
tears  with  the  mourners.  They  know  the  domestic  history  of  every  per 
son,  and  immediately  strike  up  an  impromptu  lamentation,  in  which  they 
introduce  the  names  of  their  relatives  who  have  recently  died,  touching 
some  tender  cord  in  every  heart,  and  thus  each  one  weeps  for  his  own 
dead,  and  the  j)e^formance,  which  would  otherwise  be  difficult  or  impos 
sible,  becomes  easy  and  natural,  and  even  this  extemporaneous  artificial 
sorrow  is  thereby  redeemed  from  half  its  hollow-heartedness  and  hypoc- 
risy." 

The  heathen  practice  of  self -laceration  for 'the  dead,  by  cutting  the 
flesh,  and  imprinting  marks  upon  it,  was  forbidden  by  the  Mosaic  law, 
along  with  other  superstitious  rites — making  baldness  upon  the  head, 
shaving  off  the  corner  of  the  beard,  making  baldness  between  the  eyes. 
Lev.  19  : 28  ;  21 :  5  ;  Deut.  14  : 1.  The  spirit  of  true  religion  demands 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND   USAGES.  443 

both  genuineness  and  moderation  in  the  expression  of  grief  for  the  di-.-id. 
All  hypocritical  displays  of  mourning,  as  well  as  the  abandonment  of  the 
soul  to  excessive  sorrow,  ara  most  unbecoming  in  the  child  of  God  who 
is  an  heir  of  heaven,  and  whose  daily  language  should  be,  "  THY  WILL  BE 
DONE." 

APPENDIX.— GRECIAN  AND  ROMAN  GAMES. 

25.  Public  games  were  not  a  Hebrew  institution.     The  three 
great  national  festivals  prescribed  by  the  Mosaic  law  furnished 
a  recreation  of  a  nobler  and  more  spiritual  character.     It  is 
true  that  in  the  reign  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  the  high  priest 
Jason,  who  had  bought  his  office  of  the  king,  established  a 
gymnasium  at  Jerusalem  for  the  practice  of  Grecian  games, 
and  that  afterward  Herod  erected  a  theatre  and  amphitheatre 
at  Jerusalem,  as  well  as  at  Caesarsea  and  Berytus.   1  Mace.  1 : 14 ; 
2  Mace.  4:12-14;  Josephus  Antiq.,  15.  8.  1;  9.  6;  19.  7.  5.     But 
such  departures  from  ancient  Jewish  usage  were  regarded  with 
abhorrence  by  the  body  of  the  people,  among  whom  only  the 
simplest  sports  were  common. 

Jerome,  for  example,  in  commenting  on  the  -words  of  Zechariah  (chap. 
12  : 3):  "In  that  day  will  I  make  Jerusalem  a  burdensome  stone  for  all 
people  :  all  that  burden,  themselves  with  it  shall  be  cut  in  pieces,  though 
all  the  people  of  the  earth  be  gathered  together  against  it,"  illustrates 
them  by  reference  to  a  custom  still  prevalent  in  his  day  in  Judaea.  Round 
stones  of  great  weight  were  placed  in  the  villages,  towns,  and  fortresses, 
with  which  the  young  men  might  try  their  strength.  Some  were  able  to 
raise  them  only  to  their  knees,  some  to  their  navel,  some  to  their  shoul 
ders  and  heads ;  a  few  only  could  hold  them  with  arms  erect  above  their 
heads,  thus  making  manifest  the  greatness  of  their  strength. 

26.  The  public  games  of  the  Greeks  and  Kornans,  though 
foreign  to  Hebrew  usage,  are  yet  so  often  referred  to  in  the 
New  Testament  that  a  brief  notice  of  them  is  desirable.     The 
Grecian  games  were  celebrated  at  four  different  places  in  Greece ; 
the  Olympian,  at  Olympia  not  far  from  the  town  of  Pisa  in  Elis ; 
the  Pythian,  near  Delphi  in  Phocis ;  the  Nemean,  at  Nemea  in 
Argolis ;  the  Isthmian  on  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth.     They  con 
sisted  of  chariot  and  foot  races,  leaping,  throwing  the  quoit 


-144  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

and  javelin,  wrestling,  and  boxing  with  leathern  gloves  armed 
with  lead  or  iron.  The  competitors  wrere  required  to  enter 
their  names  beforehand,  and  were  subjected  to  a  long  and 
severe  course  of  training  in  which  their  daily  diet  and  exercises 
were  carefully  regulated.  For  each  of  the  games  rules  were 
prescribed  and  sternly  enforced,  and  the  prizes  were  awarded 
by  judges  appointed  for  the  purpose.  These  prizes  were  in 
themselves  trivial — at  the  Olympian  games  a  chaplet  formed  of 
the  leaves  of  the  wild  olive,  at  the  Isthmian  games  one  of  pine 
leaves,  etc. — but  the  honor  of  the  victory,  of  which  they  were 
the  sign,  was  very  great,  and  it  was  eagerly  sought  by  the  young 
men  of  Greece. 

The  victor  upon  his  return  home,  especially  from  the  Olympian  games, 
was  universally  honored.  He  rode  in  a  triumphal  chariot  into  his  city,  and 
the  walls  were  broken  down  to  give  him  entrance.  He  had  an  honorable 
seat  at  all  shows  and  games,  and  at  some  places  was  maintained  at  the  pub- 
he  expense.  See  Potter's  Antiquities  of  Greece  (Book  2,  chaps.  21-25)  and 
the  authorities  there  referred  to. 

27.  In  the  New  Testament  are  various  allusions  to  these 
games  as  emblems  of  Christian  conflict.  The  apostle  refers  to 
them  generally  when  he  says :  "  Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith ; 
lay  hold  on  eternal  life,  whereunto  thou  art  also  called  "  (1  Tim. 
6 : 12) ;  for  here  the  Greek  word  (agon)  denotes  not  a  fight  on 
the  battlefield,  but  a  conflict  in  the  stadium.  So  also  2  Tim. 
4:7;  Phil.  1 : 30 ;  and  elsewhere.  Again,  the  Christian  life  is 
described  as  a  race  set  before  the  believer  (Acts  20 : 24 ;  2  Tim. 
4:7;  Heb.  12  : 1,  where  the  race  is  run  in  the  presence  of  a  great 
cloud  of  heavenly  witnesses,  in  allusion  to  the  crowds  that  assem 
bled  to  witness  the  Grecian  games) ;  and  the  apostle  compares 
himself  (Phil.  3 : 13,  14)  to  a  racer  who,  forgetting  ah1  that  is  be 
hind,  ever  reaches  forward  towards  what  is  before  him,  his  body 
being  bent  forward  in  the  race,  and  his  eye  steadily  fixed  on  the 
mark.  He  further  refers  to  the  strict  rules  of  the  games  (2  Tim. 
2:5):  "If  a  man  also  strive  for  masteries,  he  is  not  crowned 
except  he  strive  lawfully;"  and  to  the  crown  dispensed  by  the 
judge  of  the  games  (2  Tim.  4:8):  "  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  AND  USAGES.  445 

for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous 
Judge,  shall  give  me  in  that  day."  In  the  epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians  (chap.  6 : 12)  the  conflict  of  believers  with  the  powers  of 
darkness  is  represented  under  the  figure  of  the  wrestlings  of  the 
Grecian  games,  which  were  emphatically  hand-to-hand  struggles, 
although  the  figure  is  immediately  changed  to  that  of  an  armed 
warrior. 

We  have  in  1  Cor.  9  : 24-27  an  accumulation  of  beautiful  allusions  to 
these  games.  The  competitors  "run  all,  but  one  receiveth  the  prize." 
They  are  "temperate  in  all  things,"  and  their  reward  is  a  "corruptible 
crown,"  the  chaplet  of  leaves  above  noticed,  and  the  perishable  honor 
which  it  represents.  "I  therefore  so  run,"  says  the  apostle,  "not  as  uncer 
tainly  ;"  not  running  at  random,  but  with  my  eye  steadily  fixed  on  the 
goal.  Then,  passing  to  the  figure  of  a  boxer,  he  adds  :  "So  fight  I"  (lit 
erally  so  box  I),  "  not  as  one  that  beateth  the  air,"  as  the  boxer  does  when 
he  fails  to  hit  his  antagonist.  Reverting  again  to  the  severe  training  of  the 
combatants,  with  the  figure  of  the  boxer  still  in  his  mind,  he  says:  "I 
keep  under  my  body  "  (literally  beat  it  in  the  face  black  and  blue,  as  the  boxer 
does  the  face  of  his  antagonist  by  striking  it  under  the  eyes),  "and  bring 
it  into  subjection  ;  lest,  perchance,  having  preached  the  gospel  to  others,  I 
myself  should  become  a  rejected  one  ;"  that  is,  rejected  as  unworthy  of  the 
prize. 

28.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  were  also  passionately  fond  of 
theatrical  exhibitions,  which  were  as  foreign  to  the  true  Hebrew 
spirit  as  the  games  above  noticed.  The  Romans  had  amphithea 
tres — vast  elliptical  buildings,  with  an  elliptical  space  in  the  cen 
tre  called  the  arena,  and  tiers  of  seats  around  the  wall  rising 
one  above  another.  These  were  used  for  public  games,  espe 
cially  gladiatorial  shows  and  contests  with  wild  beasts.  Gladia 
tors  fought  with  each  other  sword  in  hand  for  the  amusement  of 
the  spectators,  and  vast  numbers  perished  in  this  way.  There 
was  a  class  of  men  who  fought  with  wild  beasts  for  hire.  Others 
were  exposed  to  wild  beasts  by  way  of  punishment,  as  the  prim 
itive  Christians  often  were.  In  such  cruel  exhibitions  the  Roman 
populace  took  great  delight. 

When  the  apostle  says  (1  Cor.  4:9):  "  God  hath  set  forth  us  the  apos 
tles  last,  as  it  were  appointed  to  death  :  for  we  are  made  a  spectacle  unto 
the  world,  and  to  angels,  and  to  men,"  he  probably  alludes  to  the  exposure 


446  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

of  condemned  malefactors  in  the  amphitheatre,  that  they  might  be  de 
spatched  by  gladiators  or  wild  beasts. 

Whether  the  fighting  with  beasts  at  Ephesus  to  which  the  apostle  Paul 
alludes  (1  Cor.  15  :  32)  is  to  be  understood  figuratively,  or  is  a  reference  to 
an  actual  exposure,  has  long  been  a  matter  of  controversy  among  commen 
tators.  Considering  the  fact  that  his  Roman  citizenship  made  such  an 
exposure  utterly  unlawful,  and  also  the  silence  of  the  record  in  the  book  of 
Acts  as  to  any  such  transaction,  we  may,  perhaps,  best  understand  the 
expression  in  a  figurative  way. 


THE  SCIENCES  AND  ARTS.  447 


CHAPTEE    XX. 


CIENCES   AND 


THE    S 

1.  THE  Hebrews  were  not  distinguished  for  their  attainments 
in  the  arts  and  sciences,  their  energies  being  turned  in  another 
and  a  higher  direction.     The  whole  field  of  astrology  was  to 
them  forbidden  ground,  and  their  study  of  astronomy  had  refer 
ence  solely  to  the  divisions  of  time.     In  the  peaceful  arts  they 
did  not  excel  the  neighboring  nations,  and  in  some  respects  fell 
short  of  them.     What  relates  to  military  matters  will  be  consid 
ered  elsewhere. 

I.     HEBREW  DIVISIONS  OF  TIME. 

2.  The  Hebrew  year  was  necessarily  sdar,  its  great  festivals 
being  connected,  as  we  shah1  see,  with  the  products  of  agricul 
ture;  but  the  months  of  the  Mosaic  law  were  certainly  lunar. 
According  to  Josephus  (Antiq.,  3.  10.  5),  the  passover  was  cele 
brated  "  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month  Nisan  according  to 
the  moon,  the  sun  being  in  the  sign  Aries  ;"  and  Philo  (Life  of 
Moses),  testifies  in  like  manner  that  this  was  the  day  of  the  full 
moon.     The  custom  of  beginning  the  year  from  the  new  moon 
of  Nisan  or  Abib  had  come  down  to  the  later  Jews  from  anti 
quity,  and  we  cannot  assume  any  fundamental  change  in  this 
respect  from  the  time  of  Moses.     We  may  add  that  the  Septua- 
gint  renders  by  the  term  new  moon  the  Hebrew  expressions  for 
the  first  day  of  tlie  month  (Exod.  40  :  2,  17)  and  the  beginning  of  the 
month  (Numb.  10  :  10  ;  28  :  11). 

All  admit  that  the  Hebrew  word  for  month,  which  signifies  newness, 
renovation,  was  taken  from  the  new  moon  of  the  primitive  lunar  month. 
But  upon  the  adoption  of  a  solar  division  of  the  months,  the  term  would 
naturally  remain  ;  so  that  from  this  alone  no  sure  conclusion  can  be  drawn. 
The  expression  new  moon  does  not  occur  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Where 
our  translators  employ  it  the  original  has  the  simple  word  month  or  months. 


448  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

See  1  Sain.  20  :  5  ;  2  "Kings  4  :  23  ;  Psa.  81 :  3  ;  Isa.  66  :  23  ;  Ezek.  46  : 1 ; 
Amos  8  :  5  ;  1  Cliron.  23  :  31 ;  2  Chron.  2:4;  Isa.  1  : 13  ;  etc.  Here,  how 
ever,  we  must  naturally  understand,  with  our  translators,  the  beginning  of 
the  hyiar  month,  as  a  phenomenon  that  could  be  noticed  by  all.  It  lias 
been  commonly  assumed  that  in  the  account  of  the  deluge  the  months 
contained  each  thirty  days  ;  since  from  the  seventeenth  day  of  the  second 
month,  when  the  deluge  began  (Gen.  7  : 11)  to  the  seventeenth  day  of  the 
seventh  month,  when  the  ark  rested  upon  the  mountains  of  Ararat  (Gen. 
8:4),  we  have  apparently  the  hundred  and  fifty  days  (five  months  of  thirty 
days  each)  during  which  the  waters  prevailed  (Gen.  7  :  24  ;  8  : 3).  At  least, 
we  cannot  see  what  other  sign  than  this  of  the  ark's  resting  on  the  land 
Noah  could  have  had  that  the  waters  had  ceased  to  prevail,  shut  up  as  he 
was  from  all  view  without.  Compare  chap.  8  :  6-13.  We  know,  moreover, 
that  a  year  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  days  divided  into  twelve  months  of 
thirty  days  each,  with  an  intercalation  of  five  days,  prevailed  from  very 
ancient  times  in  Egypt. 

3.  Since  the  lunar  month  consists  of  a  little  more  than  twen 
ty-nine 'and  a  half  days,  and  the  Hebrews  never  reckoned  less 
than  a  whole  day  to  a  month,  it  follows  that  their  months  must 
have  varied  between  twenty-nine  and  thirty  days,  making  a  year 
of  354  days,  so  that  an  intercalary  month  would  be  necessary 
every  third  year,  and  sometimes  on  alternate  years.     This  inter 
calation  was  doubtless  made  from  the  beginning  by  the  priests 
who  had  charge  of  the  sanctuary  services,  as  we  know  that  it 
was  in  later  times. 

In  later  Jewish  history  the  beginning  of  the  month  was  determined  by 
the  first  appearance  of  the  new  moon,  which  was  reported  by  witnesses 
appointed  for  the  purpose.  As  the  Jewish  day  began  at  sunset,  if  the 
announcement  was  made  before  dark,  that  day  was  the  first  of  the  month  ; 
if  not  till  after  dark,  the  following  day  began  the  month. 

4.  By  the  appointment  of  the  Mosaic  law  the  Hebrew  year 
began  with  the  month  of  Abib,  that  is,  of  green  ears  (Exod.  12  :  2 ; 
13:4;  Deut.  16  : 1)  called  in  later  times  Nisan  (Neh.  2:1;  Esth. 
3:7).     According  to  the  modern  rabbinical  Jewish  calendar, 
Nisan  answers  to  our  March.     But  there  are  strong  grounds  for 
believing  that  originally  it  coincided  more  nearly  with  our  April. 

J.  D.  Michaelis  (Hebrew  Months)  argues  for  the  coincidence  of  Nisan 
with  April  on  the  following  grounds :  (1.)  That  the  climate  of  Palestine 


THE  SCIENCES  AND  ARTS.  449 

would  not  permit  the  oblation  of  the  sheaf  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  harvest 
ordered  for  the  second  day  of  the  Passover  festival  (Lev.  23  : 10  compared 
with  ver.  15,  16)  at  an  earlier  date  ;  since  the  barley  harvest  does  not  take 
place  even  in  the  warm  climate  about  Jericho  until  about  the  middle  of 
April,  while  it  is  still  later  on  the  highlands.  (2. )  That  the  Syrian  calen 
dar,  which  has  essentially  the  same  names  for  the  months,  makes  its  Nisan 
absolutely  parallel  with  our  April.  (3. )  That  Josephus,  in  one  place,  makes 
Nisan  equivalent  to  the  Macedonian  month  Xanthicus  ;  and  also  mentions 
that  on  the  14th  of  Nisan  the  sun  was  in  the  sign  Aries,  which  could  not 
be  on  that  day  except  in  April.  The  later  Jews  may  have  departed  from 
the  ancient  order,  as  Michaelis  suggests,  in  imitation  of  the  Koruans,  who 
began  their  year  with  March. 

It  is  commonly  assumed  that  the  Hebrews  had  two  modes  of 
reckoning:  a  sacred  year  reckoned  from  Nisan,  and  a  civil,  reck 
oned  from  the  new  moon  of  Tishri,  the  seventh  month.  This  is 
tine  only  in  a  modified  sense.  The  sabbatical  year  and  the  year 
of  jubilee  were  indeed  reckoned  from  the  seventh  month  (Lev. 
25  : 9  compared  with  ver.  20-22),  as  the  convenience  of  the  hus 
bandman  required;  this  being  at  the  close  of  one  agricultural 
year  and  the  beginning  of  another.  But  the  months  were  in  all 
cases  numbered  from  Nisan. 

It  has  been  conjectured  that  before  the  time  of  Moses,  the  year  began 
about  the  autumnal  equinox,  and  that  he,  by  divine  direction,  transferred 
its  beginning  to  the  vernal  equinox ;  that  is,  to  the  new  moon  nearest  to 
that  point  of  time.  The  words  of  the  ordinance  (Exod.  12:2):  "This 
month  shall  be  unto  you  the  beginning  of  months  :  it  shall  be  the  first 
month  of  the  year  unto  you,"  certainly  have  the  appearance  of  containing 
a  new  ordinance.  Had  the  year  always  begun  with  the  month  of  Abib,  we 
can  hardly  suppose  that  such  a  command  would  have  been  given,  with  the 
annexed  reason  (Deut.  16  : 1) :  "  for  in  the  month  of  Abib  the  Lord  thy  God 
brought  thee  forth  out  of  Egypt  by  night. " 

We  give  from  Jahn  (Archaeology,  §  103)  the  later  names  of  the  Jewish 
months  in  order.  They  are  Babylonian,  adopted  during  the  captivity. 
"Where  no  scriptural  authority  is  given,  they  are  taken  from  the  Talmud. 
The  few  earlier  Hebrew  names  that  occur  in  the  Old  Testament  are  added 
in  parentheses. 

•  1.  Hisan,  from  the  new  moon  of  April,  Neh.  2:1;  Esth.  3  :  7  (Abib, 

Exod.  13  :  4;  etc.); 

2.  Ijar,  May  (Ziv,  1  Kings  6  : 1,  37); 

3.  Siran,  June,  Esth.  8:9; 


450  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

4.  Tammuz,  from  the  new  moon  of  July  ; 

5.  Ab,  "  "  August; 

6.  Elid,  September,  Neh.  6  : 15  ; 

7.  Tishri,  "  October  (Ethanim,  I  Kings  8:2); 

8.  Marcheshvan,  "  "  November  (Bui,  1  Kings  6  :  38); 

9.  Kislev,  "  "  December,  Neli.  1:1;  Zech.  7:1; 

10.  Tebetk,  "  "  January,  Esth.  2  : 16  ; 

11.  Shebat,  "  "  February,  Zech.  1 :  7  ; 

12.  Adar,  "  March,  Esth.  3:7;  etc. 

The  intercalary  month  was  called  Veadar,  which  may  be  rendered  Sec 
ond  Adar. 

5.  The  division  of  time  into  weeks  was  originally  made  by 
God  himself  in  commemoration  of  the  order  of  creation.     Gen. 
2:2,  3.     From  certain  notices  in  the  book  of  Genesis  (7  :  4,  10 ; 
8 : 10,  12 ;  29 : 27,  28)  we  infer  that  a  weekly  division  of  time 
existed  from  the  beginning.     With  this  agree  the  words  of  the 
fourth  commandment :  "  Eemember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it 
holy,"  in  which  the  Sabbath-day  is  not  ordained  for  the  first 
time,  but  referred  to  as  already  well  known.     The  religious  sig 
nificance  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  change  of  the  day  under  the 
Christian  dispensation,  will  be  considered  elsewhere.    We  simply 
remark  here  that  the  Hebrew  Sabbath,  as  commemorative  of 
the  rest  after  creation,  occurred  at  the  end  of  the  week,  and  thus 
answered  to  our  Saturday. 

The  week  of  weeks  was  the  period  of  seven  weeks  or  fojjfcy-iiine  days 
from  the  morrow  after  the  paschal  Sabbath,  and  it  was  followed  on  tliejif- 
tietli  day  by  the  feast  of  Pentecost  (Greek  pentecoste,  fifty).  It  is  hence  called 
the  feast  of  weeks.  Lev.  23  : 45,  16 ;  Deut.  16  :  9,  10. 

The  week  of  years  was  the  period  of  seven  years,  ending  with  the  sabbat 
ical  >/ear.  See  above,  Chap.  14,  No.  2. 

The  week  of  sabbatical  years  was  the  period  of  seven  limes  seven  years, 
succeeded  by  the  year  of  jubilee.  See  above,  Ibid. 

In  Lev.  23  : 15  the  word  sabbath  is  thought  by  some  to  denote  not  the 
weekly  Sabbath,  but  the  first  day  of  the  passover,  as  a  day  of  holy  rest. 
Compare  Lev.  23  : 15,  16  with  Deut.  16  :  9,  10. 

6.  The  Hebrew  day,  as  indicated  in  the  primitive  record  (Gen. 
1 :  5,  etc.),  was  reckoned/rora  evening  to  evening.    Hence  the  com 
mand  :  "  From  even  unto  even  shall  ye  celebrate  your  Sabbath." 
Lev.  23 : 32. 


THE  SCIENCES  AND  ARTS.  451 

The  paschal  lamb  and  the  lamb  of  the  daily  sacrifice  were  to  be  slain 
between  the  two  evenings.  Hebrew  of  Exod.  12  :  6  ;  29  :  39,  41 ;  Lev.  23  :  5  ; 
Numb.  9:3,  5,  11 ;  28 : 4,  8.  At  the  same  time  Aaron  was  to  light  the 
lamps  of  the  sanctuary  and  burn  incense  upon  the  golden  altar.  Exod. 
30  :  8.  The  quails  also  came  between  the  two  evenings.  Exod.  16  : 12.  Ac 
cording  to  the  Karaites  and  Samaritans,  this  was  the  time  between  sunset 
and  deep  twilight ;  but  the  Pharisees  began  the  first  evening  with  the  n  /'/<///. 
hour  (about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon),  and  the  second  at  sunset.  So 
Josephus,  who  says  that  the  paschal  lamb  was  slain  from  the  ninth  to  the 
eleventh  hour.  Jewish  War,  6.  9.  3. 

7.  Hours  are  first  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Daniel,  but  there 
only  in  an  indefinite  way.     Dan.  3 : 6,  15,  etc.     In  New  Testa 
ment  times  the  day  was  divided  into  twelve  hours,  numbered 
from  sunrise  to  sunset.    John  11 : 9 ;  Matt.  20  : 3,  5,  6 ;  etc.    The 
hours  varied  in  length  according  to  the  varying  seasons  of  the 
year. 

Mention  is  made  of  a  sun-dial  2  Kings  20  :  9-11 ;  Isa.  38  :  8.  Andther 
instrument  for  measuring  time  was  the  clepsydra,  in  which  water  was  used 
much  as  we  now  use  sand  in  hour-glasses. 

The  ancient  Hebrews  divided  the  night  for  military  purposes 
into  three  watches.  Of  these  the  second  was  the  middle  watch 
(Judg.  7  : 19),  and  the  last,  the  morning  watch  (Exod.  14 : 24 ; 
1  Sam.  11 : 11).  In  the  Saviour's  day  the  Roman  usage  pre 
vailed,  according  to  which  the  night  was  divided  into  four  watches, 
of  which  the  second,  third,  andfourth  are  mentioned  (Matt.  14 :  25 ; 
Mark  6  : 48 ;  Luke  12  :  38) ;  and  all  four  are  apparently  referred 
to  (Mark  13  :  35)  as  evening,  midnight,  cock-crowing,  and  morning. 

II.  THE  DOMESTIC  AND  MECHANICAL  ARTS. 

8.  We  have  seen  in  the  former  part  of  this  work  (Chap.  8, 
No.  5)  that  the  domestic  and  mechanical  arts  were  practised  in 
Egypt  with  great  skill  from  very  early  times.    "When  the  Hebrews 
left  Egypt  they  earned  with  them  the  knowledge  of  these  arts. 
They  were  skilful  in  spinning,  weaving,  and  embroidery ;  produ 
cing  not  only  plain  fabrics  of  a  fine  texture,  but  those  inwrought 
with  various  colors  and  figures,  to  which,  in  the  case  of  the  most 


•152  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

precious  garments,  golden  threads  were  added.  They  under 
stood  the  art  of  dyeing ;  for  there  were  found  among  them  stores 
of  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  red  skins  of  rams.  They 
had  workmen  in  gold,  silver,  and  brass,  and  in  wood  also ;  who 
manufactured  with  skill  the  furniture  and  implements  of  the 
tabernacle.  They  could  set  precious  stones,  and  compound  pre 
cious  ointments  and  incense  of  sweet  spices  "  after  the  art  of  the 
apothecary."  All  this  is  manifest  on  the  face  of  the  narrative  in 
the  book  of  Exodus,  in  which  are  given  in  detail  the  materials 
and  construction  of  the  tabernacle  with  its  court  and  its  furni 
ture  ;  and  it  is  confirmed  by  the  later  books  of  the  New  Testa 
ment. 

The  Hebrew  has  two  terms  rendered  in  our  version  cunning  workman 
(Hoxliebh)  and  embroiderer  (rokem)  ;  of  which,  according  to  the  Jewish 
rabbins,  the  former  denotes  one  who  inweaves  patterns  of  different  colors, 
the  latter  one  who  embroiders  with  tfie  needle,  and  to  this  view  Gesenius 
assents.  But  while  it  is  certain  that  the  Egyptians  were  skilful  in  inweav 
ing  patterns,  it  is  not  certain  that  they  embroidered  with  the  needle.  Some 
would  therefore  refer  the  terms  rokem  and  rikmah  (rendered  in  our  ver 
sion  embroiderer  and  needlework)  to  the  inweaving  of  patterns  by  the  loom. 
See  for  one  view  Gesenius  in  his  Thesaurus ;  for  the  other,  Smith's  Bible 
Diet.,  Art.,  Embroiderer. 

9.  We  cannot,  however,  claim  for  the  Hebrews  any  preemi 
nence  in  the  above-named  arts.  They  had  sufficient  skill  in  them 
for  the  ordinary  occasions  of  life ;  as  also  in  the  manufacture  of 
iron  implements  for  agricultural  purposes  and  for  war,  the  man 
ufacture  of  leather,  the  cutting  of  stones,  the  building  of  houses, 
and  the  construction  of  household  furniture.  But  in  none  of 
these  respects  did  they  excel  their  neighbors,  and  in  some  they 
fell  short  of  them.  In  sword-blades,  for  example,  Damascus  was 
superior  to  them ;  in  rich  dyes,  the  Tynans  and  several  other 
nations.  It  was  the  testimony  of  Solomon  himself,  in  his  mes 
sage  to  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  that  none  of  his  people  could  "skill 
to  hew  timber  like  unto  the  Sidonians;"  or  had  equal  skill  with 
them  to  work  in  the  precious  metals  and  iron,  and  in  purple, 
crimson,  and  blue.  1  Kings  5  :  6 ;  2  Chron.  2:7.  It  was  not  in 
these  secular  arts  that  God  had  appointed  the  covenant  people 


THE  SCIENCES  AND  ARTS.  453 

to  be  a  light  to  the  world ;  but  in  the  knowledge  of  himself  and 
of  that  great  salvation  which  he  was  through  them  preparing  for 
all  nations. 

III.     THE  ART  OF  WRITING. 

9.  Moses,  being  "learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyp 
tians,"  was  of  course  familiar  with  the  various  modes  of  writing 
that  prevailed  in  that  countiy  long  before  his  day.    The  Hebrew 
alphabet,  however,  which  he  employed,  is  Shemitic  in  its  origin, 
the  same  substantially  as  that  used  by  the  Phoenicians,  and 
which  probably  came  to  them  from  Chalda3a.     The  great  He 
brew  legislator  appears  as  a  writer  very  early  after  the  exodus 
before  the  giving  of  the  law  (Exod.  17 : 14),  and  all  along  the 
course  of  his  history  (Exod.  24:4;  34:27;  Numb.  33:2;  Deut. 
31 : 22 ;  etc.) ;  and  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  the  art  are 
assumed  in  the  law  of  divorce.     Deut.  24 : 1. 

For  the  change  in  the  Hebrew  alphabet  from  the  earlier-  form  repre 
sented  on  coins  to  the  Assyrian  or  square  \vriting,  and  for  various  partic 
ulars  as  to  the  ancient  mode  of  writing  see  Companion  to  the  Bible,  Chap. 
3,  No.  2 ;  Chap.  14,  No.  2,  3 ;  Chap.  26,  No.  5. 

10.  The  materials  of  writing  were  various.     Mention  is  made 
in  the  Pentateuch  of  stone  plates  on  which  the  words  were 
graven  directly  (Exod.  31 : 18 ;  32 : 15,  16 ;  Deut.  4 : 13) ;  of  great 
stones  plastered  with  plaster  upon  which  the  words  of  the  law 
were  written  (Deut.  27:2-8);  of  a  plate  of  gold  (Exod.  28:36); 
and  of  precious  gems  (Exod.  28:11,  21).     Job  refers  to  the 
custom  of  writing  "with  an  iron  pen  and  lead  in  the  rock" 
(chap.  19 : 24),  the  letters  being  first  deeply  cut  in  the  rock,  and 
then  filled  with  lead.     The  ancients  also  used  palm  leaves,  the 
inner  bark  of  trees,  bones,  shells,  ivory,  bricks,  clay  tablets,* 
cylinders  and  prisms  of  fine  terra-cotta,  wood,  wax  tablets ;   in 
a  word,  whatever  furnished  a  smooth  surface.     The  ruins  of 
Assyrian  and  Chaldsean  cities  furnish  bricks,  clay  tablets,  and 
cylinders,  in   countless   thousands,  as  well   as   slabs  of  stone, 
covered  with  arrow-headed  inscriptions.     According  to  Eawlin- 
son  (Ancient  Monarchies,  vol.  1,  pp.  330,  478)  some  of  the  Assyr- 


454  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

ian  hollow  cylinders  and  prisms  have  characters  so  minute 
that  a  magnifying  glass  is  needed  to  decipher  them.  The  two 
principal  materials,  however,  which  the  Hebrews  employed  were 
paper  manufactured  from  the  papyrus  plant,  and  parchments 
prepared  from  the  skins  of  sheep,  goats,  and  other  animals. 

For  a  brief  notice  of  the  papyrus  plant  see  above,  Chap.  7,  No.  21. 
According  to  Pliny  (Hist.  Nat.,  13.  11)  the  method  of  preparing  the 
paper  was  as  follows :  The  stem  (either  the  inner  cuticle  or  pith)  was 
divided  by  a  needle  into  thin  plates,  each  as  large  as  the  plant  would 
allow,  and  these  were  placed  side  by  side  on  a  table  kept  moist  with 
Nile  water.  When  the  table  was  covered,  another  layer  was  spread  over 
the  first  transversely,  and  the  two  layers  were  united  by  being  subjected 
to  pressure.  As  many  sheets  were  afterwards  joined  together  as  were 
needed  for  a  given  roll.  This  paper  was  very  much  used  by  the  ancients 
and  was  of  various  qualities,  as  was  also  the  parchment  prepared  from  the 
skins  of  animals. 

11.  The  instruments  for  writing  varied  of  course,  as  they 
do  now,  with  the  materials  employed.  For  refractory  sub 
stances  they  had  "a  pen  of  iron"  and  "the  point  of  a  diamond;" 
that  is,  a  graver  with  a  point  of  steel,  or  one  tipped  with  dia 
mond;  the  latter  being  especially  necessary  in  engraving  upon 
precious  stones.  For  writing  on  tablets  covered  with  wax  they 
had  a  style  sharp  at  one  end  and  at  the  other  flat  and  circular. 
With  the  sharp  end  they  formed  the  letters,  and  erased  them 
with  the  flat  end,  as  occasion  required,  smoothing  over  again 
the  surface  of  the  tablet.  On  paper  and  parchment  they  wrote 
with  a  pen  and  ink.  The  reed  pen  split  at  the  end  has  been 
in  use  among  the  orientals  from  high  antiquity,  and  is  still 
employed  by  the  Arabs. 

The  ink  of  the  ancients  appears  to  have  resembled  the  Chinese  or  India 
ink — a  combination  of  lampblack  with  glue  or  gum — reduced  to  a  fluid  form. 
According  to  Josephus  (Antiq.  12.  2.  10)  the  parchments  containing  the 
Jewish  law,  which  the  high  priest  Eleazar  sent  to  Ptolemy  king  of  Egypt 
ta  be  translated  into  Greek,  were  of  marvellous  thinness,  joined  together 
so  exactly  that  the  seams  could  not  be  discerned,  and  written  in  letters  of 
gold.  When,  about  the  eleventh  century,  paper  of  a  finer  texture,  made 
of  linen  and  cotton,  came  into  common  use,  this  rendered  necessary  pens 


THE  SCIENCES  AND  ARTS.  455 

of  a  finer  character.     These  were  supplied  by  the  quills  of  geese,  swans, 
crows,  etc. ;  till  in  our  day  metallic  pens  took  their  place. 

12.  The  form  of  aneient  books  depended  on  the  material 
employed. .  When  tablets  of  wood,  or  plates  of  ivory  or  metal 
were  used,  they  were  connected  with  rings  at  the  back  through 
which  a  rod  was  passed.  When  the  soft  and  flexible  papyrus 
was  used,  the  books  took  the  form  of'  rolls.  The  sheets,  being 
fastened  together  at  tlieir  edges,  were  wound  round  a  cylindrical 
stick,  or  sometimes  two  cylinders,  whence  the  term  volume,  that 
is,  roll  (Latin,  volumen)  is  derived.  The  cylinders  projected  at 
each  end  beyond  the  roll  and  were  ornamented  with  bosses. 
The  volume  was  read  by  unrolling  the  scroll  so  as  to  expose 
successfully  its  several  sheets.  Books  written  on  parchment 
may  take  the  square  form  with  leaves,  or  the  roll  form.  The 
public  Hebrew  manuscripts  consist  of  synagogue  rolls ;  the  pri 
vate  manuscripts  are  written  with  leaves  in  book  form.  See 
Companion  to  the  Bible,  Chap.  14,  No.  8 ;  and  for  the  ancient 
manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament,  Chap.  26,  No.  5. 

The  roll-form  prevailed  among  the  ancient  Hebrews  (Isa.  8:1;  Jer. 
36:2,  seq. ;  Ezek.  2:9,  seq. ;  Zech.  5:1),  also  in  other  nations.  Ezra 
6:1,  2.  In  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth  our  Lord  read  from  a  roll.  "Hav 
ing  unrolled  the  book"  (so  the  original  reads)  "he  found  the  place  where 
it  was  written,"  etc.  When  he  had  finished  reading  "he  rolled  up  the 
book,  and  gave  it  back  to  the  attendant."  Luke  4  : 17,  20.  The  manner 
in  which  the  ancients  speak  of  rolls  written  within  and  without  (see  the 
references  in  Alford  and  Meyer  on  Kev.  5  : 1)  indicates  that  this  was  some 
thing  unusual,  the  rule  being  to  write  only  on  the  inner  side.  The  roll 
which  Ezekiel  sees  in  vision  (chap.  2  : 10),  the  flying  roll  of  Zechariah 
(chap.  5:1-3,  where  "on  this  side"  and  "on  that  side,"  ver.  3,  refer  to 
the  inner  and  outer  sides  of  the  roll),  and  the  apocalyptic  book  sealed 
with  seven  seals  (Rev.  5:1),  are  each  written  within  and  without  to  denote 
the  fulness  of  their  contents.  In  respect  to  the  seven  successive  revela 
tions  of  the  apocalyptic  book,  answering  to  the  breaking,  one  after 
another,  of  the  seven  seals,  there  are  two  views  :  (1,)  it  is  assumed  that 
the  breaking  of  each  seal  allowed  a  certain  portion  of  the  scroll  to  be 
unrolled,  and  thus  its  contents  to  be  read;  (2,)  it  is  assumed  that  the  roll 
remains  closed,  the  breaking  of  the  seals  in  succession  being  simply  sym 
bolic  of  revelations  to  be  made  of  parts  of  its  contents,  not  by  inspection. 


456  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

but  by  the  visions  that  follow.     See  further  in  the  commentaries  on  the 
passage. 

13.  Extended  epistles,  like  most  of  those  in  the  New  Testa 
ment,  took  the  form  of  small  volumes.      Letters,  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  word — short  communications  on  special  subjects — 
ordinarily  received  the  seal  of  the  sender.     In  all  matters  of 
importance  this  was  necessary  for  authentication,  and  sometimes 
for  secrecy  also ;  as  in  the  case  of  David's  letter  to  Joab,  wliich 
he  sent  by  the  hand  of  the  man  whose  destruction  he  sought. 

2  Sam.  11:14,15;   1  Kings  21:8;  Esther  3: 10;  8:8,  10;  Isa. 
29 :  H.     In  their  addresses  and  salutations  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament  conform  in  general  to  the  usage  of  the  day. 
Compare  the  letter  of  the  apostles  and  elders  (Acts  15 : 23-29) 
with  that  of  Claudius  Lysias  to  Felix.     Acts  23 :  26-30.     Both 
state  at  the  outset  by  whom  and  to  whom  the  letter  is  sent,  and 
both  close  with  the  simple  salutation,  "Farewell."     The  only 
modification  is  that  in  most  of  the  apostolic  epistles  a  benedic 
tion  more  or  less  extended  took  the  place  of  the  brief  Farewell. 

IV.     MUSIC  AND  MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS. 

14.  The  Hebrews,  like  other  oriental  nations,  were  fond  of 
music  on  all  occasions  of  social  and  national  rejoicing.     Their 
songs  were,  as  a  rule,  accompanied  with  musical  instruments, 
and  sometimes  with  dancing  also.     Thus  they  took,  from  the 
outset,  a  lyrical  character.     Gen.  31 :  27 ;  Exod.  15 : 1,  20 ;  Judg. 
5:1;  11:34;  etc.      In  the  schools  of  the  prophets  instituted 
by   Samuel   music   seems   to    have   been   regularly   cultivated. 
1  Sam.  10 : 5.     Its  elevating  and  tranquillizing  influence  was 
well  understood  by  the  courtiers  of  Saul  (1  Sam.  16 : 16,  23) ; 
and  was  afterwards  sought  by  Elisha  himself,  that  he-  might 
thus  be  prepared  to  receive  the  Spirit  of  prophecy.     2  Kings 

3  : 15.     David,  "the  sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel,"  himself  a  master 
in  both  the  composition  and  lyrical  performance  of  sacred  song, 
made  music  vocal  and  instrumental  a  regular  part  of  the  tab 
ernacle  service   (1   Chron.   16 : 4-6,  41,  42 ;  chap.  25) ;  and  at 
the  dedication  of  the  temple  by  Solomon  the  musical  part  of 


CYMBALS,   TIMBREL,    ETC. 


DRUM,    SISTRUM,   ETC. 


4 


A    WAR  GALLEY. 


THE  SCIENCES  AND  ARTS.  457 

the  service  was  of  the  most  magnificent  character.     2  Chron. 
5 : 12, 13. 

15.  The  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  monuments  have  made  us 
familiar  with   the  form  of  the   musical   instruments   anciently 
employed  in  Egypt,  Assyria,  and  Babylon.     From  their  long 
residence  in  Egypt  the   Hebrews  must  have   been  perfectly 
acquainted  with  the  musical  instruments  of  this  country.      It 
is  not  certain,  however,  that  they  borrowed  from  the  Egyptians 
exclusively  their  own  musical  instruments.      These  may  have 
come  with  their  ancestors,  in  part  at  least,  from  Chaldsea  and 
Mesopotamia,  as  did  their  language  and  their  alphabet.     In 
investigating  the  difficult  question  of  the  form  of  the  Hebrew 
instruments  of  music,  it  is  necessary  that  we  compare  the  Egyp 
tian  with  the  Assyrian  models,  as  they  are  revealed  to  us  by 
the  monuments.     Between  the  two  are  contained,  substantially 
at  least,  the  forms  of  the  instruments  mentioned  in  sacred  writ. 

16.  Musical  instruments  are  of  three  classes,  stringed  instru 
ments,  wind  instruments,  and  instruments  of  percussion. 

STRINGED  INSTRUMENTS. 

Foremost  among  the  stringed  instruments  of  the  Egyptian 
and  Assyrian  monuments  is  the  harp.  The  harp  is  usually 
defined  to  be  a  stringed  instrument  of  music  of  a  triangular 
figure,  the  form  allowing  the  strings  to  be  successively  of  differ 
ent  lengths.  This  definition  holds  good  of  modern  harps  and 
some  forms  of  ancient  harps.  But  the  idea  of  the  Egyptian 
harp  seems  rather  to  have  been  that  of  the  bow.  A  bow 
standing  upright,  and  furnished  with  a  sound-chest  and  a  suit 
able  number  of  strings  (which  varied  according  to  the  size  and 
model  of  the  instrument)  gives  substantially  the  idea  of  the 
common  Egyptian  harps.  Some  of  them  have  almost  exactly 
the  «form  of  the  bow,  but  usually  the  curvature  of  one  end  is 
more  abrupt  than  that  of  the  other.  Instead  of  the  curved  the 
triangular  form  also  appears  with  various  modifications.  The 
number  of  strings  varies  from  three  to  twenty  and  more.  The 
heavier  kinds  stand  upright  upon  the  floor,  while  the  lighter 

Geog.  t  Antiq.  V>0 


458  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

kinds  are  portable.  In  one  case  an  Egyptian  woman  carries  on 
her  shoulder  a  harp  with  three  strings,  playing  it  at  the  same  time 
with  her  fingers.  On  the  Assyrian  monuments  we  have  porta 
ble  harps  of  a  triangular  form.  One  class  of  these  is  carried 
by  the  performer  in  front  with  the  sound-chest  next  to  him  in 
an  upright  position,  and  is  played  with  the  fingers.  Another 
class  is  carried  at  his  side  with  the  sound-chest  horizontal,  and 
is  played  with  a  plectrum. 

The  lyre  is  essentially  a  modified  form  of  the  harp.  In  this 
the  sound-chest  constitutes  the  base.  From  the  end  of  this 
arise  two  rods  curved  or  straight  connected  above  by  a  cross- 
piece,  and  the  strings  are  stretched  upward  from  the  base  to 
the  cross-piece.  It  is  always  portable,  is  carried  in  an  upright 
or  a  horizontal  position,  and  is  commonly  played  with  the  fin 
gers,  but  sometimes  with  a  plectrum. 

The  ancient  Egyptian  guitar  or  lute  was  of  an  oval  form 
with  a  long  neck.  The  strings,  which  were  few  in  number, 
were  carried  over  a  bridge. 

17.  The  identification  of  the  Hebrew  stringed  instruments  is 
a  matter  of  great  difficulty.  The  two  of  most  common  occur 
rence  are  the  kinnor  and  ncbd,  of  which  the  first  is  commonly 
rendered  harp  in  our  version,  and  the  second  psaltery.  Respect 
ing  the  form  of  these  the  opinions  of  biblical  scholars  are  very 
discordant,  and  cannot  be  discussed  to  any  profit  within  the 
limits  prescribed  to  the  present  work. 

Josephus  remarks  (Antiq.,  7.  12.  3):  "The  kinura  (Heb.,  kinnor)  being 
furnished  with  ten  strings,  is  struck  with  a  plectrum  :  but  the  nabla  (Heb., 
nebel},  having  twelve  strings,  is  played  with  the  fingers."  This  definition 
is  loose  and  unsatisfactory  enough ;  and  seems  to  be,  moreover,  at  vari- 
ence  with  the  words  of  Scripture,  according  to  which  David  played  on 
the  harp  with  his  hand.  1  Sam.  16  :  23  ;  18  : 10 ;  19  :  9.  The  Hebrew 
kinnor  was  certainly  portable,  at  least  in  some  of  its  forms  ;  for  David  and 
others  played  on  it  in  procession  before  the  ark.  2  Sam.  6  :  5.  See  also 
1  Sam.  10  :  5  ;  Isa.  23  : 16.  We  think  it  probable  that  the  kinnor  was  an 
instrument  of  the  harp  kind,  including  possibly  the  lyre.  As  to  the  nebel 
we  can  only  adopt  the  language  of  a  writer  in  the  Imperial  Bible  Diction 
ary  :  "We  prefer  to  leave  it  a  doubtful  question  whether  the  nebel  was  a 
lyre  or  a  lute,  or  even  some  other  form  of  stringed  instrument."  The 


THE  SCIENCES  AND  ARTS.  459 

nebel  clsor  (Psa.  33:2;  144:9)  was  a  ten  slringed-nebel  ;  not  "a  psaltery 
and  an  instrument  of  ten  strings.  "  Yet  it  seems  to  have  been  a  peculiar 
variety  of  the  instrument  ;  for  elsewhere  the  dsdr  is  distinguished  from 
the  simple  nebel  :  "upon  an  clsor  and  upon  a  nebel."  Psa.  92  :  3. 

In  Daniel  (chap.  3)  mention  is  made  of  the  sabbeka,  rendered  in  our 
version  sackbut;  but  which  was  probably  identical  with  the  Greek  sambuke, 
a  stringed  instrument  of  the  harp  kind.  In  the  same  chapter  we  have 
the  word  pesanierln,  that  is,  psaltery  (Greek,  psalterion),  also  a  species  of 
harp. 

WIND  INSTRUMENTS. 

18.  The  primitive  horn  was  what  the  name  denotes  —  made 
from  the  horn  of  an  ox  or  ram.  From  this  came  by  a  natural 
transition,  the  curved  metallic  trumpet  (sJ(dpJtar),  and  the  straight 
trumpet  (hatsbtserali),  the  form  of  which  is  preserved  on  the 
triumphal  arch  of  Titus. 

In  our  version  the  word  sliophar  is  often  rendered  cornet,  especially 
where  it  occurs  in  connection  with  hatsotserah,  which  last  is  then  rendered 
trumpet.  1  Chron.  15  :  28  ;  2  Chron.  15  :  14  ;  Psa.  98  :  6  ;  Hosea  5:8;  etc. 

The  Egyptian  monuments  exhibit  the  flute  and  the  pipe 
single  and  double.  The  Hebrew  term  haltt  (1  Sam.  10  :  5  ; 
1  Kings  1  :  40  ;  Isa.  5  :  12  ;  30  :  29  ;  Jer.  48  :  36),  rendered  in  our 
version  pipe,  denotes  either  the  pipe  or  the  flute.  So  also  prob 
ably  the  plural  form  nchiibth  in  the  title  to  Psalm  5. 

The  Hebrew  organ  (ugab)  was  an  instrument  of  high  anti 
quity.  Gen.  4  :  21.  The  most  probable  opinion  concerning  it  is 
that  it  was  the  so-called  pipe  of  Pan  •  a  compound  instrument 
consisting  of  several  reeds  of  unequal  length,  so  arranged  that 
the  performer  could  pass  his  mouth  from  one  to  another. 

The  Chaldean  name  sumponya,  that  is,  symphony  (Dan.,  chap.  3),  is 
borrowed  from  the  Greek.  It  is  rendered  in  our  version  dulcimer,  but  is 
probably  equivalent  to  the  Hebrew  ugab,  organ;  as  mashrokitha  in  the  same 
chapter  (Eng.  \ers.,  flute)  is  to  halU. 


INSTRUMENTS  OF  PERCUSSION. 

19.  The  most  common  of  these  are  the  timbrel  (Heb.,  tiph)  and 
the  cymbal  (Heb.,  tseltselim).     The  timbrel  or  tabret  was  a  hoop  or 


460  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

square  frame  over  which  a  membrane  was  strained.  It  was 
beaten  with  the  fingers.  Cymbals  are  plates  of  brass  which, 
being  struck  together,  produce  a  loud  clanging  sound.  Both 
timbrels  and  cymbals  are  represented  on  the  Egyptian  monu 
ments,  as  also  drums  of  various  shapes. 

Mention  is  also  made  of  the  shallsh  (1  Sain.  18  : 6;  where  our  version 
renders  instruments  of  music),  which  was,  perhaps,  a  triangle,'  and  of  the 
menaanim  (2  Sam.  6:5),  where  our  version  has  cornets.  But  the  word 
denotes  rather  an  instrument  answering  to  the  ancient  sistrum,  which  gave 
forth  a  tinkling  sound  upon  being  shaken. 

For  the  character,  form,  and  office  of  Hebrew  poetry,  see  Companion 
to  the  Bible,  Chap.  21,  Nos.  1-4. 

V.     THE  MEDICAL  ART. 

20.  The  medical  art  was  early  cultivated  in  Egypt.  Accord 
ing  to  Herodotus  (2.  84)  it  was  practised  in  that  country  on  the 
principle  of  division,  each  physician  treating  a  single  disorder ; 
one  diseases  of  the  eye,  another  those  of  the  head,  another  those 
of  the  teeth,  and  so  on.  Of  course  a  special  class  of  physicians 
made  the  art  of  embalming  their  proper  business  (Herod.,  2.  86) ; 
and  these  were  the  men  who  embalmed  Jacob,  and  afterwards 
Joseph  (Gen.  50  :  2,  26).  When  the  Hebrews  left  Egypt  they 
must  have  carried  thence  no  inconsiderable  knowledge  of  the 
healing  art  as  it  then  existed.  Physicians  are  mentioned  in  the 
book  of  Job  (chap.  13 : 4),  and  in  the  later  history  of  the  Israel- 
itish  nation  (2  Chron.  16  : 12 ;  Jer.  8  :  22) ;  and  in  New  Testament 
times  they  constituted  a  regular  profession  in  Palestine  as  else 
where  (Matt.  9  : 12 ;  Mark  5  :  26 :  Luke  4  :  23 ;  Col.  4 : 14 ;  etc.). 
In  ancient  times  the  medical  art  embraced  that  of  surgery  as  its 
most  prominent  branch.  The  physicians  described  by  Homer 
are  skilful  in  extracting  from  the  wound  the  arrow's  point,  in 
cleansing  it  from  gore,  and  in  applying  to  it  soothing  medica 
ments.  Eiad,  4.  213-219.  So*  also  Jeremiah  speaks  of  the  bal 
sam  of  Gilead  in  connection  with  the  physician.  Jer.  8  :  22 ;  and 
compare  2  Kings  8  : 29.  Of  the  practice  of  the  Hebrew  physi 
cians  in  the  treatment  of  diseases  we  know  nothing  with  certainty. 


THE  SCIENCES  AND  ARTS.  461 

21.  It  does  not  come  within  the  plan  of  the  present  work  to 
give  a  list  of  the  diseases  to  which  the  Israelites  were  subject,  in 
common  with  other  nations  of  antiquity.  There  are,  however, 
two  maladies  which  appear  so  prominently  in  scriptural  history 
that  a  few  words  respecting  them  will  be  in  place.  These  are 
leprosy  and  demoniacal  possessions. 

Leprosy  is  a  disease  of  hot  climates,  veiy  prevalent  in  Egypt 
and  the  adjoining  regions.  The  formidable  character  of  the  dis 
ease  in  Moses'  day  may  be  inferred  from  the  minuteness  with 
which  he  describes  the  disease  in  its  various  forms,  the  careful 
ness  with  which  he  distinguishes  it  from  other  maladies,  and  the 
sternness  of  the  seclusion  imposed  upon  those  afflicted  with  it. 
See  Lev.,  chap.  13.  The  interpretation  of  this  chapter  in  its 
details  belongs  to  the  commentator.  We  remark  generally  that 
the  leprosy  here  described  appears  to  have  been  the  white  lep 
rosy,  and  not  the  malignant  disorder  known  as  elephantiasis  of  the 
Greeks.  This  latter  is  an  awful  malady,  beginning  with  dusky 
shining  spots  upon  the  skin ;  succeeded,  after  a  series  of  months 
or  years,  by  soft,  reddish,  livid  tumors ;  and  then  by  ulcers  that 
exude  a  sanious  fluid,  till  at  last  the  joints  of  the  extremities  are 
separated,  and  they  fall  off.  Moses  does  not  hint  at  such  ex 
treme  symptoms,  and  whiteness  of  the  skin  is  everywhere  men 
tioned  as  one  of  the  marks  of  leprosy.  Exod.  4:6;  Numb. 
12  : 10 ;  2  Kings  5  : 27.  Leprosy  was  regarded  as  an  infliction 
from  God,  incurable  by  human  means,  and  rendering  the  sufferer 
ceremonially  as  wreU  as  physically  unclean.  The  seclusion  im 
posed  upon  lepers  has  been  thought  to  indicate  the  infectious 
character  of  the  disease.  But  this  assumption  is  not  sustained 
by  modern  observation.  The  uncleanness  contracted  by  the 
malady,  and  the  painful  fact  that  it  is,  to  a  certain  extent  at 
least,  hereditary,  were  sufficient  grounds  for  the  separation  im 
posed  on  lepers  by  the  Mosaic  law. 

Leprosy  exists  in  modern  Syria  in  all  its  malignity.  See  Thomson,  The 
Land  and  the  Book,  vol.  2,  p.  516,  seq.  But  this  fact  does  not  prove  that 
such  a  form  as  this — the  true  elephantiasis — was  found  in  Moses'  day  in  the 
Israelitish  camp  ;  since  diseases  change  their  type  in  the  same  country  from 


462  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

age  to  age.  We  would  not,  however,  absolutely  deny  that  it  did  ;  since  the 
symptoms  described  by  Moses  have  respect  to  the  beginning  of  the  malady 
rather  than  to  its  termination. 

As  to  the  leprosy  in  houses  and  garments  (Lev.  13 : 47-59 ; 
14 : 34,  seq.),  this  was  not  a  proper  disease,  but  a  decay  of  the 
materials  due  to  some  chemical  change,  perhaps  with  the  pres 
ence  of  living  animalcules),  which  rendered  them  unwholesome 
and  unfit  for  use. 

In  regard  to  the  reality  of  demoniacal  possessions  there  has 
been  much  controversy,  one  class  of  theologians  maintaining  that 
those  recorded  in  the  New  Testament  are  simply  cases  of  insan 
ity,  in  which  the  sufferers  believed  themselves  to  be  under  the 
power  of  demons,  in  whose  name  they  spoke.  But  the  candid 
reader  of  the  New  Testament  must  be  profoundly  impressed  with 
the  conviction  that  the  Saviour  regarded  demoniacal  possessions 
as  a  reality.  The  narrative  of  the  entrance  of  the  demons  into 
the  swine  (Matt.  8  :  28-34 ;  Mark  5  : 1-16)  is  utterly  inconsistent 
with  the  hypothesis  that  they  were  simply  a  figure  of  speech,  as 
some  maintain. 

The  New  Testament  makes  a  distinction  between  lunatics  and  demoniacs 
(Matt.  4  :  24) ;  but  also  ascribes  lunacy  to  the  influence  of  a  demon  (Matt. 
17  : 15,  seq.),  nor  is  there  any  inconsistency  here  ;  for  though  all  demoni 
acs  were  lunatics,  it  does  not  follow  that  all  lunatics  were  demoniacs. 
Unless  we  take  the  Sadducean  ground  of  denying  the  existence  of  all  crea 
ted  spiritual  beings  beyond  the  sphere  of  our  senses,  we  cannot,  with  any 
show  of  reason,  deny  that  some  of  these  beings  may  be  malignant  in  char 
acter,  just  as  is  the  case  among  men.  Nor,  until  we  know  not  only  the 
inmost  essence  of  our  own  material-spiritual  nature,  but  also  the  inmost 
essence  of  the  nature  belonging  to  these  invisible  spiritual  beings,  can  we 
deny  that,  under  certain  conditions  of  the  human  subject,  bodily  and  men 
tal,  they  may  gain  an  overmastering  control  of  him ;  or,  in  scriptural  phra 
seology,  take  possession  of  him,  and  bring  him  into  a  state  analogous  to 
that  of  lunacy,  if  not  identical  with  it. 


TRADE  AND  COMMERCE.  463 


CHAPTEK   XXI. 

TRADE   AND    COMMERCE. 

1.  BEFORE  the  Babylonish  captivity  the  Hebrews  were  emi 
nently  an  agricultural  and  pastoral  people,  living  contentedly 
upon  their  own  soil.     At  the  close  of  the  captivity  a  part  of  the 
Jews  remained  settled  in  foreign  lands  when  then:  brethren  re 
turned  from  exile.     Their  descendants,  increased  by  fresh  colo 
nies  from  Palestine  after  it  had  again  become  full  of  inhabitants, 
spread  themselves  over  all  the  regions  around  the  holy  land — 
Parthia,  Media,  Persia,  Babylonia,  Mesopotamia,  Armenia,  Syria, 
Asia  Minor,  Cyprus,  and  the  ^Egsean  isles,  the  chief  cities  of 
Greece  and  Koine,  and  especially  Alexandria  in  Egypt.     Jose- 
phus  testifies  (Antiq.,  14.  7.  2)  that  in  the  time  of  Sylla  (who  died 
B.  c.  78)  the  Jews  had  filled  the  habitable  world ;  and  he  quotes 
Strabo  as  saying  that  "  this  people  had  now  entered  every  city, 
so  that  one  could  not  easily  find  a  place  in  the  world  which  had 
not  received  this  race  and  was  not  occupied  by  them."     Com 
pare  Acts  2  :  9-11.     These  Jews,  who  also  included  the  remnant 
of  the  ten  tribes,  constituted  "the  Dispersion"  (James  1:1; 
1  Pet.  1 :  1),  or  more  fully  "the  Dispersion  of  the  Gentiles" 
(John  7 : 35).      They  remained  steadfast  in  the  faith  of  theii 
fathers,  acknowledged  Jerusalem  as  their  religious  head,  and 
considered  themselves  as  strangers  and  sojourners.     As  they 
were  settled  chiefly  in  the  cities,  they  naturally  turned  their 
attention  to  trade  and  commerce  rather  than  to  agriculture,  and 
thus  became  emphatically  a  people  of  traffic. 

2.  The  Hebrews  before  the  captivity  were  never  a  commer 
cial  people.     The  chief  ports  of  the  Mediterranean  were  held  on 
the  south  by  the  Egyptians  and  Philistines,  and  on  the  north  by 
the  Tyrians.     Solomon  indeed  established  navies  to  go  to  Ophir 
and  Tarshish  (see  above,  Chap.  8,  No.  24;  Chap.  10,  No.  30),  but 


404  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

it  was  in  conjunction  with  Hiram  king  of  Tyre,  the  Tynans  being, 
as  we  have  seen  (Chap.  10,  No.  27),  the  great  commercial  nation 
of  antiquity. 

3.  In  an  age  when  the  mariner's  compass  was  unknown  (at 
least  in  the  western  world),  navigation  was  confined  to  the  coasts. 
In  the  longest  voyages,  as  those  to  Ophir  in  the  east,  to  Tarshish 
in  the  west,  and  along  the  African  coast,  the  vessels  kept  of 
necessity  near  to  the  land,  creeping  cautiously  along  from  one 
headland  to  another.     Ships  of  war  were  called  long  ships,  be 
cause  they  were  of  a  longer  shape  than  ships  of  burden,  the  latter 
being  more  round  and  deep.     Ships  of  war,  though  furnished 
with  sails,  were  propelled  chiefly  by  oars  (Ca?sar,  Gallic  War, 
3.  13;  4.  25),  of  which  there  were  two,  three,  or  more  banks. 
Merchant  vessels  relied  chiefly  on  sails,  especially  those  of  the 
larger  class.     The  vessel  in  which  Paul  was  wrecked  "  cast  four 
anchors  out  of  the  stern."     This  was  done  in  an  exigency,  and 
was  the  right  course,  the  plan  being  to  run  the  ship  aground  at 
daybreak.    See  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  Art.,  Ship.    The  more  usual 
custom  was  to  anchor  from  the  prow.     .ZEneid,  6,  end.      Under- 
girders  (Acts  27 : 17)  were  cables  or  chains,  which,  in  case  of 
necessity,  could  be  passed  round  the  ship  and  made  tight  for  the 
purpose  of  strengthening  it. 

The  ship  in  which  Paul  was  wrecked  contained  276  souls,  besides  a 
cargo  of  wheat.  Acts  27 : 37,  38.  It  cannot  then  have  been  much  less 
than  five  hundred  tons  burden.  The  ship  in  which  Josephus  was  wrecked 
in  the  same  part  of  the  Mediterranean  (Life,  3)  contained  six  hundred  per 
sons.  There  were  much  larger  ships,  but  their  size  was  exceptional.  See 
the  article  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet,  above  referred  to,  where  the  writer  comes 
to  the  conclusion  that  "if  we  say  an  ancient  merchant-ship  might  range 
from  five  hundred  to  one  thousand  tons,  we  are  clearly  within  the  mark." 

The  standard  work  on  ancient  ships  is  that  of  James  Smith,  Esq.,  of 
Jordanhill,  entitled,  TJie  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,  which  throws 
much  light  on  the  thrilling  narrative  of  that  event  contained  in  the  twenty- 
seventh  chapter  of  the  Acts. 

4.  Commerce  by  overland  routes  was  carried  on  by  means  of 
caravans,  the  beast  of  burden  being  the  camel ;  which  is,  there 
fore,  appropriately  called  the  ship  of  the  desert.     Caravans  for 


TRADE  AND  COMMERCE.  4G5 

mercantile  purposes  are  regularly  organized  bodies  of  merchants 
provided  with  officers,  guides,  and  servants ;  and  attended,  when 
necessary,  by  a  military  escort.  They  sometimes  consist  of  a 
thousand  or  more  persons,  and  several  thousand  camels.  Such 
a  caravan  was  the  company  of  Ishmaelites  and  Midianites  to 
whom  Joseph  w^as  sold.  Gen.  37  :  25-28.  They  were  on  their 
way  from  the  region  east  of  the  Jordan  to  Egypt  by  one  of  the 
roads  travelled  at  the  present  day.  See  above,  Chap.  2,  No.  8. 
Such  also  were  "the  troops  of  Tenia"  and  "the  companies  of 
Sheba"  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Job  (chap.  6:19),  who  are 
represented  as  perishing  from  the  failure  of  the  waters  on  which 
they  had  placed  their  reliance ;  just  as  it  frequently  happens  at 
the  present  day  to  caravans  traversing  the  desert,  where  wells 
are  few  and  widely  separated  from  each  other. 

Among  the  ancient  caravan  routes  were  the  following : 

a.  The  route  from  Upper  Syria  across  the  desert  by  Pal 
myra  to  the  Euphrates.  According  to  Josephus  (Antiq.,  8.  6.  1), 
Palmyra,  the  Tadmor  of  Scripture  (1  Kings  9  : 18 ;  2  Chron.  8  : 4), 
was  two  days'  journey  from  Upper  Syria,  one  day's  journey  from 
the  Euphrates,  and  six  days'  journey  from  Babylon;  and  the 
reason  why  Solomon  built  the  city  in  that  remote  part  of  the 
desert  was  that  lower  down  no  water  is  to  be  had,  but  here  only 
are  found  fountains  and  wells : 

1.  The  route  from  Palestine  into  Egypt  along  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  from  Gaza  to  Pelusium.  There  is  another  more 
circuitous  route  by  the  way  of  Mount  Sinai : 

c.  The  route  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  the  Mediterranean,  by 
which  the  Phoenicians  received  the  goods  of  India.  "  Sometimes 
they  received  them  from  the  Arabians,  who  either  brought  them 
by  land  through  Arabia,  or  up  the  Red  Sea  to  Ezion-geber." 
Jahn,  Archaeology,  §  109. 

The  deserts  of  Africa  and  Arabia  and  the  great  salt  desert  of 
Asia  can  be  traversed  only  in  this  way. 

5.  The  inns  mentioned  in  the  Pentateuch  (Heb.  mdldn,  lodg 
ing-place,  Gen.  42  :  27 ;  43  : 21 ;  Exod.  4 :  24)  were  perhaps  only 
lodging-places  in  the  open,  air  selected  chiefly  for  the  convenience 

20* 


460  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

of  water.  But  the  inns  of  the  New  Testament  (Luke  2:7; 
10  : 34)  correspond  to  the  modern  khans  or  caravanserai*,  spacious 
buildings  constructed  simply  for  the  convenience  of  caravans 
carrying  with  them  their  own  provisions  for  man  and  beast. 
They  are,  therefore,  as  a  rule,  utterly  unfurnished,  offering  to  the 
traveller  nothing  but  shelter ;  though  some  of  the  modern  khans 
"  are  inhabited  by  a  keeper  who  sells  coffee,  provisions,  and  the 
like,  to  the  guests,  so  far  as  they  may  need ;  and  furnishes  them 
with  fire  and  the  means  of  cooking  for  themselves."  Robinson, 
Bib.  Res.,  vol.  2,  p.  487. 

6.  Weights  and  measures  are  absolutely  necessary7  for  trade 
and  commerce.  We  find  them  in  existence  in  Abraham's  day 
(Gen.  18  :  6 ;  23  : 10 ;  24  :  22) ;  and  in  the  Pentateuch  they  every 
where  appear  as  a  well-developed  system.  The  exact  determi 
nation  of  Hebrew  weights  and  measures,  especially  of  those  in 
use  before  the  captivity,  is  a  matter  of  great  difficulty.  Wo  give 
below  the  common  tables  of  Hebrew  weights,  measures,  and 
coins,  remarking,  however,  that  they  are  to  be  considered  only 
as  approximations  to  the  truth. 

TABLES  OF  WEIGHTS,  MEASUKES,  AND  MONEY, 
MENTIONED  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

1.  JEWISH  WEIGHTS,  REDUCED  TO  ENGLISH  TROY  WEIGHTS. 

Ibs.    oz.  pen.  gr. 

The  gerah,  one-twentieth  of  a  shekel 0      0      0    12 

Bekah,  half  a  shekel -0050 

Theshekel -0      0    10      0 

The  maneh,  60  shekels 2600 

The  talent,  50  manehs,  or  3,000  shekels 125      000 

2.  SCRIPTURE  MEASURES  OF  LENGTH,  REDUCED  TO  ENGLISH  MEASURE. 

Eng.  ft.  Inches. 

Adigit 0  0.912 

4  =  Apalm ---     0  3.648 

12=      3  =  Aspan •     0  10.944 

24=      6=      2  =  Acubit 1  9.888 

96=    24=      8=    4  =  Afathom 7  3.552 

144=    36=    12=    6  =  1.5  =  Ezekiel's  reed 10  11.328 

192=    48=    16=    8=     2=    1.3  =  An  Arabian  pole--              -14  7.104 

1920  =  480  =  160  =  80  =  20  =  13.3  =  10  A  measuring  line 145  11.04 


TRADE  AND  COMMERCE.  467 

3.  THE  LONG  SCRIPTURE  MEASURES. 

Eng.  miles.  Paces.  Feet 

Acubit 0  0  1.824 

400  =  A  stadium,  or  furlong 0  145  4.6 

2000=      5  =  A  sabbath-day's  journey ---  0  729  3 

4000=    10=    2  =  An  eastern  mile 1  403  1 

12000=    30=    6  =  3  =  A  parasang 4  153  3 

96000  =  240  =  48  =  24  =  8  =  A  day's  journey 33  172  4 

NOTE.— 5  feet  =  1  pace;  1,053  paces  =  1  mile. 

4.  SCRIPTURE  MEASURES  OF  CAPACITY  FOR  LIQUIDS.  REDUCED  TO 
ENGLISH  WINE  MEASURE. 

Gal.    Pints. 

Acaph - - 0  0.625 

1.3  =  A  log 0  0.833 

5.3=      4  =  Acab 0  3.333 

16     =    12=      3  =  Ahin 1  2 

32     =    24=      6=    2  =  Aseah -'-- 2  4 

96     =    72=    18=    6=    3  =  A  bath,  ephah,  or  firkin--         7  4.50 

960     =  720  =  180  =  60  =  30  =  10  =  A  kor,  chores,  or  homer 75  5.25 

6.  SCRIPTURE  MEASURES  OF  CAPACITY  FOR  THINGS  DRY,  REDUCED  TO 
ENGLISH  CORN  MEASURE. 

Bu.  Pks.  Gal.     Pints. 

Agachal 000      0.141 

20  =  Acab 0      0      0      2.833 

36=      1.8  =  An  omer,  or  gomer - 0      0      0      5.1 

120=      6     =      3.3  =  Aseah -0101 

360=    18     =10     =    3  =  An  ephah 0      303 

1800=    90     =50     =15=    5  =  Aletech 4      001 

3600=180     =100     =30  =  10  =  2  =  A  homer,  or  kor---  8      001 


6.  JEWISH  MONEY,  REDUCED  TO  THE  ENGLISH  AND  AMERICAN  < 

STANDARDS. 

£  s.           d.  $     cts. 

Agerah 0  0  1.3687  002.5 

10  =  Abekah 0  1  1.6875  025.09 

20=        2  =  A  shekel 0  2  3.375  050.187 

1200  =    120  =      50  =  A  maneh,  or  mina  Hebr.       5  14  0.75  25  09.35 

60000  =  GOOO  =  3000  =  60  =  A  talent 342  3  9  1505  62.5 

A  solidus  aureus,  or  sextula,  was  worth 0  12  0.5  264.09 

A  siclus  aureus,  or  gold  shekel,  was  worth 1  16  6  803 

A  talent  of  gold  was  worth 5475  0  0         2430900 

In  the  preceding  table,  silver  is  valued  at  5s.  and  gold  at  £4  per  ounce. 


468  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

7.  ROMAN  MONEY,  MENTIONED  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT,  REDUCED  TO 
THE  ENGLISH  AND  AMERICAN  STANDARDS. 

£  s.    d.    far.  $    cts. 

Amite - 0  0    0    0.75        000.343 

A  farthing,  about 0  0    0    1.50        000.687 

A  penny,  or  denarius 0  072  013.75 

A  pound,  or  mina 3  260  1375 

REMARK.  The  ancient  Egyptian  cubit  is  known  to  us  from 
specimens  preserved  in  the  tombs.  "  No  great  difference,"  says 
a  writer  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary  (Article,  Weights  and  Meas 
ures),  "  is  exhibited  in  these  measures,  the  longest  being  estima 
ted  at  about  21  inches,  and  the  shortest  at  about  20  J,  or  exactly 
20.4729  inches  (Wilkinson,  Anc.  Eg.,  2.  258)."  There  is  a  strong 
presumption  that  the  old  Hebrew  cubit  (2  Chron.  3 : 3)  must 
have  agreed  with  this,  and  cannot,  therefore,  have  exceeded  21 
inches.  Keil  (Archaologie,  §  126)  estimates  it  at  about  214.512 
Persian  lines,  or  a  trifle  over  19  inches  English  measure.  But 
Jahn  (Archaeology,  §113)  and  Saalschiitz  (Archaologie,  59.  2) 
reckon  the  old  Hebrew  cubit  from  the  elbow  to  the  wrist,  which 
would  make  it  not  over  a  foot.  After  the  captivity  another 
cubit  was  in  use,  as  is  plain  from  the  words  of  2  Chron.  3 : 3, 
where  we  are  told  that  the  cubits  giving  the  dimensions  of  Sol 
omon's  temple  are  "  after  the  ancient  measure."  The  angel 
whom  Ezekiel  sees  in  vision  during  the  captivity  has  a  measur 
ing-reed  in  his  hand  "  six  cubits  long  by  the  cubit  and  a  hand- 
breadth."  Chap.  40  :  5.  Is  this  the  Hebrew  cubit  with  the  ad 
dition  of  a  hand-breadth  to  make  the  Babylonian  cubit,  or  the 
^Babylonian  cubit  with  a  hand-breadth  added  to  make  the  Hebrew 
cubit  ?  If,  as  is  natural  to  suppose,  the  angel  uses  the  cubit  of 
the  covenant  people,  we  must  suppose  the  latter.  The  reader 
will  find  this  subject  discussed  more  at  large  in  Smith's  Bible 
Dictionary,  under  the  article  Weights  and  Measures. 


PATRIARCHAL  FORM   OF  GOVERNMENT.        469 


SECOND    DIVISION 

CIVIL  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTEE  XXII. 

THE   PATRIARCHAL   FORM.   OF    GOVERNMENT. 

1.  THE  terras  of  the  covenant  made  by  God  with  Abraham 
for  himself  and  his  posterity  are  as  follows  :  "  I  will  establish  my 
covenant  between  me  and  thee,  and  thy  seed  after  thee,  in  their 
generations,  for  an  everlasting  covenant ;  to  be  a  God  unto  thee, 
and  to  thy  seed  after  thee.  And  I  will  give  unto  thee,  and  to 
thy  seed  after  thee,  the  land  whereon  thou  art  a  stranger,  all  the 
land  of  Canaan,  for  an  everlasting  possession;  and  I  will  be 
their  God."  Gen.  17  :  7,  8.  The  reader  will  notice  that  this  was 
a  sovereign  act  of  God's  grace,  and  thus  was  equivalent  to  a 
promise.  Gal.  3 : 16.  But  inasmuch  as  the  blessings  which  it 
contains  are  conditioned  on  the  obedience  of  Abraham  and  his 
children  after  him  (Gen.  18 : 19),  and  thus  the  action  of  two  par 
ties — that  of  God  on  the  one  side,  and  that  of  Abraham's  seed 
on  the  other — is  involved  in  its  fulfilment,  it  is  properly  called  a 
covenant ;  but  not  a  covenant  in  such  a  sense  that  it  could  be 
annulled  at  the  will  of  either  party.  God  could  not  annul  it, 
because  it  was  originally  made  with  Abraham  as  "  an  everlast 
ing  covenant."  The  Israelitish  people  could  not  annul  it,  but 
only  deprive  themselves  of  its  blessings  by  their  disobedience. 

In  the  transaction  between  God  and  the  Israelites  recorded  in  Exodus 
(chap.  19  :  5-9),  God  says,  on  his  part :  "If  ye  will  obey  my  voice  indeed, 
and  keep  my  covenant,  then  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  treasure  unto  me  above 


470  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

all  people  :  for  all  the  earth  is  mine  :  and  ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  kingdom 
of  priests,  and  a  holy  nation."  And  the  people  reply  on  their  part: 
"All  that  the  Lord  hath  spoken  we  will  do  ;"  which  words  Moses  returns 
to  the  Lord,  and  then  he  proceeds  to  give  them  the  law  from  Sinai.  We 
must  not  interpret  this  transaction  as  if  God  left  it  to  the  free  election  of 
the  people  whether  they  would  or  would  not  have  him  for  their  covenant 
God,  in  such  a  sense  that,  if  they  did  not  choose  his  service,  they  might 
be  released  from  their  special  relation  to  him,  and  become  like  the  other 
nations  of  the  earth.  This  would  involve  the  absurdity  of  supposing  that 
God  gave  to  Abraham's  posterity  the  opportunity  of  abrogating  the  ever 
lasting  covenant  made  with  their  father  and  confirmed  with  sacrifices  and 
a  solemn  oath.  Gen.  15  :  8-21 ;  22  : 15-18.  The  true  purport  of  the  trans 
action  was  rather  to  set  forth  before  the  Israelites  the  great  truth  that  the 
blessings  of  the  covenant  were  conditioned  on  their  obedience,  and  that 
this  obedience  must  be  their  own  free  and  hearty  act.  In  the  same  way 
Joshua,  after  the  giving  of  the  law,  proposed  to  the  people  the  service  of 
Jehovah  as  something  that  must  be  sincere  and  hearty  to  be  acceptable  : 
"Now,  therefore,"  says  he,  after  recounting  to  them  the  past  dealings  of 
Jehovah,  "fear  the  Lord,  and  serve  him  in  sincerity  and  in  truth ;  and 
put  away  the  gods  which  your  fathers  served  on  the  other  side  of  the 
flood,  and  in  Egypt ;  and  serve  ye  the  Lord.  And  if  it  be  evil  unto  you 
to  serve  the  Lord,  choose  you  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve,"  etc.  Josh. 
24 : 14,  15. 

2.  The  supremacy  which  God  claimed  over  the  covenant 
people  was  absolute,  extending  to  all  their  civil  as  well  as  their 
religious  institutions.      From  the  nature  of  the  case,  however, 
the  Mosaic  laws  are  far  more  numerous  and  fundamental  in 
the  sphere  of  religion  than  of  purely  civil  life.     When  God  led 
the  Israelites  out  of  Egypt,  he  found  them  under  the  patriarchal 
form  of  government.      This  form   he  left  for  the   time  being 
untouched  in  all  its  essential  features,  simply  modifying  some 
of  its  usages,  that,  for  example,  which  related  to  the  avenger 
of  blood  (Numb.,  chap.  35),  the  law  of  the  levirate   (Deut. 
25 :  5-10),  etc.;  and  superadding  what  was  needed ;  as  for  exam- 

•ple,  judges  in  the  different  cities.  Deut.  16  : 18.  The  patriarchal 
form  of  government,  then,  is  that  wliich  first  claims  our  atten 
tion. 

3.  The  patriarchal  form  of  government  grows  naturally  out 
of  the  family;  is,  in  truth,  but  an  expansion  of  it  into  tribes 


PATRIARCHAL  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT.        471 

or  clans  with  their  various  divisions  and  subdivisions,  each  oi 
them  haying  its  own  chieftain,  generally  according  to  the  law 
of  primogeniture.  It  follows  from  the  very  constitution  of  this 
form  of  government  that  the  family  relation  must  constitute 
the  great  bond  of  union.  This  unites,  first  of  all,  the  different 
tribes,  as  descendants  of  a  common  ancestor,  then  the  various 
divisions  and  subdivisions  still  more  intimately.  The  predom 
inant  spirit  is  that  of  attachment  to  one/s  particular  clan,  in 
stead  of  loyalty  to  a  common  government,  as  in  our  modern 
civilization.  It  is  obvious  that  under  such  a  system  the  growth 
of  the  nation  must  continually  weaken  the  ties  which  bind 
together  its  several  parts ;  and  that  without  some  counteracting 
influence,  such  as  that  provided  by  the  Mosaic  theocracy,  the 
final  result  must  be  jealousies,  feuds,  and  a  succession  of  deso 
lating  wars  between  the  different  tribes.  All  this  is  illustrated 
by  the  history  of  the  Arabian  tribes,  of  the  clans  of  Scotland, 
and  of  our  own  aborigines. 

4.  When  the  Israelites  left  Egypt  they  had  increased  to  a 
nation  of  some  two  and  a  half  millions.  The  primary  division 
was  into  tribes  which  bore  the  names  of  Jacob's  sons.  These 
were  again  divided  into  families,  and  the  families  into  houses,  or 
more  fully,  fathers'  houses. 

The  Israelitish  tribes  are  uniformly  reckoned  as  twelve,  from  the  twelve 
sons  of  Jacob.  Gen.  49  :  28  ;  Exod.  24  :  4  ;  28  :  21 ;  Numb.  1 :  44 ;  Acts 
26 : 7 ;  Jas.  1:1;  etc.  But  inasmuch  as  Jacob  adopted  the  two  sons  of 
Joseph,  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  and  thus  made  them  heads  of  two  tribes 
(Gen.  48  : 5,  6),  the  number  of  the  tribes  including  Levi  was  properly 
thirteen.  The  Levites,  however,  had  no  inheritance  with  their  brethren, 
being  distributed  throughout  the  land  in  cities  assigned  to  them  (Numb. , 
chap.  35);  so  that  the  number  of  the  tribes  reckoned  according  to  the 
division  of  the  land  of  Canaan  remained  twelve. 

The  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  the  tribes  may  be  learned  very  defi 
nitely  from  two  passages.  When  it  was  to  be  ascertained  for  whose  sin 
the  Israelites  had  been  discomfited  before  Ai,  God  directed  that  it  should 
be  done  by  lot.  First,  Israel  was  brought  by  tribes,  and  the  tribe  of 
Judah  was  taken  :  then'  the  families  of  Judah  were  brought,  and  the  lot 
fell  upon  the  family  of  the  Zarhites :  next  the  house  of  Zabdi,  one  of  the 
divisions  of  the  family  of  the  Zarhites,  was  taken.  It  now  remained  to 


472  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

bring  tlio  men  of  Zabdi's  house,  each  of  whom  stood  at  the  head  of  a 
household,  and  Achan  was  taken.  Josh.  7  : 16-18.  When  again,  at  sin 
earlier  period,  the  Israelites  were  to  be  numbered,  Mosos  was  directed 
(Numb.  1 :  2)  to  take  the  sum  of  the  congregation  "  after  their  families,  by 
the  house  of  their  fathers  "  (or,  as  we  might  better  render,  by  their  fathers' 
houses);  and  twelve  men,  one  from  each  tribe,  were  appointed  to  preside 
over  the  work.  We  learn  also  from  the  second  numbering  (Numb. ,  chap. 
26)  that  the  number  of  families  belonging  to  the  twelve  tribes,  the  eight 
families  of  Levi  (Numb.,  chap.  3)  being  excluded,  was  fifty-seven.  These 
families  were  named  mostly  from  the  sons  of  the  founders  of  the  several 
tribes,  but  partly  from  their  grandsons;  and  in  the  case  of  Gilead's  six 
sons  from  the  great-grandsons.  The  number  and  names  of  the  tribes 
remained  constant  throughout  the  history  of  the  ancient  Hebrews.  But 
the  less  divisions  were  apparently  subject  to  changes  through  the  extinc 
tion  of  old  families  and  houses  and  the  rise  of  new  ones.  The  family  of 
Matri,  for  example,  to  which  Saul  belonged  (1  Sam.  10  : 21),  is  not  named 
among  the  old  families  of  Benjamin.  Numb.  26  :  38-41. 

To  avoid  confusion,  it  is  further  important  to  notice  that  the  term 
family  is  used  in  a  general  sense,  as  well  as  in  the  special  technical  sense 
above  defined.  God  says  to  Abraham  (Gen.  12:3),  "In  thee  shall  all 
families  of  the  earth  be  blessed,"  where  the  word  families  is  equivalent  to 
nations.  Again,  the  word  family  is  used  loosely  for  a  tribe,  as  when  "  the 
family  of  Judah  "  is  spoken  of,  Josh.  7  : 17.  The  term  father's  house,  or 
in  the  plural  fathers'  houses,  is  also  used  not  only  technically  of  the  divis 
ions  of  the  families  belonging  to  a  tribe,  but  also  more  generally  of  the 
leading  father's  house  of  a  tribe,  under  which  was  comprehended  the  whole 
tribe  (Numb.  1:4;  17  :  2— in  the  Heb.  text,  17  :  7— Josh.  22  : 14) ;  and  of 
the  leading  father's  house  of  a  family,  under  which  was  comprehended  the 
whole  family.  Numb.  3  :  24,  30,  35. 

5.  At  the  suggestion  of  Jethro  (Exod.  18 : 13,  seq.),  Moses 
appointed  "rulers  of  thousands,  rulers  of  hundreds,  rulers  of 
fifties,  and  rulers  of  tens,"  whose  special  office  was  to  act  as 
judges.  As  this  was  a  division  of  the  people  for  civil  and  not 
for  military  purposes,  we  have  a  right  to  assume  that  it  was 
ingrafted  upon  the  existing  organization  of  the  tribes,  and  that 
the  first  division  coincided  with  that  of  the  families.  With  this 
assumption  agrees  the  fact  that  the  families  are  frequently 
designated  by  the  term  thousands.  Thus  Samuel  directs  the 
people  to  present  themselves  before  the  Lord  by  their  tribes 
and  by  their  thousands.  1  Sam.  10 : 19.  In  accordance  with 


PATRIARCHAL  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT.        473 

this  direction  the  Israelites  (ver.  21)  first  come  by  tribes,  when 
the  tribe  of  Benjamin  is  taken ;  then  this  tribe  conies  by  fam 
ilies,  when  the  family  of  Matri  is  taken.  Here  it  is  plain  that 
the  thousands  of  ver.  19  are  the  families  of  ver.  21.  So  also 
when  the  princes  of  the  tribes  are  called  "heads  of  thousands 
in  Israel"  (Nurnb.  1:16;  10:4),  the  meaning  is  heads  of  the 
thousands,  that  is,  families,  which  constituted  the  primary  divis 
ion  of  the  tribes. 

For  explanation  of  this  use  of  the  term  thousand  we  may  conveniently 
begin  with  the  smallest  division,  that  of  lens.  This  obviously  consisted 
not  of  ten  individuals  "from  twenty  years  old  and  upwards"  (a  number 
too  inconsiderable  for  judicial  purposes),  but  of  ten  heads  of  families  with 
their  sons  and  in  some  instances  grandsons  ;  or,  in  the  case  of  elder  broth 
ers,  with  their  younger  brothers  and  sons.  Thus  Jesse  of  Beth-lehem 
with  his  seven  sons  (according  to  1  Sam.  16  : 10,  his  eight  sons)  constituted 
one  in  a  division  of  tens.  The  enrolled  men  in  a  division  of  tens,  consist 
ing  of  those  who  were  twenty  years  old  and  upwards,  would  thus  consti 
tute  a  number  varying  between  less  and  more  than  a  hundred.  Assuming 
105  as  the  average,  we  have  for  the  hundreds  1,050,  and  for  the  thousands 
10,500,  and  for  57  families  or  thousands  598,500.  This  comes  very  near 
to  the  sum  of  the  fifty-seven  families  of  the  second  census  (Numb.,  chap. 
26),  which  was  601,730.  As  the  tens  constituted  a  variable  number  of 
individuals,  so  did  the  hundreds  and  thousands.  1  Sam.  9 : 21 ;  Micah 
5:2. 

6.  Each  tribe  and  division  of  a  tribe  had  its  chief,  who  seems 
to  have  held  his  office,  as  a  general  rule,  according  to  the  law 
of  primogeniture.  The  proper  title  for  the  chief  of  a  tribe  is 
prince  (Heb.,  nasi,  variously  rendered  in  our  version  prince,  ruler, 
chief),  less  frequently  head  (Heb.,  rosh).  The  chiefs  of  the  less 
divisions  are  called  heads,  and  occasionally  princes.  Numb. 
3  : 24,  30,  35 ;  16  :  2.  These  chiefs  of  the  different  tribes,  fam 
ilies,  and  fathers'  houses  constitute  -collectively  the  elders  of 
Israel;  those  of  a  particular  tribe,  the  elders  of  that  tribe;  and, 
after  the  settlement  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  those  of  a  particular 
city,  the  elders  of  that  city.  The  elders  are  the  representatives 
of  the  people.  "When  Moses  addresses  the  whole  congregation 
of  the  Israelites  he  does  this  through  their  elders.  So  he  and 
Aaron  are  directed  (Exod.  12  : 3)  to  speak  unto  "  all  the  congre- 


474  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

gation  of  Israel ;"  and  in  pursuance  of  this  command  Moses  calls 
(ver.  21)  for  "  all  the  elders  of  Israel,"  and  communicates  to  them 
God's  message.  In  Deut.  31 :  28,  the  elders  of  Israel,  with  their 
officers  (see  below),  represent,  in  like  manner,  the  whole  people ; 
and  the  song  which  Moses  recites  in  their  hearing  he  is  said  (ver. 
30)  to  speak  "  in  the  ears  of  all  the  congregation  of  Israel."  God 
elsewhere  directs  (Numb.  10  :  3,  4)  that  when  a  signal  is  given  by 
blowing  with  the  two  silver  trumpets,  "  all  the  assembly "  shall 
assemble  themselves  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congre 
gation;  but  when  one  trumpet  only  is  used,  "the  princes,  heads 
of  the  thousands  of  Israel,"  shall  assemble  themselves.  It  is 
obvious  that  here  "all  the  assembly"  means  all  the  elders  of 
Israel,  in  distinction  from  the  assembly  of  the  princes  of  the 
tribes.  And,  in  general,  the  whole  congregation  of  the  Israelites, 
assembled  for  the  transaction  of  business,  consists  of  their  repre 
sentatives  in  the  persons  of  the  whole  body  of  elders,  unless 
indeed  there  is  a  specification  like  that  contained  in  the  follow 
ing  words :  "  Gather  the  people  together,  men,  and  women,  and 
children,  and  thy  stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates"  (Deut. 
31 : 12),  where  the  law  is  to  be  read  in  the  hearing  of  the  whole 
multitude,  the  people  being  doubtless  divided  into  sections  with 
a  competent  number  of  expositors.  Compare,  Neh.  8  :  7. 

Mention  is  made  (Numb.  1 : 16  ;  16  ;  2)  of  the  called  of  the  congregation 
(not,  as  in  our  version,  renowned  of  the  congregation  and  famous  of  the  con 
gregation],  who  are  also  designated  in  the  latter  passage  as  men  of  reputa 
tion.  These  called  of  the  congregation  are  those  who  were  customarily  called 
to  the  assembly  of  the  elders,  and  who  thus  represented  the  whole  people. 

7.  Mention  is  made  very  early  in  the  history  of  the  Israelites 
of  a  class  of  men  called  officers.  The  Hebrew  name  (shbterwi) 
properly  denotes  scrifas  or  registrars.  They  appear  in  the  double 
capacity  of  registrars  and  also  administrators.  The  officers  of 
the  Israelites  in  Egypt  (Exod.,  chap.  5)  are  men  of  then-  own 
nation  set  over  them  by  the  Egyptian  taskmasters,  whose  busi 
ness  it  is  to  enforce  the  performance  of  the  daily  tasks  laid  upon 
the  people  by  their  oppressors,  and  to  render  to  the  taskmasters 
an  account  of  the  same.  As  registrars  they  keep  an  account  of 


PATRIARCHAL  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT.        475 

the  work,  and  as  administrators  they  are  responsible  for  its  per 
formance.  At  a  later  period  they  appear  as  executing  the  com 
mands  of  Joshua  (Josh.  1 : 10 ;  3  :  2),  and  of  the  commander  in 
war  (Deut.  20  :  5,  8,  9).  The  same  executive  capacity  is  assumed 
in  Solomon's  advice  to  the  sluggard  (Prov.  6 : 6-7) :  "  Go  to  the 
ant,  thou  sluggard ;  consider  her  ways,  and  be  wise :  which  having 
no  judge,  officer,  or  ruler,  provideth  her  meat  in  the  summer,  and 
gathereth  her  food  in  the  harvest."  The  officers  are  closely  asso 
ciated  with  the  judges  in  the  Old  Testament :  "  Judges  and  officers 
shalt  thou  make  thee  in  all  thy  gates."  Deut.  16  : 18,  and  com 
pare  Deut.  1 : 15.  The  relation  of  the  officers  to  the  judges  is 
nowhere  denned  in  the  Old  Testament.  They  seem  to  have 
assisted  the  judges  not  only  as  scribes  and  registrars,  but  also 
as  counsellors ;  and  to  have  been  charged  with  carrying  their 
decisions  into  execution. 

The  officers  held  their  office  by  election,  though  the  manner  of  the 
election  is  not  specified.  They  seem  'to  have  been  selected,  as  a  rule, 
from  among  the  elders,  as  were  the  judges  appointed  at  Jethro's  sugges 
tion,  Deut.  1 : 15.  "We  cannot,  however,  infer  from  the  record  of  the 
appointment  of  the  seventy  elders  in  the  wilderness  (Nuinb.  11 : 16)  that 
this  was  always  the  case.  The  direction  of  God  to  Moses  :  "  Gather  unto 
me  seventy  men  of  the  elders  of  Israel,  whom  thou  knowest  to  be  elders 
of  the  people  and  their  officers,"  can  only  prove  that  the  men  selected  on 
this  special  occasion  must  be  elders  who  were  also  officers. 

It  is  a  common  and  not  improbable  supposition  that  these  officers  had 
the  charge  of  the  genealogical  tables.*  "As  the  writers  and  keepers  of 
the  genealogical  lists,  they  had  to  assist  in  levying  troops  for  military 
service,  and  to  mark  off  those  whom  the  law  excused.  Deut.  20  :  5,  com 
pared  with  2  Chron.  19  : 11.  They  had  also  to  stand  by  the  side  of  the 
judges  when  they  administered  the  law,  because  all  questions  of  property 
and  many  other  judicial  proceedings  were  connected  with  families  and 
correct  lineal  descent.  After  the  time  of  David  both  they  and  the  judges 
were  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively  chosen  from  the  Levites."  Keil  on  Josh. 
1:10. 

8.  During  the  sojourn  in  Egypt  the  Hebrews  did  not  feel  the 
need  of  a  special  class  of  men  to  act  as  judges.  In  accordance 
with  patriarchal  usage,  their  elders  administered  justice  so  far  as 
jurisdiction  was  allowed  them  by  the  Egyptians.  But  upon  their 


476  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

emergence  from  a  state  of  bondage  to  one  of  self-government 
questions  of  a  judicial  nature  began  to  multiply,  and  these  were 
by  common  consent  referred  to  Moses,  till,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Jethro,  he  appointed,  as  we  have  seen,  "rulers  of  thousands, 
rulers  of  hundreds,  rulers  of  fifties,  and  rulers  of  tens,"  whose 
office  was  to  "judge  the  people  at  all  seasons."  The  hard  causes 
they  were  to  bring  to  Moses,  but  the  small  matters  they  were  to 
judge  among  themselves.  Exod.  18  :  21-26. 

The  question  lias  been  raised  :  What  was  the  relation  to  each  other  of 
this  series  of  courts  ?  According  to  some,  appeals  lay  from  the  judges 
over  tens  to  the  next  higher  court,  and  so  on.  According  to  others,  "  the 
judges  over  tens  could  decide  only  matters  of  very  little  importance ;  the 
judge  over  fifties,  greater  questions  ;  the  judge  over  hundreds,  still  weight 
ier,"  etc.  Knobel  on  Exod.  18  :  21,  seq.  Another,  and  perhaps  the  most 
probable  opinion,  is  that  the  difference  between  these  courts  lay  in  the 
extent  of  their  jurisdiction — that  the  judges  over  thousands  settled  differ 
ences  that  arose  between  the  families  constituting  the  first  great  division 
of  a  tribe  ;  the  next  two  lower  courts,  controversies  among  the  less  divis 
ions  ;  while  the  courts  of  tens  took  cognizance  of  crime  and  controversies 
within  its  own  proper  section,  the  final  appeal  in  difficult  matters  being 
from  each  of  the  courts  to  Moses.  See  Keil,  Archaol. ,  §  149. 

Upon  the  entrance  of  the  people  into  the  land  of  Canaan  this 
arrangement  necessarily  underwent  a  modification.  In  antici 
pation  of  this  Moses  commanded :  "  Judges  and  officers  shalt 
thou  make  thee  in  all  thy  gates" — the  gates,  as  places  of  public 
resort,  being  opportune  for  the  exercise  of  judgment — "which 
the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee  throughout  thy  tribes ;  and  they 
shall  judge  the  people  with  just  judgment."  Deut.  16  : 18. 

Neither  the  number  of  the  judges  nor  the  manner  of  their  appoint 
ment  is  specified.  Under  the  commonwealth  they  were  probably  chosen 
by  the  elders,  and  selected,  as  a  rule,  from  among  their  number.  Deut. 
1 : 15.  Joseplms  says  that  they  were  seven  in  number,  with  two  assist 
ants.  "Let  seven  men  preside  in  each  city  who  have  been  previously 
trained  in  virtue  and  in  the  love  of  justice ;  and  to  every  court  let  two 
assistants  be  given  from  the  tribe  of  the  Levites. "  Autiq,,  4.  8.  14.  By 
the  assistants  he  probably  understands  the  officers  associated  with  the 
judges  in  the  original  appointment.  This  statement  of  Josephus  is  evi 
dently  taken  from  the  late*  usages  of  the  Jews.  According  to  the  Talmud 
there  were  two  local  courts :  a  greater,  for  the  large  cities,  consisting  of 


PATKIA11CHAL  FOKM  OF  GOVERNMENT.        477 

hvrnty-three  men,  and  a  smaller  for  the  towns  and  smallest  cities.  See  Keil, 
Archiiol.,  $149,  who  adds  that  "probably  the  number  of  the  judges  varied 
in  the  different  cities,  and  corresponded  only  generally  with  the  number 
of  the  inhabitants,  according  to  the  rule:  judges  over  tens,  fifties,  etc." 
After  the  settlement  of  the  people  in  Canaan,  the  final  appeal  in  difficult 
cases  was,  before  the  time  of  the  kings,  to  the  high  priest  who  resided  at 
the  tabernacle,  or  to  the  extraordinary  judges  mentioned  below.  Dent. 
17  : 8-13. 

9.  It  remains  to  speak  of  those  extraordinary  rulers  whom 
God  raised  up  from  time  to  time  in  great  emergencies,  that  he 
might  accomplish  through  them  his  gracious  purposes  towards 
the  covenant  people.  Foremost  among  these  in  time,  and  in  the 
dignity  of  his  office,  is  Moses.  The  twofold  office  committed  to 
him  is  clearly  indicated  'in  the  sacred  record.  First,  he  is  sent 
to  deliver  the  Israelites  from  their  bondage  to  the  Egyptians. 
"Behold,"  says  God  to  him,  "the  cry  of  the  children  of  Israel  is 
come  unto  me ;  and  I  have  also  seen  the  oppression  wherewith 
the  Egyptians  oppress  them.  Come  now,  therefore,  and  I  will 
send  thee  unto  Pharaoh,  that  thou  mayest  bring  forth  my  peo 
ple,  the  children  of  Israel,  out  of  Egypt."  Exod.  3  : 9,  10.  How 
he  executed  this  part  of  his  office,  with  the  miraculous  help  of 
Jehovah,  is  familiar  to  all.  Secondly,  he  is  the  mediator  of  the 
covenant  established  at  Mount  Sinai  between  God  and  his  peo 
ple.  God  began  by  addressing  the  people  directly  from  amid 
the  thunders  and  lightnings  of  Sinai.  But  they  could  not  en 
dure  this  mode  of  communication.  "  Speak  thou  with  us,"  was 
their  petition  to  Moses,  "and  we  will  hear;  but  let  not  God 
speak  with  us,  lest  wre  die."  Exod.  20  : 19.  In  reply  the  Lord 
said:  "They  have  well  spoken  that  which  they  have  spoken" 
(Deut.  5  :  28 ;  18  :  17) ;  and  immediately  added :  "  I  will  raise 
them  up  a  prophet  from  among  their  brethren,  like  unto  thee, 
and  will  put  my  words  in  his  mouth ;  and  he  shall  speak  unto 
them  all  that  I  shall  command  them.  And  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  that  whosoever  will  not  hearken  unto  my  words  which  he 
shall  speak  in  my  name,  I  will  require  it  of  him."  Deut.  18 : 18, 
19.  The  two  essential  things  here  (so  far  as  the  mode  of  com 
munication  is  concerned)  are  that  God  will  henceforth  commu- 


478  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

nicate  with  man  through  the  medium  of  man;  and  that  such 
communications  have  the  same  authority  as  they  would  have 
were  he  to  address  man  directly,  as  he  did  on  Sinai.  The  Great 
Prophet  of  the  latter  days  is  to  be  a  man  speaking  in  God's 
name  to  his  brethren ;  and  the  promise  of  such  a  Prophet  con 
tains  in  itself  the  pledge  that,  until  his  advent,  God  will  make 
all  needful  communications  to  his  people  through  men  like  them 
selves.  ' 
In  both  of  the  above  offices  Moses  was  an  eminent  type  of 
Christ ;  and  in  neither  of  them  could  he,  from  their  very  nature, 
have  any  successor  until  the  appearance  of  his  great  Antitype. 
See  Deut.  34  : 10-12. 

10.  The  office  of  Joshua  was  also  twofold.     He  was  the  mili 
tary  leader  of 'the  people  in  the  conquest  of  Canaan  (Josh.,  chaps. 
1-12),  and  afterwards  their  civil  ruler  in  the  distribution  of  the 
land  among  the  several  tribes  (Josh.,  chaps.  13-24).     To  tin's 
office  he  was  called  by  God  himself  (Numb.  27  : 18-23),  and  from 
its  nature  he  had  no  successor. 

11.  After  the  death  of  Joshua  and  the  elders  who  survived 
him  there  was  a  succession  of  judges  in  an  eminent  sense,  who  had 
general  authority  over  the  nation;  or,  perhaps  in  the  case  of 
some  of  them,  over  a  section  of  the  nation.    The  book  of  Judges 
records  the  names  of  twelve,  that  of  Abimelech  being  excluded, 
namely:   Othniel,  Ehud,  Shamgar,   Barak   with  Deborah  the 
prophetess,  Gideon,  Tola,  Jair,  Jephthah,  Ibzan,  Elon,  Abdon, 
Samson;  and  the  first  book  of  Samuel  adds  those  of  Eli  and 
Samuel.    Most  of  these  men  were  called  by  God  himself  to  their 
office  in  times  of  national  calamity ;  and  their  first  work  was  to 
deliver  the  Israelites  from  their  oppressors.     They  began,  there 
fore,  as  military  leaders ;  but,  after  the  settlement  of  the  people 
in  peace,  they  exercised  an  authority  wliich  was  freely  accorded 
to  them,  and  which  was  general  and  political  rather  than  muni 
cipal.     With  the  exception  of  EH,  and  apparently  Samuel  (see 
the  genealogy  1  Chron.  6  :  33-38,  where  Shemuel  of  our  version  is 
only  a' more  exact  representation  of  the  Hebrew  name  for  Sam 
uel},  none  of  them  were  taken  from  the  tribe  of  Levi. 


PATRIARCHAL  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT.        479 

No  notice  is  taken  of  any  military  services  performed  by  Tola,  Ibzan, 
Elon,  or  Abdoii.  The  land  seems  to  have  enjoyed  rest  from  oppression 
during  their  office.  Eli  and  Samuel,  also,  were  civil  and  not  military  lead 
ers.  Jephthah  and  the  three  succeeding  judges  seem  to  have  exercised 
their  office  in  Northeastern  Israel  beyond  the  Jordan.  The  scene  of  Sam 
son's  exploits  was  Southwestern  Israel.  In  the  opinion  of  some  he  was 
contemporary  with  Eli,  who  judged  Israel  at  Shiloh. 

12.  Under  this  simple  patriarchal  constitution  the  Israelitish 
nation  lived,  according  to  the  longer  chronology,  "  about  the  space 
of  four  hundred  and  fifty  years,  until  Samuel  the  prophet."  The 
general  affairs  of  the  several  tribes,  with  their  divisions  and  sub 
divisions,  were  managed  by  their  elders,  not  according  to  definite 
written  rules,  except  so  far  as  they  were  contained  in  the  Mosaic 
law,  but  rather  according  to  ancient  usage — the  mos  mo  jorum  of 
the  Eomans,  and  the  common  law  of  later  times ;  while  the  judges, 
assisted  by  the  officers,  administered  justice.  The  judges  whom 
God  raised  up  for  them  in  succession  did  not  constitute  an 
organic  part  of  the  government,  but  exercised  their  authority 
only  through  the  common  consent  of  the  people.  The  tribes, 
not  being  bound  together  by  any  permanent  civil  head,  acted 
either  singly  or  a  few  of  them  in  concert,  independently  of  the 
nation  as  a  whole.  The  tribe  of  Dan,  for  example,  sent  six  hun 
dred  of  its  warriors  to  take  possession  of  Laish  and  the  adjoin 
ing  region  without  consulting  the  other  tribes  (Judg.,  chap.  18) ; 
the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Simeon  made  a  mutual  agreement  to  act 
in  concert  in  the  expulsion  of  the  Canaanites  from  their  terri 
tory  (Judg.  1:3,  17);  "the  house  of  Joseph"  went  separately 
against  the  inhabitants  of  Beth-el  (Judg.  1 : 22-25) ;  Deborah 
and  Barak  had  the  help  of  only  a  part  of  the  tribes  in  their  war 
against  Sisera  (Judg.  5 : 14^18) ;  Gideon  summoned,  at  the  be 
ginning  of  his  conflict  with  the  Midianites,  only  four  of  the  north 
ern  tribes,  for  which  he  was  sharply  rebuked  by  the  Ephraimites 
(Judg.  6  :  35 :  8 : 1-3) ;  and  Jephthah  seems  to  have  acted  inde-  j 
pendently  of  the  tribes  west  of  the  Jordan.  It  was  only  rarely 
and  on  very  special  occasions  that  all  the  tribes  acted  in  concert, 
as  they  did  in  avenging  the  wrong  done  to  the  Levite  in  Gibe  ah 
of  Benjamin.  Judg.,  chap.  20.  It  is  this  loose  relation  of  the 


180  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

tribes  to  each  other  which  the  sacred  penman  describes  when  he 
says  (Judg.  17  :  6) :  "  In  those  days  there  was  no  king  in  Israel, 
but  every  man  did  that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes."  He 
did  not  mean  to  indicate  a  state  of  anarchy  within  the  several 
tribes,  but  rather  the  absence  of  a  regularly  organized  central 
power  that  could  give  unity  to  the  movements  of  the  people. 

13.  Nevertheless  there  was  a  religious  and  social  bond  of  union. 
By  the  provisions  of  the  Mosaic  law  all  the  sacrifices  were  to  be 
offered  on  the  brazen  altar  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  and 
three  times  a  year  all  the  male  inhabitants  of  the  land  were 
required  to  present  themselves  there  before  the  Lord  at  the  three 
feasts  of  the  passover,  of  the  pentecost,  and  of  tabernacles. 
Exod.  23 : 14-17 ;  34  :  22,  23 ;  Deut.  16  : 16.  These  great  national 
gatherings  were  social  as  well  as  religious,  and  the  first  and  third 
of  them  lasted  a  whole  week.  They  brought  all  the  tribes  to 
gether  in  their  peculiar  character  as  the  covenant  people  of  Jeho 
vah.  Encamped  around  the  tabernacle  they  offered  sacrifices 
together;  they  feasted  together;  together  they  were  instructed 
in  the  law  of  Moses;  and  together  they  recounted  the  mighty 
acts  of  the  God  of  their  fathers.  Thus  God  placed  the  unity  of 
the  nation  on  a  religious  instead  of  an  organic  civil  foundation. 
It  was  a  unity  of  which  he  was  himself  the  centre,  not  any  earthly 
chieftain.  Had  the  people  remained  true  to  him,  they  must  have 
remained  true  to  each  other  also.  The  bond  which  united  them 
to  their  covenant  God,  would  have  united  them  among  them 
selves.  Well  did  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat  understand  the 
power  of  these  national  gatherings.  "  If  this  people,"  said  he, 
after  the  revolt  of  the  ten  tribes,  "go  up  to  do  sacrifice  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  at  Jerusalem,  then  shall  the  heart  of  this  peo 
ple  turn  again  unto  their  lord,  even  unto  Eehoboam  king  of  Ju- 
dah,  and  they  shall  kill  me,  and  go  again  unto  Rehoboain  king 
of  Judah."  1  Kings  12  : 27.  So  he  set  up  two  golden  calves, 
one  in  Beth-el  and  the  other  in  Dan,  as  a  means  of  withdrawing 
I/he  people  from  the  yearly  feasts  at  Jerusalem.  He  was  willing 
to  corrupt  the  religion  of  his  whole  kingdom  that  he  might 
secure  hiy  family  on  the  throne. 


PATRIARCHAL  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT.        481 

We  see,  then,  that  the  Hebrew  commonwealth,  as  established 
by  God,  offered  to  the  people  a  large  amount  of  true  liberty, 
while  it  secured  for  them  a  national  unity  grounded  in  their  alle 
giance  to  himself,  their  time  head  and  king— a  unity  of  the  noblest 
and  the  most  ennobling  character.  It  was  for  them  the  best 
form  of  government,  upon  the  simple  condition  of  their  remain 
ing  faithful  in  the  service  of  their  covenant  God.  Happy,  thrice 
happy  had  been  the  Israelites  before  the  days  of  the  kings,  had 
they  but  understood  then-  privileges !  But  they  did  not  under 
stand  them.  The  spirit  of  loyalty  to  Jehovah  died  out  among 
them,  and  a  worldly  spirit  took  its  place.  Then  they  began  to 
clamor  for  a  king,  that  they  might  be  "  like  ah1  the  nations ;"  and 
God  gave  them  a  king  in  his  anger,  and  afterwards  took  him 
away  in  his  wrath. 


482  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTEB  XXIII. 

THE    KINGLY   FORM   OF    GOVERNMENT. 

1.  IN  demanding  of  Samuel  a  king  the  Israelites  were  actua 
ted,  as  we  have  seen,  by  a  worldly  and  unbelieving  spirit.    They 
had  withdrawn  from  Jehovah,  their  almighty  heavenly  King  and 
Protector,  their  faith,  love,  and  obedience.     Thus  the  religious 
bond  which  should  have  united  them  as  a  nation  was  broken, 
and  a  process  of  disintegration  was  going  on  which  imperilled 
their  national  existence,  surrounded  as  they  were  by  numerous 
and  powerful  enemies.     The  evils  of  disunion  were  real,  though 
the  cause  was  reprehensible.     Gpd,  therefore,  while  he  sharply 
rebuked  the  people  for  their  request,  yet  decided  to  grant  it; 
because  the  kingly  form  of  government,  though  not  in  itself  the 
best,  was  best  under  existing  circumstances.     "It  would  bring 
upon  the  people  many  evils,  as  he  faithfully  forewarned  them 
(1  Sam.  8 : 10-18) ;  yet,  in  view  of  their  character  and  condition, 
it  was  expedient  that  it  should  be  established. 

2.  In  changing,  through  the  agency  of  Samuel,  the  ancient 
patriarchal  form  of  government  to  one  that  was  monarchical, 
God  was  careful  to  assert,  in  the  manner  of  the  transaction,  his 
continued  supi*emacy  over  the  covenant  people.     The  monarch 
was  one  of  his  own  selection;  first,  by  a  private  revelation  to 
Samuel,  who  was  directed  to  anoint  him  as  the  future  king  of 
Israel  (1  Sam.  9  : 15-17 ;  10  : 1,  seq.) ;  secondly,  by  a  public  ap 
peal  to  the  sacred  lot  (1  Sam.  10 : 17-25).     Then,  again,  the  new 
king  was  given  to  understand,  upon  his  inauguration,  that  he 
must  exercise  his  office  in  hearty  and  unreserved  subjection  to 
the  commandment  of  Jehovah,  from  whom  he  had  received  it. 
Finally,  when  he  showed  himself  regardless  of  God's  authority, 
he  was  rejected,  and  a  man  from  another  tribe  and  family  was 
selected  as  his  successor.    1  Sam.  13  : 13,  14 ;  chap.  15 ;  16  : 1-13. 
By  these  successive  acts  of  sovereignty  God  made  it  manifest  to 


THE  KINGLY  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT.         483 

all  that,  though  he  had  granted  the  request  of  his  people  for  an 
earthly  monarch,  he  had  not  thereby  vacated  one  jot  or  tittle  of 
his  supremacy  over  them ;  and  that  their  king  was  not  indepen 
dent  of  his  -will,  but  absolutely  subject  to  it. 

It  may  be  said,  in  an  important  sense,  that  Sard,  the  first  king  of  Israel, 
was  a  man  after  the  people's  heart  He  had  those  external  physical  qualities 
which  in  those  days  were  highly  valued  in  a  leader  of  the  people.  He  was 
"  a  choice  young  man,  and  a  goodly  :  and  there  was  not  among  the  children 
of  Israel  a  goodlier  person  than  he  :  from  his  shoulders  and  upward  he  was 
higher  than  any  of  the  people."  1  Sam.  9  :  2.  Nor  was  he  a  mean  com 
mander  in  war,  as  his  successes  show.  1  Sam.  14  :  47,  48.  His  misfortunes 
were  due  not  to  want  of  ability  but  to  disobedience  of  God's  commands. 

David,  his  successor,  had  still  higher  qualities  as  a  military  and  civil 
leader.  But  it  was  not  in  view  of  these  that  God  described  him  as  a  man 
after  his  own  heart.  This  high  praise  was  given  him  as  one  in  whose  heart 
the  reigning  principle  was  faith  and  love  towards  Jehovah,  producing  a 
uniform  and  hearty  obedience  to  all  his  commands.  Divinely  designated 
as  the  successor  of  Saul,  he  waited  patiently  till  the  tin-one  should  be  made 
vacant  by  his  death ;  and,  after  a  suitable  probation,  the  kingdom  was  con 
firmed  to  him  and  his  family  for  ever.  2  Sam. ,  chap.  7. 

3.  The  kingly  form  of  government  having  been  established,  its 
bright  side  began  to  manifest  itself,  and  afterwards  its  dark  side, 
as  foretold  by  Samuel.  Looking  first  to  the  bright  side,  we  notice 
an  immediate  increase  of  national  strength  from  the  new  centre 
of  union  which  the  different  tribes  had  in  their  common  sov 
ereign.  The  reign  of  Saul  was  upon  the  whole  prosperous  in  its 
outward  relations.  1  Sam.  14 : 47-52.  Its  sad  close  came  in 
accordance  with  the  divine  purpose  to  set  aside  his  house,  for 
his  persistent  disobedience  to  God's  commands.  Under  David, 
Saul's  successor,  the  Hebrew  nation  attained  to  full  organic 
unity,  and  was  victorious  over  its  enemies  on  every  side.  This 
was  the  culmination  of  the  military  power  of  Israel.  As  the 
fruit  of  David's  victories  Solomon  received  a  kingdom  extending 
from  Tiphsah  on  the  Euphrates  to  Gaza,  "  and  he  had  peace  on 
all  sides  round  about  him."  1  Kings  4 :  24.  The  new  national 
unity  which  the  monarchical  form  of  government  brought  to  the 
Hebrew  people  was  also  favorable  to  internal  tranquillity.  It 
put  an  end,  as  a  rule,  to  dissensions  between  the  tribes  and  divis - 


484  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

ions  of  the  tribes ;  such  as  that  between  Abimelech  and  the  men 
of  Sliechem  (Judg.,  chap.  9) ;  between  the  Gileadites  and  the  men 
of  Ephraim,  in  which  forty-two  thousand  Ephraimites  perished  ' 
(Judg.  12 : 1-6) ;  and  between  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  and  the  other 
tribes,  by  which  the  former  was  well  nigh  destroyed  (Judg.,  chaps. 
19-21).  It  may  be  mentioned  as  a  further  advantage  that  the 
pious  kings — ALke  David  before  the  division  of  the  kingdom,  and 
Asa,  Jehoshaphat,  Hezekiah,  and  Josiah  after  the  division,  did 
much  to  suppress  idolatry  and  establish  the  worship  of  Jehovah, 
at  least  in  its  outward  form. 

4.  But  the  dark  side  also  manifested  itself  less  rapidly,  but 
not  less  certainly.  Here  we  can  hardly  mention  the  abridgment 
of  power  in  the  case  of  the  individual  tribes ;  for  this  was,  in  the 
existing  circumstances/  a  benefit  rather  than  an  injury.  But  the 
prerogatives  that  belong  to  the  very  idea  of  an  oriental  king,  and 
the  expenses  of  maintaining  an  oriental  royal  establishment  soon 
began  to  be  felt,  with  increasing  power,  by  the  Hebrew  people. 
A  "  limited  monarchy,"  in  the  modem  English  sense  of  the  ex 
pression,  was  then,  and  has  ever  been,  foreign  to  the  ideas  of 
the  eastern  nations.  Their  kings'  administer  justice  in  a  sum 
mary  way :  and  the  right  of  life  and  death  belongs  to  them,  not 
by  any  constitutional  provision,  but  by  immemorial  usage.  This 
prerogative  was  exercised  from  the  first  by  the  Hebrew  mon- 
archs,  particularly  in  the  case  of  state  criminals,  or  those  whom 
they  chose  to  regard  as  such.  Saul  unrighteously  slew  eighty- 
five  priests  on  the  alleged  ground  that  they  had  conspired  against 
him.  1  Sam.,  chap.  22.  David  gave  commandment  to  kill  Ke- 
chab  and  Baanah,  the  murderers  of  Ishbosheth,  and  he  charged 
Solomon  to  see  that  Shimei  and  Joab  were  slain.  This  charge 
Solomon  executed,  and  also  put  to  death  his  brother  Adonijah 
for  attempting  to  usurp  the  throne.  2  Kings,  chap.  2. 

In  the  case  of  ordinary  criminals,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  pen 
alty  of  the  law  was  inflicted  through  the  medium  of  the  regular  judges  and 
officers ;  yet  here  also  the  final  power  rested  with  the  sovereign,  and  he 
might  exercise  it  directly  by  virtue  of  his  kingly  prerogative.  2  Sam.  12  : 5 ; 
U  :  8-11. 


THE  KINGLY  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT.         485 


The  king  had  also,  by  the  same  immemorial  usage, 
power  to  demand  the  personal  services  of  his  subjects  and  to 
levy  upon  their  property  for  public  uses.  The  picture  which 
Samuel  drew  of  the  royal  prerogative  (1  Sam.  8  :  10-18)  was 
taken  from  the  actual  practice  of  monarchs  in  his  day  :  "  He  will 
take  your  sons,  and  appoint  them  for  himself,  for  his  chariots, 
and  to  be  his  horsemen  ;  and  some  shall  run  before  his  chariots. 
And  he  will  appoint  him  captains  over  thousands,  and  captains 
over  fifties;  and  will  set  them  to  ear"  (that  is,  plough)  "his 
ground,  and  to  reap  his  harvest,  and  to  make  his  instruments  of 
war,  and  instruments  of  his  chariots.  And  he  will  take  your 
daughters  to  be  confectionaries,  and  to  be  cooks,  and  to  be  ba 
kers.  And  he  will  take  your  fields,  and  your  vineyards,  and  your 
oliveyards,  even  the  best  of  them,  and  give  them  to  his  servants. 
And  he  will  take  the  tenth  of  your  seed,  and  of  your  vineyards, 
and  give  to  his  officers,  and  to  his  servants.  And  he  will  take 
your  men-servants,  and  your  maid-servants,  and  your  goodliest 
young  men,  and  your  asses,  and  put  them  to  his  work.  And  he 
will  take  the  tenth  of  your  sheep  ;  and  ye  shah1  be  his  servants." 
In  illustration  of  the  truthfulness  of  this  portraiture  we  may 
remark  that  Solomon  raised  a  levy  of  thirty  thousand  men,  whom 
he  sent  to  Lebanon  by  courses,  besides  the  seventy  thousand 
that  bare  burdens,  and  the  eighty  thousand  that  were  hewers  in 
the  mountains  (1  Kings  5  :  13-15)  ;  and  that  "  Solomon's  provis 
ion  for  one  day  was  thirty  measures  of  fine  flour,  and  threescore 
measures  of  meal,  ten  fat  oxen,  and  twenty  oxen  out  of  the  pas 
tures,  and  a  hundred  sheep,  besides  harts,  and  roebucks,  and 
fallow-deer,  and  fatted  fowl.  1  Kings  4  :  22,  23.  This  was  the 
daily  provision  for  Solomon's  household,  and  it  is  in  perfect 
accordance  with  the  magnificence  and  luxury  of  an  oriental 
court,  with  its  numerous  retinue  of  servants  and  its  harem  of 
wives  and  concubines.  The  necessary  sequel  is  heavy  taxes. 
The  burden  of  these  was  felt  under  Solomon's  reign,  and  the 
refusal  of  his  son  Rehoboam  to  lighten  them  was  the  occasion  of 
the  revolt  of  the  ten  tribes. 

The  royal  prerogative  enabled  pious  kings,  as  we  have  seen, 


186  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

to  do  much  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Mosaic  institutions.  It 
must  now  be  added  that  the  same  prerogative  in  the  hands  of 
wicked  men  was  most  disastrous  to  the  cause  of  religion.  The 
very  first  of  the  Israelitish  kings  corrupted  the  worship  of  his 
whole  Ipngdom,  and  all  his  successors  followed  in  his  footsteps 
as  a  matter  of  state  policy.  It  was  easier  for  a  camel  to  go 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a  monarch  of  the  ten  tribes 
to  serve  Jehovah ;  for. there  were  the  golden  calves  at  Beth-el 
and  Dan,  the  worship  of  which  he  felt  himself  bound  to  maintain, 
lest  his  subjects  should  go  to  Jerusalem  to  worship,  and  turn 
again  to  the  house  of  David.  What  a  corrupting  influence  was 
exercised  in  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  also,  by  such  monarchs  as 
Ahaz  and  Manasseh,  is  familiar  to  all. 

The  first  check  to  the  abuse  of  the  royal  prerogative  lay  in 
the  character  of  the  monarchs.  Good  kings,  like  David,  were 
"  just,  ruling  in  the  fear  of  God."  And  their  influence  was  "  as  the 
light  of  the  morning  when  the  sun  riseth,  even  a  morning  with 
out  clouds;  as  the  tender  grass  springing  out  of  the  earth  by 
clear  shining  after  rain."  2  Sam.  23  : 4.  A  further  check  lay  in 
the  character  of  the  people.  They  had  inherited  from  their 
fathers  a  patrimony  of  liberty  and  manly  independence  which 
their  kings  could  not  safely  disregard,  as  we  see  in  the  case  of 
Kehoboam.  In  the  case  of  the  earlier  kings  the  restraining 
power  from  this  source  must  have  been  great.  But  with  the 
increasing  degeneracy  of  the  people  its  influence  gradually  died 
out. 

5.  In  respect  to  outward  form,  the  monarchical  being,  so  to 
speak,  superimposed  upon  the  ancient  patriarchal  constitution, 
was  administered,  in  a  great  measure,  through  the  medium  of  its 
forms  and  usages.  It  is  recorded  (1  Sam.  10  :  25)  that  "  Samuel 
told  the  people  the  manner  of  the  kingdom,  and  wrote  it  in  a 
book,  and  laid  it  up  before  the  Lord."  This  can  hardly  have 
been  a  "  constitution"  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  with  its 
various  specific  provisions.  It  seems  to  have  been  rather  a  gen 
eral  statement  of  the  principles  upon  which  the  kingly  govern 
ment  was  to  be  administered  (compare  Deut.  17  : 14-20) ;  one  of 


THE  KINGLY  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT.         487 

the  most  important  of  which  was  the  inviolability  of  the  Mosaic 
code.  The  king  had  no  authority  to  set  aside  any  of  its  laws, 
or  to  usurp  any  office  under  it  belonging  to  others.  "When,  long 
afterwards,  Uzziah  attempted  to  burn  incense  on  the  golden 
altar,  which  was  a  priestly  function,  he  was  valiantly  withstood 
by  the  high  priest  and  his  associates,  and  smitten  with  leprosy 
by  the  immediate  act  of  God.  2  Chron.  26  : 16-21.  It  was  only 
in  details  not  touching  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  theoc 
racy  that  discretion  was  allowed  to  the  Hebrew  monarchs ;  as 
when  David  distributed'  the  Levites  into  twenty-four  courses; 
arranged  the  service  of  song  in  the  sanctuary;  and  appointed 
from  among  the  Levites  porters,  treasurers,  officers,  and  judges. 
1  Cliron.,  chap.  23,  seq.  Changes  in  the  service  of  the  temple 
like  those  made  by  Aliaz  and  Manasseh  (2  Kings,  chaps.  16,  21) 
were  impious  acts  of  rebellion  against  Jehovah. 

6.  The  essential  rite  of  inauguration  to  the  kingly  office  was 
anointing  with  the  sacred  oil.  Exod.  30  :  22-33.  When  this  rite 
was  privately  performed  by  a  prophet  under  God's  direction,  as 
in  the  case  of  Saul  (1  Sam.  9  : 16;  10  : 1),  of  David  in  the  pres 
ence  of  his  father's  family  alone  (1  Sam.,  chap.  16),  and  of  Jehu 
(2  Kings  9  : 1-10),  it  conferred  simply  a  title  to  the  throne,  the 
occupancy  of  which  took  place  afterwards,  either  by  the  com 
mon  consent  of  the  people  (1  Sam.  10 : 17-25 ;  2  Sam.  2:4; 
5 : 1-3),  or  by  force  (2  Kings,  chap.  9).  The  public  anointing  was 
in  connection  with  the  monarch's  induction  into  office.  Thus 
David  was  anointed  at  Hebron,  first  as  king  over  the  tribe  of 
Judah  (2  Sam.  2  :  4),  and  afterwards  as  king  over  all  Israel 
(2  Sam.  5:3);  Solomon  was  by  David's  command  publicly 
anointed  by  Zadok  the  priest  with  oil  out  of  the  tabernacle 
(1  Kings  1 :  39) ;  and  Joash  was  anointed  by  the  high  priest 
Jehoiada  in  the  presence  of  "  the  rulers  over  hundreds,  with  the 
captains  and  the  guard"  (2  Kings  11 : 4-12). 

The  above  are  the  only  cases  in  which  the  anointing  of  a  Hebrew  mon 
arch  is  mentioned..  Where  the  crown  descended  regularly  from  father  to 
son,  or  from  an  elder  to  a  younger  brother  without  controversy,  it  does  not 
appear  that  the  ceremony  of  anointing  was  thought  necessary.  "  As  far  as 


488  .       BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

we  are  informed,"  says  Jahn  (Archaeology,  $223),  "unction,  as  a  sign  of 
investiture  with  the  royal  authority,  was  bestowed  only  upon  the  first  two 
kings  who  ruled  the  Hebrews,  namely,  Saul  and  David ;  and  subsequently 
upon  Solomon  and  Joash,  who  ascended  the  throne  under  such  circum 
stances  that  there  was  danger  of  their  right  to  the  throne  being  forcibly 
disputed." 

Solomon  and  Joash,  whose  right  to  the  throne  was  a  matter 
of  controversy,  were  publicly  crowned  upon  their  inauguration 
with  shouts  and  the  blowing  of  trumpets.  1  Kings  1 : 39,  40 ; 
2  Kings  11 : 12.  In  the  case  of  Joash  it  is  added  that  "  they 
gave  him  the  testimony,"  that  is,  a  copy  of  the  law  of  Moses  as 
the  rule  of  his  administration.  Compare  Deut.  18  : 17-20.  We 
may  reasonably  infer  that  these  ceremonies  were  usual  when  a 
new  king  was  inducted  into  office ;  and  also  that,  in  the  case  of 
a  peaceable  succession  to  the  kingdom,  his  predecessor's  sceptre 
was  placed  in  his  hand,  and  he  was  seated  upon  his  throne. 
Sacrifices  also  were  offered  on  the  occasion,  and  a  magnificent 
feast  was  provided,  See  2  Sam.  15  : 12 ;  1  Kings  1 : 9,  seq.,  where 
the  usurpers  manifestly  follow  the  usage  of  the  times. 

7.  The  officers  of  the  royal  establishment  may  be  conveni 
ently  considered  in  several  groups. 

The  following  general  executive  officers  are  mentioned : 

The  commander-in-chief  of  the  army — in  the  phraseology  of 
the  sacred  record,  the  man  who  was  "  captain  of  the  host,"  or 
"  over  the  host."  1  Sam.  14 :  50 ;  2  Sam.  8  ;  16 ;  20  :  23 ;  1  Kings 
2:32;  4:4;  etc. 

The  commander  of  the  body-guard,  the  same  as  "  the  captain 
of  the  guard"  under  Pharaoh  and  Nebuchadnezzar.  Gen. 
37  :  36 ;  2  Kings  25  : 8 ;  etc.  This  body  of  men  waited  on  the 
king's  person  and  executed  his  commands.  From  the  nature  of 
their  service  they  were  not  only  the  keepers  of  his  person,  but 
also  his  executioners  in  the  case  of  state  criminals.  That  "  the 
Cherethites  and  the  Pelethites"  (2  Sam.  8  : 18 ;  20 : 23 ;  1  Chron. 
18  : 17)  were  David's  body-guard,  according  to  the  interpretation 
of  Josephus  (Antiq.  7.  5.  4),  is  admitted  by  all.  But  why  they 
received  this  appellation  is  a  matter  of  controversy.  The  Cher 
ethites  are  mentioned  (1  Sam.  30:14;  Ezek.  25:16;  Zeph.  2:5) 


THE   KINGLY  FORM   OF  GOVERNMENT. 

• 

in  such  a  connection  as  shows  that  they  were  either  the  Philis 
tines  themselves,  or  more  probably,  a  tribe  of  that  people. 
Hence  it  has  been  supposed  that  David's  body-guard  consisted  of 
Philistines  from  the  tribes  called  Cherethites  and  Pelethites.  In 
favor  of  this  view  has  been,  urged  the  fact  that  Ittai  the  Gittite, 
with  his  six  hundred  followers,  was  a  trusty  Mend  of  David 
(2  Sam.  15 : 18-22) ;  and  also  the  usage  of  some  modern  sov 
ereigns  of  Europe,  the  pope,  for  example,  with  his  Swiss  guard. 
Others  understand  the  two  words  Cherethites  and  Pelethites  as 
terms  of  office,  and  render  them  executioners  and  couriers. 

The  recorder  (Heb.,  wti~ku\  />///-  ntl.rnncer,  2  Sam.  8  :  1G ; 
20:24;  1  Kings  4:3;  2  Kings  18:18,  37;  etc.)  had  charge  of 
the  public  records  of  the  kingdom.  He  was  not,  however,  a  sim 
ple  annalist.  His  office  seems  to  have  included  not  only  the 
record  of  passing  transactions,  but  the  collection,  for  the  mon 
arch's  use,  of  accurate  information  concerning  the  affairs  of  his 
kingdom.  How  high  a  position  he  occupied  at  the  court  is  man 
ifest  from  the  fact  that  the  recorder  was  one  of  the  three  officials 
sent  by  Hezekiah  to  confer  with  Bab-shaken,  the  commander  of 
the  Assyrian  armies,  the  other  two  being  the  scribe  and  the  man 
who  was  over  the  royal  household  (2  Kings  18  : 18,  37 ;  Isa.  36 :  3, 
22) :  also  one  of  the  three  appointed  by  Josiah  to  repair  the 
temple  (2  Chron.  34:8). 

The  scribe,  also  another  high  officer  (2  Sam.  8:17;  20:25; 
2  Kings  18  : 18,  37 ;  22  : 3 ;  etc.),  was  the  state  secretary.  As 
such,  he  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  inferior  scribes  often 
mentioned  elsewhere,  who  were  ready  writers  employed  in  civil, 
military,  and  sacred  service  (2  Kings  25  : 19 ;  1  Chron.  24 : 6 ; 
Ezra  7:6;  etc.).  Two  scribes  are  mentioned  as  associated  under 
Solomon.  1  Kings  4:3. 

Under  David  and  Solomon  was  an  officer  who  was  over  the 
service  (Heb.,  mas,  rendered  in  our  version  sometimes  levy,  but 
generally  tribute).  The  service  consisted  of  a  levy  of  men  to  be 
employed  upon  the  public  works.  Of  these  Solomon  had  thirty 
thousand,  over  whom  he  set  Adoniram,  or  Adoram,  as  he  is 
elsewhere  called.  2  Sam.  20  : 24 ;  1  Kings  4:6;  5 : 13,  14. 

21* 


490  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

* 

The  Hebrew  term  mas  is  very  seldom  employed  to  denote  a  trib  ute  of 
money.  The  most  certain  example  of  this  usage  occurs  in  one  of  the  latest 
books.  Esther  10  : 1.  It  almost  always  denotes  tribute-service,  and  con 
cretely  a  service,  that  is,  a  body  of  men  levied  to  do  service 

We  come  next  to  a  more  interior  class  of  courtiers.  Here 
belong  the  king's  counsellor,  and  the  king's  companion  or  friend. 
(2  Sam.  15  : 12,  37 ;  16  : 16,  17  ;  1  Chron.  27  : 32,  33.  The  dis 
tinction  between  these  two  seems  to  be  that  the  counsellor's 
office  was  more  public  and  official ;  that  of  the  friend  more  per 
sonal  and  private. 

Mention  is  made  of  another  class  of  courtiers,  called  in  our  version 
chief  rulei*s  (Heb. ,  cohen,  priest),  who  held  an  intimate  relation  to  the  mon 
arch.  2  Sam.  8  : 18  ;  20  :  26  ;  I  Kings  4  :  5.  That  these  were  not  priests 
in  any  proper  sense  of  the  word  is  manifest.  They  were  neither  descend 
ants  from  Aaron  nor  Levites.  That  David,  who  so  scrupulously  regarded 
the  Mosaic  institutions,  should  have  bestowed  upon  his  own  sons  (2  Sam. 
8  : 18)  or  any  not  pertaining  to  the  house  of  Aaron  priestly  functions  is  not 
to  be  admitted  for  a  moment.  We  have  in  two  passages  a  clue  to  the  right 
meaning  of  the  word  in  this  connection.  In  the  list  of  Solomon's  officers 
(1  Kings  4  :  2-6)  Zebud,  son  of  Nathan,  "was  priest  and  companion  of  the 
king."  Again,  the  author  of  the  books  of  Chronicles,  in  giving  the  list  of 
David's  officers  (1  Chron.  18  : 15-17),  substitutes  for  the  words,  "  The  sons 
of  David  were  priests"  (2  Sam.  8  : 18),  "the  sons  of  David  were  chief  men 
at  the  king's  hand."  This  is  a  true  gloss,  and  gives  the  nature  of  their 
office.  They  were  employed  about  his  person  as  trusty  friends  to  execute 
his  orders. 

There  remains  a  class  of  officers  belonging  not  to  the  king 
dom  at  large,  but  to  the  kings  household.  Here  belongs  the  man 
who  was  over  the  house  (1  Kings  4 :  6 ;  2  Kings  19  :  2 ;  etc.),  an  offi 
cer  who  first  appears  in  the  reign  of  Solomon,  and  whose  duties 
corresponded  generally  to  those  of  the  chamberlain  of  the  house 
hold  in  European  courts.  Then  there  were  twelve  officers  "who 
provided  victuals  for  the  king's  household  :  each  man  his  month 
in  a  year  made  provision."  They  had  their  separate  districts, 
by  which  means  the  burden  was  distributed  throughout  the 
whole  kingdom.  See  1  Kings,  4 :  7-19.  There  were  also  special 
officers,  who  had  charge  of  "  the  substance  that  was  king  Da 
vid's" — his  storehouses,  husbandmen,  vineyards,  wine-cellars, 


THE  KINGLY  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT.          491 

olive-trees,  oil-cellars,  sycamore-trees,  herds,  camels,  and  asses. 
See  1  Chron.  27 : 25-31.  There  were  other  inferior  officers,  as 
"  the  keeper  of  the  wardrobe "  (2  Kings  22 : 14),  of  whom  it  is 
not  necessary  to  speak. 

8.  The  sources  of  the  royal  revenue  were,  according  to  Jahn 
(Archeology,  §  234),  the  following : 

(1.)  Presents  given  voluntarily.     1  Sam.  10  :  27  ;  16  :  20. 

(2.)  The.  produce  of  the  royal  possessions  mentioned  above. 

(3.)  A  tribute  exacted  of  the  people,  apparently  in  the  shape 
of  a  tithe  of  their  produce.  1  Sam.  8  : 15,  17.  A  part  may  have 
been  in  ready  money. 

(4.)  The  spoils  of  conquered  nations,  at  least  a  large  share  of 
them,  and  the  tribute  imposed  on  such  nations.  Thus  Mesha 
king  of  Moab  rendered  to  the  king  of  Israel  as  a  tribute  "a 
hundred  thousancf  lambs,  and  a  hundred  thousand  rams  with 
the  wool."  2  Kings  3  : 4.  See  also  1  Kings  4.:  21. 

(5.)  The  tribute  imposed  upon  merchants  who  traded  in  the 
Hebrew  territories.  1  Kings  10  : 15. 

9.  The  appointments  of  the  royal  household  seem  to  have 
been,  at  the  beginning,  very  simple.     But  there  was  a  rapid 
increase  towards  the  pomp  and  luxury  of  oriental  courts,  which 
culminated  in  the  reign  of  Solomon,  who  eclipsed  all  the  neigh 
boring  monarchs  in  the  splendor  of  his  establishment ;  unhappily 
also  in  the  extent  of  his  harem.     See  1  Kings,  chaps.  10  and  11. 
All  this  was  contrary  to  both  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  that  law 
in  which  he  was  commanded  to  read  all  the  days  of  his  life. 
Deut.  17  : 14-20.     It  was  most  corrupting  in  its  influence,  and  it 
brought  speedy  disaster  upon  his  kingdom.    For  the  burden  laid 
upon  his  subjects  to  support  such  a  magnificent  court,  with  its 
"seven  hundred  wives,  princesses,  and  three  hundred  concu 
bines,"  became,  under  the  management  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of 
Nebat,-the  occasion  of  its  division,  with  ah1  the  sad  train  of  evils 
that  followed.* 


492  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

CHAPTEK  XXIV. 

THE   FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT  AFTER   THE    CAPTIVITY. 

1.  THE  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes  was  completed  about  721 
years  before  Christ.  "The  king  of  Assyria,"  as  the. sacred  rec 
ord  informs  us  (2  Kings  17  : 6),  "  took  Samaria,  and  carried  Israel 
away  into  Assyria,  and  placed  them  in  Halah  and  in  Habor  by 
the  river  of  Gbzan,  and  in  the  cities  of  the  Medes."  Afterwards 
•'  the  king  of  Assyria  brought  men  from  Babylon,  and  from  Cu- 
thah,  and  from  Ava,  and  from  Hamath,  and  from  Sepharvaiin, 
and  placed  them  in  the  cities  of  Samaria  instead  of  the  children 
of  Israel :  and  they  possessed  Samaria,  and  "dwelt  in  the  cities 
thereof"  (ver.  24).  These  foreign  colonists,  whose  descendants 
constituted  the  people  afterwards  called  Samaritans,  did  not 
spread  themselves  over  the  whole  of  what  once  constituted  the 
territory  of  the  ten  tribes.  Their  home  was  Samaria  and  its 
adjacent  cities,  where  we  afterwards  find  them,  apparently  in 
exclusive  possession  of  the  region  from  their  first  entrance  into 
it.  It  is  not  certain,  however,  that  the  remaining  parts  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  were  everywhere  stripped  of  all  their  Hebrew 
inhabitants.  We  know  that  at  the.  time  of  Hezekiah's  passover, 
a  few  years  before  the  end  of  Hoshea's  reign,  this  was  not  the 
case ;  for  a  multitude  of  people  from  Ephraim,  Manasseh,  Asher, 
Issachar,  and  Zebulun,  came  to  the  feast  at  Jerusalem  upon  his 
invitation.  2  Chron.,  chap.  30.  More  than  eighty  years  after 
wards,  when  Josiah  had  cleansed  Judah  and  Jerusalem  of  idols, 
it  is  added  that  his  servants  did  the  same  "  in  the  cities  of  Ma 
nasseh,  and  Ephraim,  and  Simeon,  even  unto  Naphtali"  (2  Chron. 
34 :  6) ;  words  which  clearly  imply  the  presence  of  some,  at  least, 
of  the  Israelitish  inhabitants. 

The  extinction  of  the  Jewish  kingdom  took  place  about  588 
years  before  Christ,  the  poor  of  the  land  being  left  to  be  hus 
bandmen  and  vine-dressers.  2  Kings  25 : 12.  Upon  the  con- 


GOVERNMENT  AFTER  THE  CAPTIVITY          493 

quest  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus,  the  Jews  were  permitted  to  return  to 
their  own  land  after  their  seventy  years'  captivity.  Many  availed 
themselves  of  this  privilege,  but  not  all.  A  part  of  the  Jews 
remained  in  the  land  of  their  captivity,  while  they  steadfastly 
adhered  to  the  religion  and  institutions  of  their  forefathers,  and 
acknowledged  Jerusalem  as  the  seat  of  supreme  ecclesiastical 
authority.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that,  upon  the  resto 
ration  of  Jerusalem,  a  remnant  of  the  captives  belonging  to  the 
ten  tribes  (to  say  nothing  of  those  who  had  been  left  in  Pales 
tine)  returned  with  the  Jews,  and  became  incorporated  with 
them.  Cyrus  certainly  did  not  throw  any  obstacles  in  their  way, 
and  the  Jews  must  have  received  them  with  open  arms,  acknowl 
edging  them,  as  did  Hezekiah  long  before  (2  Chron.  30 : 6),  as  a 
part  of  the  covenant  people. 

The  idea  that  the  "ten  tribes"  are  living  as  a  body  in  some  obscure 
region  of  the  East,  and  are  hereafter  to  be  restored  as  such  to  the  land  of 
their  fathers,  does  not  appear  to  rest  on  a  sure  basis  of  scriptural  evidence. 
The  promise  of  the  reunion  of  the  kingdoms  of  Judah  and  Israel  (Ezek., 
chap.  37)  was  limited  to  "a  remnant"  of  both  (Isa.  6  : 13  ;  10  : 22).  The 
first  instalment,  so  to  speak,  oi  its  fulfilment  took  place  at  the  restoration 
under  Cyrus.  That  some  of  the  ten  tribes  became  at  this  time  incorpora 
ted  with  the  Jews,  and  kept  their  genealogy,  we  learn  from  the  notice  of 
"one  Anna,  a  prophetess,  the  daughter  of  Phanuel,  of  the  tribe  of  Aser." 
Luke  2  : 36.  "What  higher  fulfilment  awaits  the  promise  hereafter  God  will 
make  manifest  in  his  own  time, 

2.  From  the  above  historical  sketch  it  is  manifest  that,  upon 
the  restoration  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth  after  the  captivity, 
the  distinction  of  tribes,  though  kept  in  the  genealogical  tables, 
became  comparatively  unimportant.  Henceforth  it  was  not  so 
much  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  as  the  people  of  the  Jews,  that 
were  known  in  history.  Of  these  the  Galileans  constituted  a 
part,  but  not  the  Samaritans.  In  other  respects  the  covenant 
people  were  reestablished  under  their  old  constitution  and  laws, 
only  that  they  were  required  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of 
their  Persian  rulers.  Syria  remained  under  Persian  rule  till  B.  c. 
333,  when  Alexander  the  Great  became  master  of  it.  At  the 
beginning  of  this  Persian  period  the  temple  was  rebuilt  at  Jeru- 


494  ]5IBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

salem,  and  about  seventy  years  after  its  completion  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem.  Though  the  Jews  were  subjected  to  many  annoyan 
ces  from  the  machinations  of  their  neighbors  the  Samaritans, 
they  had  general  peace  and  quiet  with  the  free  exercise  of  their 
religion. 

Under  the  Persian  rule  satraps  had  command  of  provinces,  while  the 
less  districts,  like  Judaea,  were  administered  by  governors  (Heb.,  peha). 
This  title  is  applied  to  the  governors  of  the  Jews  (Ezra  5  : 14 ;  6:7),  and 
also  that  of  Tirshatha  (Ezra  2  : 63  ;  Neh.  7  :  65,  70  ;  8:9;  10  : 1).  What 
was  the  difference,  if  any,  between  these  two  titles  is  not  known. 

3.  Alexander  bestowed  eminent  favor  upon  the  Jews;  but, 
upon  the  division  of  his  empire,  Palestine  fell  between  the  two 
rival  monarchies  of  Egypt  on  the  south  and  Syria  on  the  north. 
The  Jews  suffered  much  from  the  contentions  of  these  two  king 
doms,  and  they  frequently  changed  masters,  as  the  one  or  the 
other  of  them  prevailed.  The  cruelties  and  outrages  practised 
upon  the  Jews  by  the  Syrian  king  Antiochus  Epiphanes  are  well 
known.  Aided  by  a  party  of  apostate  Jews,  he  sought  to  sup 
press  the  Jewish  religion,  and  substitute  in  its  stead  the  rites  of 
heathenism.  This  led  to  a  protracted  and  bloody  conflict,  which 
finally  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  independence  of  the 
Jews  B.  c.  143.  Their  rulers  at  the  first  bore  the  title  of  princes, 
but  afterwards  that  of  kings.  The  independence  of  the  Jews 
was  terminated  B.  c.  63  by  Pompey,  who  captured  Jerusalem 
and  demolished  its  walls ;  appointing  Hyrcanus  II.  high  priest 
and  prince  of  the  country,  on  condition  that  he  should  submit  to 
the  Romans  and  pay  tribute,  not  assuming  the  diadem,  nor 
attempting  to  enlarge  his  territories.  "  Thus,"  says  Jalm  (Heb. 
Commonwealth,  §  109),  "  the  Jews,  who  had  been  the  allies  of 
the  Romans,  were  now  reduced  to  a  subordinate  principality, 
and,  in  a  short  time,  were  compelled  to  pay  more  than  ten  thou 
sand  talents  of  tribute  to  their  conquerors."  It  was  the  policy 
of  the  Romans  to  allow  their  dependencies  the  enjoyment  of 
their  ancient  civil  and  religious  institutions,  so  long  as  they  ac 
knowledged  Roman  authority  and  paid  the  revenue  demanded 
of  them.  It  is  not  necessary  to  enumerate  all  the  changes  which 


GOVEKNMENT  AFTER  THE  CAPTIVITY.         495 

the  government  of  Judea  underwent  in  its  outward  form  under 
the  sway  of  the  Romans.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  B.  c.  37  Herod 
the  Great,  a  prince  of  Idumsean  descent,  received  from  the  Ro 
man  senate  the  grant  of  the  kingdom  of  Juda3a.  After  a  series 
of  conflicts  with  his  enemies  in  Palestine  he  captured  Jerusalem, 
and  thus  established  himself  in  his  kingdom.  Our  Saviour  was 
born  in  the  last  year  of  his  reign  or  near  the  close  of  the  prece 
ding  year.  Among  the  last  acts  of  his  life  was  the  slaughter  of 
the  children  at  Bethlehem.  Matt.  2  : 16. 

Upon  the  death  of  Herod  the  Great,  the  emperor  Augustus 
refused  to  confer  upon  his  son  Archelaus  the  kingly  dignity; 
but  gave  him  Judaea,  Idumaea,  and  Samaria,  with  the  title  of 
<Y//mor//,  while  his  brother  Antipas  was  made  tetrarch  of  Galilee 
and  Peraea,  and  Philip,  another  brother,  tetrarch  of  Trachonitis 
and  the  adjacent  region. 

The  term  ethnarch  signifies  prefect  or  ruler,  and  is  variously  used.  The 
term  tetrarch  originally  signified  the  ruler  of  .the  fourth  part  of  a  district  or 
province;  but  was  used  loosely  of  a  tributary  prince  inferior  in-  dignity  to 
a  king. 

4.  We  come  now  to  the  last  form  which  the  government  of 
Judaea  took  under  the  Romans.  In  the  year  12  of  the  Christian 
era  Augustus  united  Juda?a  and  Samaria  to  Syria,  and  constitu 
ted  the  whole  into  an  imperial  province.  There  were  two  classes 
of  Roman  provinces,  imperial  and  senatorial  The  magistrates  of 
the  senatorial  provinces  w^ere  appointed  annually  by  the  senate ; 
but  those  of  the  imperial  provinces  held  their  office  at  the  will  of 
the  emperor.  The  chief  magistrates  of  the  imperial  provinces 
had  the  title  of  presidents,  while  the  revenues  were  managed  by 
procurators  appointed  by  the  emperor.  "  Sometimes  a  procura 
tor  discharged  the  office  of  a  governor,  especially  in  a  smaller 
province,  where  the  governor  could  not  be  present ;  as  Pontius 
Pilate  did,  who  was  procurator  or  prcepositus  (Suet.  Yesp.  4)  of 
Judaea,  which  was  annexed  to  the  province  of  Syria  (Tacitus, 
Annals,  12.  23).  Hence  he  had  the  power  of  punishing  capitally 
(ibid.,  15.  44),  which  the  procurators  did  not  usually  possess 
(ibid.,  4.  15)."  Adam's  Roman  Antiquities,  under  the  head  of 


496  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Provincial  Magistrates.  The  Jews  had  now  lost  the  power  of 
inflicting  capital  punishment,  as  appears  prominently  in  our 
Lord's  trial. 

5.  The  rise  of  the  various  Jewish  sects  noticed  in  the  gospel 
history  will  be  considered  hereafter.  But  one  Jewish  tribunal 
arose  after  the  captivity  of  transcendent  influence,  and  which 
was  so  far  civil  in  its  character  that  it  may  be  appropriately 
noticed  in  the  present  connection.  This  was  the  great  Sanhedrim. 
The  Talmud  traces  the  origin  of  this  august  body  to  the  seventy 
elders  whom  Moses,  at  God's  direction,  associated  with  himself 
in  the  government  of  the  people.  Numb.  11 : 16,  17.  We  may 
well  believe  that  this  primitive  body  of  elders  gave  the  idea  of 
the  later  Jewish  council;  but  that  it  was  perpetuated  through 
all  the  intervening  ages  is  a  baseless  hypothesis.  The  first  ex 
press  notice  of  the  sanhedrim  which  we  have  in  Josephus  is  about 
47  B.  c.,  when  that  body  summoned  Herod,  then  a  young  man 
and  governor  of  Galilee,  to  answer  for  the  arbitrary  manner  in 
which  he"  had  exercised  the  power  of  life  and  death.  Antiq., 
14.  9.  4.  But  it  was  certainly  then  an  ancient  institution.  It 
appears  in  the  second  book  of  Maccabees  under  the  title  of  the 
seriate  (1 : 10 ;  4  :  44 ;  11 :  27)  in  the  days  of  the  Syrian  kings  in 
the  first  half  of  the  second  century  before  Christ. 

The  term  sanhedrim,  or  more  accurately  sanliedrin,  is  formed  from  the 
Greek  (owtdpiov,  session),  and  this  indicates  that  the  body  had  its  origin 
in  the  period  of  Grecian  rule.  Besides  the  term  session  (in  our  version 
council,  Matt.  26  :  59  ;  Mark  14  :  55  ;  John  11 :  47  ;  etc.)  it  is  called  presby 
tery  (in  our  version,  estate  of  the  elders,  Luke  22  :  66  ;  Acts  22  :  5) ;  and  oriee, 
as  a  parallel  term,  senate  (Acts  5  :  21). 

If,  as  there  is  reason  to  suppose,  the  idea  of  the  sanhedrim 
was  taken  from  the  council  of  seventy  elders  that  assisted  Moses 
in  the  wilderness  (Numb.,  chap.  11),  we  may  assent  to  the  Rab 
binic  statement  that  it  consisted  of  seventy-one  members,  an 
swering  to  the  seventy  elders  in  the  wilderness,  with  the  addition 
of  Moses  as  their  head  (not  seventy-two,  as  some  have  supposed ; 
for  Eldad  and  Medad,  who  remained  in  the  camp  and  prophe 
sied  there,  "  were  of  them  that  were  written,"  that  is,  plainly,  of 


GOVERNMENT  AFTEK  THE  CAPTIVITY.         497 

the  number  of  the  seventy,  ver.  26).  From  the  New  Testament, 
which  is  our  only  reliable  source  of  information,  we  gather  that 
this  tribunal  was  composed  of  chief  priests,  elders,  and  scribe*. 
Matt,  26  : 57,  59 ;  Mark  15  : 1 ;  Luke  22  :  66.  The  chief  priests 
were  apparently  the  heads  of  the  twenty-four  courses  of  priests 
(1  Chron.,  chap.  24),  together  with  the  high  priest  and  those 
who,  in  these  times  of  frequent  and  irregular  changes,  had  borne 
the  office  of  high  priest.  The  elders  were  probably  men  of 
experience  and  influence  selected  from  among  the  heads  of  the 
Jewish  families ;  and  the  scribes  were  men  chosen  into  the  body 
for  their  learning  in  the  law  of  Moses.  The  sanhedrim  had  a 
president,  called  head  or  prince,  who  was,  as  a  rule,  the  high  priest ; 
a  vice-president,  called  father  of  (he  house  of  judgment ;  and  officers 
who  executed  its  commands.  Matt.  26  :  47 ;  Mark  14 : 43 ;  Luke 

22  :  63 ;  John  7  :  32 ;  18  :  3,  22 ;  Acts  4 : 1,  seq. ;  etc.     It  contained 
members  of  the  sect  of  Sadducees  as  well  as  of  Pharisees.     Acts 

23  :  6,  seq.     Its  sessions  were  held  in  a  hall  at  or  near  the  tem 
ple;  but  in  emergencies,  as  when  the  Saviour  was  arraigned 
before  it,  at  the  high  priest's  palace.     The  sanhedrim  was  the 
supreme  judicial  tribunal  of  the  land.     To  it  belonged  the  decis 
ion  of  all  questions  pertaining  to  religion ;  as  for  example,  the 
trial  and  condemnation  of  false  prophets  and  teachers,  and  men 
guilty  of  blasphemy.     On  this  ground  Jesus,  and  afterwards  his 
apostles,  were  arraigned  before  it.     It  had  the  power  of  life  and 
death  until  this  prerogative  was  taken  away  by  the  Romans, 
according  to  the  rabbins  some  forty  years  before  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem ;  at  all  events,  before  our  Lord's  trial.    John  18 : 31. 
There  then  remained  the  right  of  arrest  and  trial  not  only  in 
Palestine,  but,  as  it  appears  from  Acts  9 : 2,  beyond  its  limits. 
This  must,  however,  have  been  with  the  consent  or  connivance 
of  the  Roman  authorities ;  for  the  sanhedrim  could  not  compel 
Paul  to  appear  before  its  tribunal  in  Jerusalem  without  leave 
obtained  from  the  Roman  governor.     Acts  25  :  9-12. 


498  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTEE  XXV. 

yH£     ADMINISTRATION     OF     JUSTICE. 

1.  WE  have  seen  the  provision  made  for  judges  in  the  wilder 
ness  of  Arabia,  and  afterwards  in  the  land  of  Canaan  (Chap.  22, 
No.  8),  which  latter  remained  in  force,  with  but  slight  modifica 
tions,  till  the  Babylonish  captivity.     Upon  the  reorganization  of 
the  commonwealth  under  Ezra,  he  was  authorized  by  a  royal 
edict  to  set  magistrates  and  judges  over  the  people  according  to 
the  law  of  his  God  (Ezra  7 : 25,  26),  that  is,  according  to  the 
Mosaic  constitution.     Thus  the  ancient  system  of  judges  was 
restored,  as  far  as  the  altered  circumstances  of  the  people  per 
mitted.     We  have  seen  also  how,  under  the  Grecian  rule,  the 
supreme  tribunal  of  the  nation,  called  the  great  sanhedrim,  arose. 
Chap.  24,  No.  5.     It  remains  to  consider  the  processes  by  which 
justice  was  administered,  and  the  penalties  inflicted  upon  viola 
tors  of  the  law. 

I.     PROCESSES  OF  JUSTICE. 

2.  For  the  judges,  as  well  as  for  the  priests  and  magistrates, 
the  Mosaic  law  was  the  supreme  rule.    In  the  twenty-first,  twen 
ty-second,  and  twenty-third  chapters  of  the  book  of  Exodus  is  a 
summary  code  of  civil  laws,  and  various  additional  statutes  are 
scattered  through  the  remaining  books  of  the  pentateuch.     It  is 
not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  these  specific  precepts  could 
cover  all  the  particular  cases  that  would  arise  in  the  intercourse 
of  life.     They  embodied  rather  the  spirit  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and 
those  great  principles  of  justice  by  which  the  judges  were  to  be 
governed  in  their  decisions.     Moses  solemnly  admonished  the 
judges  whom  he  appointed  that  they  acted  in  God's  stead,  and 
were  bound  to  give  their  decisions  without  respecting  men's  per 
sons,  fearing  men's  power,  or.  taking  gifts  to  pervert  judgment : 


THE  ADMINISTRATION   OF  JUSTICE.  499 

"  Hear  the  causes  between  your  brethren,  and  judge  righteously 
between  every  man  ancLhis  brother,  and  the  stranger  that  is  with 
him.  Ye  shall  not  respect  persons  in  judgment;  but  ye  shall 
hear  the  small  as  well  as  the  great ;  ye  shall  not  be  afraid  of  the 
face  of  man ;  for  the  judgment  is  God's :  and  the  cause  that  is 
too  hard  for  you,  bring  it  unto  me,  and  I  will  hear  it "  (Deut. 
1:16,  17);  "Thou  shalt  not  wrest  judgment;  thou  shalt  not 
respect  persons,  neither  take  a  gift ;  for  a  gift  doth  blind  the  eyes 
of  the  wise,  and  pervert  the  cause"  (marginal  rendering  ma  ft '-I'M) 
"  of  the  righteous"  (Deut.  16  : 19). 

False  prophets  and  idolaters  were  to  be  punished  with  death.  Deut. , 
chap.  13.  In  the  case  of  individuals  this  penalty  would  naturally  be  in 
flicted  (before  the  institution  of  the  Sanhedrim)  by  the  ordinary  magistrates 
after  due  investigation.  In  the  case  of  a  city  that  had  apostatized  from  the 
service  of  God  to  idolatry,  the  inhabitants  with  their  cattle  were  to  be 
slain,  and  all  the  spoil  burnt  with  fire — a  punishment  which  could  only  be 
inflicted  by  the  people  in  their  collective  capacity  under  the  guidance  of 
their  rulers.  Compare  the  action  of  "ah1  the  children  of  Israel "  under  the 
direction  of  "the  chief  of  all  the  people,"  in  the  case  of  the  Benjainite 
who  protected  the  children  of  Belial  in  Gibeah.  Judg. ,  chap.  20,  seq. 

3.  The  ordinary  fiaces  of  trial  in  ancient  times  were  the  gates 
of  the  cities.  "  They  were  adapted  to  this  purpose,  inasmuch  as 
they  were  public,  and  were  used  not  only  for  entering  and  de 
parting,  but  for  fairs,  places  of  business,  and  to  accommodate 
those  who  were  assembled  merely  to  pass  away  the  time."  Jahn, 
Archaeology,  §247. 

The  allusions  in  the  Old  Testament  to  the  gates  of  cities  as  places  of 
common  resort  and  publicity  are  almost  innumerable.  It  is  there  that  Boaz 
redeems  Elimelech's  estate,  and  with  it  receives  Ruth  as  his  wife  (Ruth, 
chap.  4) ;  there  Eli  sits  to  hear  tidings  from  the  ark  of  God  (1  Sam.  4  : 13) ; 
there  the  two  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  hold  their  council  respecting  the 
expedition  to  Ramoth-gilead  (1  King  22  : 10) ;  there  wisdom  is  represented 
as  lifting  up  her  voice  and  crying  to  the  children  of  men  (Prov.  8:3);  there 
the  wise  counsellor  speaks  (Job  29  :  7,  seq. ;  Prov.  2-4  :  7) ;  and  there  the 
upright  judge  rebukes  iniquity  and  establishes  judgment  (Amos  5  : 10,  15). 
To  be  crushed,  oppressed,  or  turned  aside  in"  the  gate  (Job  5:4;  Prov. 
22  :  22  ;  Amos  5  : 12),  is  to  be  overthrown  there  by  an  unrighteous  judg 
ment.  Other  places  of  judgment  were  chosen  according  to  convenience. 


500  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Moses,  for  example,  decided  causes  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  in  the 
"wilderness  ;  Deborah  under  a  palm-tree,  where  ^he  children  of  Israel  came 
to  her  for  judgment  ( Judg.  4:5);  and  the  kings  in  their  palaces  (2  Sam. 
14  :  4  ;  1  Kings  3  : 16  ;  7:7).  The  publicity  of  the  process  in  all  these  pla 
ces  is  worthy  of  notice. 

From  some  incidental  notices  of  Scripture  (2  Sam.  15  :  2  ;  Psa.  101 :  8  ; 
Jer.  21 : 12)  it  has  been  inferred  that  judges  ordinarily  held  their  sessions  in 
the  morning.  In  a  warm  climate,  like  that  of  Palestine,  such  a  custom  would 
be  natural  and  convenient.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  the  last  two 
of  the  above  passages  express  anything  more  than  the  promptness  and  zeal 
which  a  righteous  judge  exercises  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty ;  and  as  for 
Absalom  he  would  begin  his  labors  early  that  he  might  win  to  himself  the 
greater  number. 

4.  In  accordance  with  oriental  usage,  the  process  of  trial  was 
simple  and  summary.  In  civil  cases  the  plaintiffs  brought  their 
complaints  personally  before  the  judges,  and  it  was  the  right  of 
the  accused  to  be  present  and  answer  for  themselves.  Exod. 
22  :  9  ;  Deut.  25  : 1 ;  1  Kings  3  : 16,  seq.  In  both  civil  and  crim 
inal  causes,  the  examination  of  witnesses  and  the  sifting  of  tlieir 
testimony  was  the  most  essential  part  of  the  proceeding.  In 
cases  of  life  and  death,  two  or  three  witnesses  were  required : 
"  Whoso  killeth  any  person,  the  murderer  shall  be  put  to  death 
by  the  mouth  of  witnesses;  but  one  witness  shall  not  testify 
against  any  person  to  cause  him  to  die  "  (Numb.  35  :  30) ;  "  at  the 
mouth  of  two  witnesses,  or  three  witnesses,  shall  he  that  is  wor 
thy  of  death  be  put  to  death;  but  at  the  mouth  of  one  witness 
he  shall  not  be  put  to  death"  (Deut.  17  : 6).  Another  precept  of 
the  law  (Deut.  19 : 15)  is  more  general  in  its  provisions :  "  One 
witness  shall  not  rise  up  against  a  man  for  any  iniquity,  or  for 
any  sin,  in  any  sin  that  he  sinneth ;  at  the  mouth  of  two  wit 
nesses,  or  at  the  mouth  of  three  witnesses,  shall  the  matter  be 
established."  A  false  witness,  after  due  conviction,  received  in 
his  own  person  the  penalty  which  he  had  sought  to  bring  upon 
his  neighbor.  Deut.  19  : 16-21.  When  the  circumstances  per 
mitted,  the  accused  might  bring  other  proof  of  his  innocence; 
the  torn  body,  for  example,  of  his  neighbor's  beast  that  had 
been  intrusted  to  his  care.  Exod.  22  : 13 ;  see  also  Deut.  22  : 15, 
seq.  Where  no  testimony  was  available,  the  oath  of  the  accused 


THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE.  501 

was  accepted  in  proof  of  his  innocence.  Exocl.  22  : 10,  11.  The 
whole  process  was  oral,  and  there  is  no  decisive  proof  that  advo 
cates  were  employed  by  either  the  accuser  or  the  accused. 

There  is  a  passage  in  Leviticus  (chap.  5  : 1)  which  may  be  thus  literally 
rendered  :  "And  if  a  soul  sin,  and  hear  the  voice  of  adjuration,  and  he  is 
a  witness,  or  has  seen  or  known  ;  if  he  shall  not  declare,  then  he  shall  bear 
his  iniquity."  The  meaning  of  these  words  seems  to  be  this:  If  a  soul 
shall  sin  by  withholding  his  testimony  when  he  hears  the  voice  of  adjura 
tion,  in  a  case  where  he  is  a  witness,  as  one  who  has  either  seen  or  other 
wise  known  the  matter  in  question  ;  then  he  shall  bear  his  iniquity.  In 
what  sense,  now,  does  he  hear  the  voice  of  adjuration  ?  According  to 
Michaelis  (Laws  of  Moses,  6.  g  299)  and  others,  it  is  in  the  sense  of  hearing 
the  voice  of  the  judge  who  administers  to  him  the  oath  ;  whence  they  in 
fer  that  the  usual  custom  was  to  put  witnesses  upon  their  oath.  But  Keil 
(Commentary  on  Lev.  5  : 1)  and  others  understand  by  "the  voice  of  adju 
ration  "  a  solemn  adjuration  on  the  part  of  the  judge  addressed  to  the  mul 
titude,  by  wliich  all  present,  who  have  knowledge  of  the  matter,  should  feel 
themselves  called  upon  to  come  forward  as  witnesses.  Whichever  interpre 
tation  be  adopted,  the  passage  in  Proverbs  (chap.  29  :  24,  "  The  partner  of 
a  thief  hateth  his  own  soul ;  he  heareth  adjuration,  and  doth  not  declare 
it ")  must  be  explained  in  a  corresponding  way. 

The  sanhedrim  employed  scribes,  and  made  use  of  writing.  See  on 
this  point  Saalschutz,  Mosaic  Law,  chap.  87,  note.  As  to  the  use  of  wri 
ting  in*the  judicial  processes  of  the  earlier  times,  the  same  writer  remarks 
that  the  notices  that  appear  in  the  biblical  books  (Isa.  10  : 1 ;  Job  13  :  26 ; 
31 : 35)  are  obscure  and  isolated.  The  connection  of  the  passage  in  Isaiah 
seems  to  show  that  it  includes  written  judicial  decrees  as  customary  in  the 
prophet's  time.  The  two  passages  in  Job  certainly  refer  to  written  accu 
sations,  though  not  necessarily  those  of  Hebrew  courts  ;  for  the  writer  may 
have  hail  in  mind  the  Egyptian  processes  of  law,  where,  as  is  well  known, 
writing  was  employed  on  the  side  of  both  the  accuser  and  the  accused.  See 
Diodorus  Siculus,  1.  75. 

5.  After  due  examination  the  sentence  was  pronounced  and 
carried  into  execution  without  delay.  The  statement  of  Jahn 
(Archaeology,  §246),  that  "according  to  the  Tahnudists  (Sanhe 
drim,  4)  it  was  not  lawful  to  try  causes  of  a  capital  nature  in  the 
night,  and  it  was  equally  unlawful  to  examine  a  cause,  pass  sen 
tence,  and  put  it  in  execution  the  same  day,"  and  that  "the  last 
particular  was  veiy  strenuously  insisted  on,"  must  be  restricted 
to  the  later  usage  as  determined  by  the  sanhedrim.  It  does  not 


502  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

appear  from  the  Old  Testament  that  there  was  more  delay  in 
capital  cases,  than  in  those  of  fine  and  corporal  punishment. 
"When  Achan  had  been  found  guilty,  the  sentence  of  death  was 
immediately  executed  upon  him.  Josh.,  chap.  7.  By  the  same 
summary  process  was  the  blasphemer  put  to  death  (Lev.  24  : 10, 
seq.),  and  the  Sabbath-breaker  (Numb.  15  :  32,  seq.).  Although 
the  judgment,  in  these  cases,  proceeded  immediately  from  Jeho 
vah,  it  does  not  appear  that  in  respect  to  the  promptness  of  exe 
cuting  it  there  was  any  departure  from  the  custom  of  the  times. 
In  the  case  of  corporal  punishment,  the  judge  was  to  see  the 
sentence  carried  into  execution  "  before  his  face."  Deut.  25  :  2. 


II.     HEBREW  PENALTIES. 

6.  The   constitution   of   the   Hebrew   commonwealth  being 
ordered  throughout  by  God  in  the  interest  of  religion — being,  in 
truth,  a  state  that  embodied  in  itself  organically  all  the  institutions 
of  religion ;  or,  if  one  choose  to  say  so,  God's  church  put  into 
the  form  of  a  state — its  magistrates  and  judges  took  cognizance 
alike  of  offences  against  religion,  against  morality,  and  against 
social  order.     The  gradations  of  punishment  were  determined 
partly  from  the  nature  of  the  offence,  whether  committed  imme 
diately  against  God  in  its  outward  form,  or  more  directly  against 
man ;  partly  from  the  spirit  manifested  by  the  offender.     Thus 
idolatry,  witchcraft,  and  blasphemy,  murder,'  man-stealing,  adul 
tery,  bestiality,  and  some  forms  of  incest,  were  punished  with 
death;  but  not  simple  injuries  done  to  the  person,  estate,  or 
character  of   a   neighbor.     Then,  again,  sins  of  ignorance  or 
neglect  might  be  expiated  by  a  sin-offering  or  a  trespass-offer 
ing  (Lev.,  chap.  4,  seq.),  but  the  presumptuous  transgressor  was 
to  die  without  mercy  (Dent.  17  : 12). 

7.  Imprisonment,  as  a  form  of  penalty  to  be  inflicted  upon 
convicted  criminals,  was  not  in  use  among  the  ancients.     The 
accused  were  sometimes  kept  in  ward  till  their  case  could  be 
examined  and  adjudged  (Lev.  24: 12),  and  there  were  of  course 
among  them  prisoners  of  state  (2  Kings  24  : 12 ;  2  Chron.  33 : 11 ; 


THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE.  503 

Jer.  82  :  2) ;  but  a  criminal  was  never  sentenced  upon  conviction 

to  imprisonment  as  a  specific  form  of  punishment. 

i* 

Prisoners  were  not  unfrequently  confined  in  empty  cisterns.  Such  was 
the  dungeon  into  which  Jeremiah  was  thrown,  and  from  which  he  was  de 
livered  by  the  intercession  and  kind  offices  of  Ebed-melech.  Jer. ,  chap. 
38.  Prisoners  were  often  confined  with  chains,  or  their  feet  were  put  in 
the  stocks.  Jeremiah  was  subjected  to  both  of  these  indignities.  Jer. 
20  :  2  ;  40  :  4. 

8.  In  enumerating  the  penalties  prescribed  by  the  Mosaic 
law,  we  begin  with  fines  in  their  various  forms.     The  man  who 
had  defamed  his  newly  married  wife  was  to  be  chastised  and 
also  to  pay  to  her  father,  upon  conviction,  a  hundred  shekels  of 
silver.     Deut.  22  : 19.     If  an  ox,  previously  known  to  be  vicious, 
gored  a  free  man  or  woman,  the  penalty  was  death ;  but  instead 
of  this  a  fine  might  be  accepted,  the  amount  being  determined 
by  the  judges.     If  the  person  gored  was  a  servant,  a  fine  of 
thirty  shekels  was  to  be  paid.     Exod.  21 : 28-32.     For   other 
cases  see  Exod.  21 : 22,  33,  34;  Deut.  22  : 28,  29. 

Under  the  head  of  fines  we  may  properly  consider  the  cases 
in  which  compensation  in  kind  was  required.  If,  for  example,  a 
man  had  stolen  an  ox  or  sheep,  and  killed  or  sold  it,  he  was  to 
restore  five  oxen  for  an  ox,  and  four  sheep  for  a  sheep.  If  the 
animal  were  found  in  his  hand,  he  was  required  to  restore  dou 
ble.  If  he  had  allowed  his  beast  to  feed  in  another  man's  field 
or  vineyard,  of  the  best  of  his  own  field  or  vineyard  was  he  to 
make  restitution,  etc.  See  Exod.  22  : 1,  seq. ;  21 :  35,  36. 

9.  Corporal  punishment  is  prescribed  under  two  distinct  forms. 
The  first  is  that  of  stripes,  to  be  inflicted,  apparently,  at  the  dis 
cretion  of  the  magistrate,  within  a  prescribed  limit.     "If  there 
be  a  controversy  between  men,  and  they  come  unto  judgment, 
that  the  judges  may  judge  them ;  then  they  shall  justify  the  right 
eous,  and  condemn  the  wicked.     And  it  shall  be,  if  the  wicked 
man  be  worthy  to  be  beaten,  that  the  judge  shall  cause  him  to 
lie  down,  and  to  be  beaten  before  his  face,  according  to  his  fault, 
by  a  certain  number.     Forty  stripes  he  may  give  him,  and  not 
exceed :  lest  if  he  should  exceed,  and  beat  him  above  these  with 


504  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

many  stripes,  then  thy  brother  should  seem  vile  unto  thee." 
Deut.  25  : 1-3.  The*  judge  may  order  more  or  less  stripes,  "  ac 
cording  to  his  fault,"  but  the  number  is  not  to  exceed  forty.  As 
a  safeguard  against  exceeding  this  limit,  the  Jews  were  accus 
tomed  to  inflict  in  extreme  cases  "  forty  stripes  save  one."  2  Cor. 
11 :  24.  Only  a  few  cases  are  specified  in  which  scourging  was 
to  be  inflicted  (Lev.  19  :  20;  Deut.  22  : 18) ;  but  there  is  no  rea 
son  to  doubt  that  this  form  of  punishment  was  employed  in 
many  other  cases,  at  the  discretion  of  the  judge.  This  indeed  is 
implied  in  the  general  precept  above  given. 

•  The  instrument  of  punishment  is  not  mentioned.  According  to  the 
Kabbins  it  was  a  whip  made  of  leather.  In  New  Testament  times  this  was 
in  common  use  (Matt.  10  : 17 ;  23  : 34  ;  Acts  5  :  40) ;  but  in  earlier  ages  it 
may  have  been  the  rod  so  often  mentioned  as  the  common  instrument  of 
punishment  (Exod.  21 :  20  ;  Prov.  10  : 13  ;  etc.).  The  scourge  of  scorpions 
(1  Kings  12  : 11,  14)  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  scourge  armed  with  knots 
and  sharp  points,  or  a  rod  beset  with  thorns. 

The  second  form  of  corporal  infliction  is  that  of  retaliation. 
The  cases  in  which  this  is  allowed  are  thus  stated  :  "  If  a  man 
cause  a  blemish  in  his  neighbor,  as  he  hath  done,  so  shall  it  be 
done  unto  him:  breach"  (fracture  of  a  limb)  "for  breach,  eye 
for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth  :  as  he  hath  caused  a  blemish  in  a  man, 
so  shall  it  be  done  to  liim  again."  Lev.  24  : 19,  20.  In  the  case 
of  a  false  witness,  the  judges  are  commanded  to  do  to  him  as 
he  had  thought  to  have  done  unto  his  brother :  "  Thine  eye  shall 
not  pity ;  but  life  shall  go  for  life,  eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth, 
hand  for  hand,  foot  for  foot."  Deut.  19  : 16-21.  The  same  rule 
is  prescribed  in  the  special  case  of  injury  done  to  a  woman  with 
child,  if  it  proceed  farther  than  to  cause  "  that  her  fruit  depart 
from  her."  Exod.  21 : 22-25.  It  was  only  in  the  case  of  free 
persons  that  retaliation  in  kind  was  allowed.  If  a  man  smote 
out  the  eye  or  tooth  of  a  servant,  the  prescribed  penalty  waf 
that  he  should  let  him  go  free.  Exod.  21 : 26,  27.  The  law  ot 
retaliation  was  allowed  only  in  certain  specified  cases  of  wilful 
injury,  where  it  would  have  a  salutary  influence  in  restraining 
the  violence  of  the  strong  and  passionate.  It  does  not  appear 


THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE.  505 

to  have  been  made  absolutely  binding  except  in  the  single  case 
of  "  life  for  life."  In  other  cases  the  injured  party  might,  if  he 
thought  proper,  accept  satisfaction  in  the  form  of  a  sum  of 
money.  In  this  way  the  law  seems  to  have  become  mainly  obso 
lete  in  practice. 

The  notion  that  the  law  of  retaliation  sanctioned  all  kinds  of  private 
revenge  (Matt.  5  : 38,  seq.)  was  a  gross  perversion  of  its  form  as  well  as  its 
spirit.  It  was  a  rule  for  the  magistrate  alone.  It  prescribed  what  the  in 
jured  party  might  claim  from  him,  but  which  the  higher  spirit  of  the  gos 
pel  would  incline  him  to  remit,  at  least  upon  condition  of  reasonable  pecu 
niary  compensation.  ^ 

10.  The  loss  of  freedom  was  prescribed  as  the  penalty  of  theft, 
when  the  thief  was  unable  to  make  restitution.     Exod.  22  : 3. 
This  case  is  to  be  distinguished  from  that  of  the  Hebrew  who, 
according  to  the  usage  of  the  age,  was  sold,  or  was  compelled  to 
deliver  up  his  children  as  servants,  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  his 
creditors.     Lev.  25  :  39  ;  Deut.  15  : 12;  2  Kings  4:1;  Isa.  50  : 1. 
The  latter  was,  or  might  be,  a  case  of  simple  misfortune.     The 
former  was  one  of  crime,  for  which  the  penalty  was  loss  of  liberty. 

11.  Two  cases  have  already  been  noticed  in  which  the  penalty 
of  death  was  prescribed ;  that  of  murder,  in  which  the  law  was 
"  life  for  life',"  and  that  of  the  false  witness  who  sought  the  life 
of  his  neighbor.     Divine  revelation  guards  with  solemn  severity 
the  sanctity  of  human  life.     The  words  of  God  addressed  to 
Noah,  and  through  him  to  all  nations,  were :  "  At  the  hand  of 
every  man's  brother  will  I  require  the  life  of  man.    Whoso  shed- 
deth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed :  for  in  the 
image  of  God  made  he  man"  (Gen.  9  :  5,  6) — words  which  cannot 
be  diluted  down  to  a  mere  prophecy,  but  which  manifestly  con 
tain  a  divine  precept,  and  that  on  ground  valid  for  all  time.     In 
accordance  with  the  spirit  of  these  words  is  the  Mosaic  com 
mand  :  "  Ye  shall  take  no  satisfaction  for  the  life  of  a  murderer, 
who  is  guilty  of  death ;  but  he  shall  be  surely  put  to  death."    And 
the  reason  assigned  is  that  "  blood  defileth  the  land :  and  the  land 
cannot  be  cleansed  of  the  blood  that  is  shed  therein,  but  by  the 
blood  of  him  that  shed  it."    Numb.  35  : 31,  33.     In  the  case  of 

Geog.  k  Autiq.  ^  22 


506  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

the  unknown  murderer,  the  guilt  was  first  to  be  laid  on  the  near 
est  of  the  cities  adjacent  to  the  spot  where  the  slain  man's  body 
was  found,  and  then  to  be  expiated  by  a  sacrifice,  with  which 
was  joined  a  solemn  protestation  of  innocence  on  the  part  of 
the  elders.  Deut.  21 : 1-9.  It  is  a  sign  not  of  the  advance  of 
true  Christian  civilization,  but  rather  of  the  decay  of  a  whole 
some  sense  of  justice,  that  it  is  with  us  so  difficult  to  convict  the 
murderer,  and  so  easy  for  him  when  convicted  to  escape  the 
penalty  of  death. 

Other  capital  offences  were  the  smiting  or  cursing  of  parents 
(Exod.  21  :  15,  17 ;  Lev.  20  :  9) ;  man-stealing  (Exod.  21 :  16 ; 
Deut.  24 : 7) ;  adultery,  the  indulgence  of  unnatural  lust,  and 
gross  forms  of  incest  (Lev.  20 : 10-21 ;  etc.) ;  idolatry,  all  forms 
of  witchcraft,  and  the  false  assumption  of  the  character  of  a 
prophet  (Deut.,  chap.  13 ;  etc.) ;  Sabbath-breaking  (Exod.  31 : 14, 
15 ;  Numb.  15  :  32-36) ;  and  blasphemy  (Lev.  24  : 16).  A  stub 
born  and  rebellious  son  might  be  brought  by  his  parents  before 
the  elders  of  his  city,  and  if  found  guilty,  put  to  death  by  sto 
ning.  Deut.  21 : 18-20.  Insubordination  to  the  magistrate  was 
an  offence  against  the  state ;  and,  if  persisted  in,  was  punished 
with  death  as  rebellion. 

12.  The  ordinary,  if  not  the  exclusive,  form  of  capital  pun 
ishment  for  persons  duly  convicted  of  the  above-named  crimes  by 
a  regular  civil  process  was  stoning,  as  appears  from  numerous 
passages  of  the  Old  Testament.  Lev.  20  :  2,  27 ;  24  : 14,  16,  23 ; 
Numb.  15 : 35  ;  Deut.  13 : 10 ;  17  :  5 ;  21 :  21 ;  22  : 21,  24 ;  etc.  The 
witnesses  were  required  to  begin  the  work  of  execution.  Deut. 
13  :  9  ;  17  :  7.  Compare  Acts  7  :  58.  Executions  by  means  of  a 
sword  or  other  military  weapon  were  rather  of  a  military  charac 
ter.  Tims  the  children  of  Levi,  at  Moses'  command,  slew  with 
the  sword  the  idolaters  at  Sinai  (Exod.  32  :  27-29) ;  Phinehas  the 
man  who  had  brought  a  Moabitish  woman  into  the  camp,  and 
the  woman  also  (Numb.  25 :  7,  8) ;  Samuel,  Agag  (1  Sam.  15 : 33) ; 
and  Benaiah,  at  Solomon's  command,  Adonijah,  Joab,  and  Shimei 
(1  Kings,  chap.  2).  Thus,  also,  the  individual  man  or  woman 
convicted  of  idolatry  was  to  be  stoned ;  but  a  city  that  had  apos- 


THE  ADMINISTEATION  OF  JUSTICE.  507 

tatized  to  idolatry  was  to  be  smitten  with  the  edge  of  the  sword. 
Deut.  13 : 6-18. 

In  respect  to  the  form  of  punishment,  military  men  allowed  themselves 
much  freedom.  David's  treatment  of  the  conquered  Ammonites,  for  exam 
ple,  (2  Sam.  12  :  31),  and  Jehu's  conduct  in  respect  to  Ahab's  sons  ajyl  the 
brethren  of  Ahaziah  (2  Kings  10  : 1-14)  ar«  to  be  regarded  as  military,  not 
regular  judicial  proceedings. 

13.  Hanging  or  gibbeting  appears  never  to  have  been  a  mode 
of  execution  among  the  Hebrews,  but  only  an  exposure  of  the 
body  after  death  as  accursed  of  God.  "  If,"  says  Moses  (Deut. 
21 : 22,  23),  "  a  man  have  committed  a  sin  worthy  of  death,  and 
he  be  put  to  death  "  (not,  as  in  our  version,  be  to  be  put  to  death), 
"  and  thou  hang  him  on  a  tree ;  his  body  shall  not  remain  all  night 
upon  the  tree,  but  thou  shalt  in  any  wise  bury  him  that  day  (for 
he  that  is  hanged  is  accursed  of  God) ;  that  thy  land  be  not  de 
filed,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee  for  an  inheritance." 
The  assumption  that  hanging  was  the  mode  of  execution  led  our 
translators  to  render,  after  the  Latin  (et  acljudicatus  morti  appen- 
susfueritpatibulo):  and  lie  be  to  be  put  to  death.  But  the  Hebrew 
says  simply,  and  he  be  put  to  death.  He  is  first  put  to  death  and 
then  gibbeted  till  evening,  precisely  as  Joshua  proceeded  in  the 
case  of  the  five  Canaanitish  kings  (Josh.  10  :  26),  and,  as  we  infer 
by  parity  of  reason,  in  that  of  the  king  of  Ai  (Josh.  8  :  29).  So 
David  first  slew  and  mutilated  the  murderers  of  Ishbosheth,  and 
then  "  hanged  them  up  over  the  pool  in  Hebron."  2  Sam.  4  : 12. 
When  Israel  had  joined  himself  to  Baal-peor,  God's  direction  to 
Moses  was :  "  Take  all  the  heads"  (that  is,  chiefs)  "of  the  people 
and  hang  them  up  to  Jehovah  before  the  sun."  In  pursuance  of 
this  command  Moses  said  to  the  judges  of  Israel :  "  Slay  ye  every 
one  his  men  that  were  joined  unto  Baal-peor."  Numb.  25 : 4,  5. 
The  most  natural  interpretation  of  the  passage,  taken  in  con 
nection  with  the  other  instances  of  hanging,  is  that  the  men  were 
first  slain  with  the  sword,  and  then  gibbeted.  As  to  the  seven 
persons  of  Saul's  family  (2  Sam.,  chap.  21)  who  were  delivered 
to  the  Gibeonites,  the  presumption  is,  as  in  the  case  of  the  king 
of  Ai.  that  they  were  first  slain  and  then  hanged.  But  it  is  not 


508  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

necessary  to  determine  this  point,  since  the  Gibeonites  did  not 
follow  the  precept  of  the  Mosaic  law,  which  required  that  all 
bodies  that  had  been  hanged  should  be  taken  down  before  sun 
set.  Hanging  as  a  Persian  punishment  may  well  have  been 
hangjpg  alive  as  a  mode  of  execution.  Ezra  6 : 11 :  Esther  7 : 10. 

14.  In  the  case  of  Achan's  sin  (Josh.,  chap.  7),  the  direction 
of  God  was :  "  He  that  is  taken  with  the  accursed  thing  shall  bo 
burned  with  fire,  he  and  all  that  he  hath."    Taken  by  themselves 
these  words  might  be  understood  of  burning  alive,  as  a  mode  of 
execution.     But  the  record  shows  us  that  Achan  and  all  the  liv 
ing  things  pertaining  to  him  were  first  stoned  and  afterwards 
burned  with  fire.    Upon  the  same  principle  may  we  interpret  the 
direction  concerning  the  incestuous  persons  (Lev.  20  : 14),  though 
some  understand  the  words  of  the  manner  in  which  they  were  to 
be  put  to  death. 

Strangulation  is  mentioned  by  the  Rabbins  (Sanhedrim,  7.  3)  as  a  pun 
ishment  for  various  offences.  But  this  is  unknown  to  the  law  of  Moses  ; 
as  is  also  their  statement  (Sanhedrim,  7.  2)  that  execution  by  burning  was 
accomplished  by  pouring  melted  lead  down  the  culprit's  throat. 

15.  It  remains  to  consider  the  oft-repeated  threatening  of 
excision:  "I  will  set  my  face  against  that  soul,  and  will  cut  In'm 
off  from  among  his  people;     "that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from 
Israel;"  "he  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people;"  "he  shall  bear 
his  iniquity."     That  the  penalty  of  excommunication  is  meant, 
according  to  the  opinion  of  the  later  Jews,  cannot  be  maintained, 
for  in  some  cases  (Exod.  31 : 14, 15 ;  Lev.,  chaps.  18  and  20)  there 
is  added  the  penalty  of  death.     According  to  Jahn  (Archaeology, 
§  258),  when  God  is  introduced  as  saying,  in  respect  to  any  per 
son,  "I  will  set  my  face  against  that  soul,  and  will  cut  him  off 
from  among  his  people "  (Lev.  17  : 10 ;  20  :  3,  5 ;   and  compare 
1  Kings  14  : 10 ;  21 :  21 ;  2  Kings  9  : 8),  the  expression  means 
death — and  in  this  connection  premature  death — by  the  provi 
dence  of  God;  but  if  the  expression  be,  "He  shall  be  cut  off 
from  his  people  "  (Exod.  30 :  33 ;  Lev.  7  :  20,  21,  25,  27 ;  17  :  4,  9 ; 
18  : 29  ;  19 :  8 ;  etc.),  the  punishment  of  stoning  is  meant.     It  is 
difficult  to  maintain  this  distinction;  for  we  find  both  forms  of 


THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE.  509 

expression  employed  with  respect  to  the  same  offence — the  eat 
ing  of  blood  (Lev.  17  : 10 ;  7  :  27).  According  to  Keil  (Archiiolo- 
gie,  §  153,  note)  and  others,  "we  are  to  understand  by  the  excis 
ion  which  the  law  prescribes  for  various  offences  stoning,  not 
only  where  the  penalty  of  death  is  annexed,  but  also  where  the 
mention  of  it  is  omitted.  On  the  expression,  "I  will  cut  him  off 
from  his  people"  (Lev.  20  : 2-6),  he  remarks  that  "it  proves  only 
this  much,  that  God  himself  will  cut  off  the  transgressor,  when 
the  earthly  magistrate  winks  at  the  crime  of  idolatry,  and  does 
not  himself  cut  off  the  idolater."  This  candid  concession,  to 
gether  with  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  the  distinction  made  by 
Jalm  between  the  two  forms,  "  I  will  cut  him  off  from  his  peo 
ple,"  and  "He  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people,"  seems  to  indi 
cate  as  most  probable  the  interpretation  proposed  by  Saalschlitz 
(Mosaic  Law,  chap.  60),  that  the  threatened  excision  does  not, 
in  and  of  itself,  lay  upon  the  magistrate  the  duty  of  putting  the 
offender  to  death;  and  that  in  cases  where  it  is  expressly  con 
nected  with  the  death-penalty,  the  meaning  is,  that  if  the  offend 
er  should  in  any  way  escape  punishment  at  the  hand  of  the 
magistrate,  a  premature  death  shall  sooner  or  later  follow  at  the 
hand  of  God. 

16.  The  infliction  of  the  death-penalty  belonged  regularly  to 
the  magistrate ;  but,  in  conformity  with  ancient  usage,  an  excep 
tion  was  allowed  in  the  case  of  the  murderer.  He  was  to  be 
slain  by  the  avenger  of  Nood,  that  is,  by  the  nearest  relative  of 
the  murdered  person.  To  guard  against  the  abuse  to  which  this 
custom  was  liable,  Moses,  by  divine  direction,  appointed  six  cit 
ies  of  refuge,  three  on  either  side  of  the  Jordan,  to  which  any  man 
who  had  slain  another  might  flee  and  be  protected  till  a  regular 
judicial  inquiry  could  be  instituted.  If  found  guilty  of  wilful 
murder,  he  was  to  be  delivered  up  to  the  avenger  of  blood;  if 
acquitted,  he  was  to  remain  in  the  city  of  refuge  till  the  death 
of  the  high  priest,  when  he  was  at  liberty  to  return  to  his  home. 
See,  for  the  particular  provisions,  Numb.,  ch.  35 ;  Deut.  19  :  4-13. 
We  have  here,  as  in  the  case  of  divorce,  an  ancient  usage  tolerated, 
and  at  the  same  time  ameliorated  by  the  provisions  annexed  to  it. 


510  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES.      . 

The  cities  on  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan  were  Kedesh  in  Galilee,  She- 
chem  in  Mount  Ephraim,  and  Hebron  in  Judah.  On  the  east  side  they  were 
Golan  in  Bashan,  Ramoth-gilead  in  the  tribe  of  Gad,  and  Bezer  in  the  tribe 
of  Beuben.  Josh.  20  :  7,  8.  An  inspection  of  the  map  shows  how  conve 
niently  they  were  distributed  over  the  Israelitish  territory.  The  direction 
in  Deut.  19  : 3,  "  Thou  shalt  prepare  thee  a  way,"  means  that  plain  and 
convenient  roads  should  be  kept  open  to  these  cities.  A  writer  in  Kitto 
(Art. ,  Cities  of  Kefuge)  states,  on  the  authority  of  the  Babbins,  that  the  main 
tenance  of  these  roads  in  good  condition  belonged  to  the  Sanhedrim  ;  that 
at  every  turning  there  were  posts  erected  bearing  the  words,  Refuge,  Refuge, 
to  guide  the  unhappy  man  in  his  flight ;  and  that  two  students  in  the  law 
were  appointed  to  accompany  him,  that,  if  the  avenger  should  overtake  him 
before  he  reached  the  city,  they  might  attempt  to  pacify  him  till  the  legal 
investigation  cquld  take  place. 

III.     PENALTIES  OF  FOBEIGN  NATIONS. 

17.  Among  the  penalties  inflicted  by  foreign  nations  we  no 
tice  the  following : 

Imprisonment,  as  of  debtors,  until  they  or  their  friends  should 
satisfy  their  creditors.  Matt.  5  :  25 ;  Luke  12  :  58.  John  the 
Baptist  was  imprisoned  by  Herod  as  an  expression  of  his  dis 
pleasure  (Matt.  14 : 3) ;  but  most  of  the  cases  of  imprisonment 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  were  with  reference  to  a  future 
trial  (Acts  5  : 17-40 ;  12  : 4 ;  etc.).  So  also  Paul,  during  his  two 
long  imprisonments,  first  at  Csesarsea  and  afterwards  at  Home 
(Acts  24 :  27;  28  : 16,  30,  31),  was  waiting  for  a  decision  of  his 
case. 

The  Eomans  had  a  custom  of  fastening  their  prisoners,  sometimes  by 
one  hand  to  a  soldier  (Acts  28  : 16),  sometimes  by  both  hands  to  a  soldier 
on  each  side  (Acts  12  :6).  In  the  latter  case  the  confinement  was  close; 
but  in  the  former  case  a  larger  degree  of  liberty  was  allowed  to  the  prisoner. 

Scourging  was  regarded  by  the  Eomans  as  an  ignominious 
punishment,  and  its  infliction  upon  Eoman  citizens  was  forbid 
den  by  the  Porcian  law.  Cicero  pro  Eabinio,  c.  3.  To  this  ex 
emption  there  is  reference  in  the  history  of  the  apostle.  Acts 
16  :  37 ;  22  :  25.  •  According  to  Adam  (Eoman  Antiquities,  Judi 
cial  Proceedings),  whips  were  employed  in  the  case  of  slaves; 
otherwise  rods.  Compare  2  Cor.  11 :  25. 


THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE.  511 

Decapitation  was  a  common  mode  of  execution  among  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  as  well  as  other  nations.  So  also  were 
harming  and  strangulation.  See  Adam,  as  above. 

Beating  to  death  (2  Mace.  6  : 10, 19,  28,  30;  Heb.  11 :  35,  where 
our  version  uses  the  word  torture]  was  a  cruel  Grecian  punish 
ment.  Dichotomy  or  cutting  in  pieces  was  a  mode  of  execution 
practised  by  the  Chaldeans  and  some  other  nations.  Dan.  2  :  5. 
To  this  our  Saviour  refers  Matt.  24  :  51 ;  Luke  12  : 46.  Bufnii«j 
alive  and  exposure  to  mid  beasts  are  mentioned  as  Chaldean  and 
Persian  punishments.  Jer.  29 : 22 ;  Dan.,  chaps.  3,  6.  They 
were  also,  as  is  we]i  known,  in  use  at  Rome  under  the  emperors, 
and  multitudes  of  Christians  were  thus  destroyed.  When  crim 
inals  were  burnt  they  were  dressed  in  a  -tunic  besmeared  with 
pitch  and  other  combustible  matter.  See  Adam,  as  above. 

Crucifixion  was  a  mode  of  execution  common  among  the 
Romans  in  the  case  of  slaves.  Roman  citizens  were  exempted 
from  it,  and  it  was  inflicted  upon  free  persons  only  when  they 
wished  to  mark  them  with  infamy.  Scourging  regularly  prece 
ded  it ;  but  the  other  insults  to  which  our  Lord  was  subjected  by 
the  Roman  soldiers  are  to  be  put  simply  to  the  account  of  their 
brutality.  The  cross  consisted  simply  of  a  post  intersected  a 
little  below  the  top  by  another  piece  at  right  angles  with  it. 
The  criminal,  having  been  scourged,  was  subjected  to  the  further 
ignominy  of  bearing  his  own  cross,  at  least  so  far  as  his  strength 
allowed,  to  the  place  of  execution,  which  was  without  the  city. 
The  cross  was  laid  on  our  Lord  in  the  first  instance  (John 
19 : 17),  but  afterwards  one  Simon,  a  Cyrenian,  was  compelled  to 
bear  it  after  him.  Matt.  27:32;  Mark  15:21;  Luke  23:26. 
Unless  we  bear  in  mind  this  custom  of  compelling  the  condemned 
man  to  bear  on  his  own  shoulder  the  instrument  of  his  death,  we 
shall  fail  to  apprehend  the  full  meaning  of  our  Saviour's  words, 
spoken  in  anticipation  of  the  ignominious  death  appointed  for 
him  in  the  counsels  of  heaven :  "  He  that  taketh  not  his  cross, 
and  followeth  after  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me."  Matt.  10  :  38.  He 
is  to  follow  his  Master  to  the  place  of  execution  with  the  cross 
on  his  shoulder.  Thousands  have  imitated  their  Lord  literally 


512  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

in  this  respect,  and  all  true  disciples  do  it  in  spirit.  Arrived  at 
the  place  of  execution  the  victim  was  stripped  of  his  garments 
and  stretched  upon  the  cross,  his  hands  being  nailed  to  the  ex 
tremities  of  the  cross-piece  and  his  feet  to  the  upright  part.  The 
raiment  of  the  sufferer  fell  to  the  four  soldiers  who  carried  into 
execution  the  sentence  of  crucifixion.  John  19  : 23,  24,  and  the 
parallel  passages. 

According  to  the  ancient  church  fathers  (Justin  Martyr,  Trypho,  91 ; 
Tertullian  adv.  Nat.,  1.  12),  there  was  a  piece  projecting  from  the  middle 
of  the  upright  part  of  the  cross,  on  which  the  criminal  sat.  The  design  of 
this  was  to  support  the  body,  since  otherwise  its  flight  might  have  torn 
away  the  hands  from  the  nails  driven  through  them.  It  is  probable  that, 
as  a  rule,  the  cross  was  first  erected  and  then  the  condemned  man  lif  ted  up 
and  fastened  to  it ;  though  he  may,  in  some  instances,  have  been  stretched 
upon  it  as  it  lay  on  the  ground,  and  then  lifted  up  with  it.  Tying  of  the 
feet,  and  sometimes  of  the  hands  also,  was  a  less  usual  mode  of  procedure. 
In  our  Lord's  case  both  the  hands  and  the  feet  were  nailed.  Luke  24  :  40  ; 
John  20  :  20,  25,  27.  The  modern  representations  of  the  cross  exaggerate 
both  its  size  and  its  height.  The  feet  of  the  condemned  man  were  proba 
bly  not  more  than  three  or  four  feet  above  the  ground.  Crucifixion  must 
be  distinguished  from  the  no  less  barbarous  punishment  of  impaling,  which 
we  see  represented  on  the  Assyrian  monuments. 

The  crucified  person  suffered  a  lingering  and  very  painful 
death,  sometimes  surviving  till  the  third  day,  and  even  longer. 
Pilate  marvelled  that  our  Lord  should  have  expired  on  the  day 
of  his  crucifixion.  Mark  15 : 44.  It  was  customary  with  the 
Romans  to  leave  the  body  of  the  crucified  person  upon  the  cross 
indefinitely.  But  they  allowed  the  bodies  of  Jewish  malefactors 
to  be  taken  down  before  sunset,  in  conformity  with  the  Mosaic 
law.  Deut.  21 : 22,  23.  To  this  end  they  hastened  their  death 
by  breaking  their  legs.  John  19  :  31.  The  vinegar  offered  by 
the  soldiers  in  mockery  (Luke  23  :  36),  and  afterwards  received 
by  the  Saviour  in  the  agony  of  death  (Matt.  27  : 48 ;  Mark  15 :  36 ; 
John  19  :  29,  30)  was  a  customary  drink  adapted  to  quench  thirst. 
But  the  "wine  mingled  with  myrrh "  (Mark  15  : 23 ;  Matt.  27 :  34, 
where  the  "  vinegar  mingled  with  gall"  is  the  same  preparation), 
which  was  offered  to  the  Saviour  just  before  his  crucifixion,  was 


THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE.  513 

a  stupefying  drink  intended  to  deaden  the  sense  of  pain.  When 
our  Lord  had  ascertained  its  nature  by  tasting  it,  he  refused  it, 
choosing  to  suffer  with  the  faculties  of  his  mind  in  full  exercise. 
By  the  thrust  of  the  soldier's  spear  his  real  death  was  certified 
beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt.  John  19  :  34^36. 

Thus  did  the  Father  expose  his  beloved  Son  to  ignominy  and 
death  on  the  accursed  tree  for  our  redemption,  as  it  is  written  : 
"  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made 
a  curse  for  us."  Gal.  3  : 13.  In  contemplating  the  painful  scene 
of  the  crucifixion  let  us  remember  that  the  Saviour,  now  at  the 
right  hand  of  glory,  asks  not  our  sympathy,  but  our  humble 
acceptance  of  the  great  salvation  which  he  purchased  for  us  by 
his  own  blood  on  Calvary. 


22* 


514  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

MILITARY   AFFAIRS. 

I.     THE  LEVYING  OF    TKOOPS. 

1.  Two  enrolments  were  made  in  trie  wilderness,  of  all  the 
males  "  from  twenty  years  old  and  upwards  "  (Numb.,  chaps.  1, 2G); 
and  these,  after  the  necessary  deduction  for  the  aged  and  infirm, 
constituted  the  men  of  war.     After  their  forty  years'  training  in 
the  wilderness,  the  Israelites  entered  the  land  of  Canaan  a  nation 
of  soldiers.  This  fact  appears  very  conspicuously  in  the  transaction 
recorded  in  the  thirty-second  chapter  of  the  book  of  Numbers. 
The  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad,  and  half  the  tribe  of  Manasseh, 
received  their  inheritance  on  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan,  on  con 
dition  that  all  the  men  of  war  should  pass  over  with  their  breth 
ren  and  help  them  subdue  the  land.    "  Our  little  ones,  our  wives, 
our  flocks  and  all  our  cattle,"  said  they  to  Moses  (vers.  26,  27), 
"shall  be  there  in  the  cities  of  Gilead.     But  thy  servants  will 
pass  over,  every  man  armed  for  war,  before  the  Lord  to  battle, 
as  my  lord  saith."    The  whole  body  of  able-bodied  warriors  was 
to  take  part  with  their  brethren  in  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  and 
thus  they  were  to  stand  on  the  same  footing  as  the  other  nine 
and  a  half  tribes. 

2.  We  learn  from  the  book  of  Judges  that  before  the  time  of  the 
kings,  when  foreign  enemies  were  to  be  repelled,  the  people  were 
levied  in  a  mass,  but  not  generally  from  all  the  tribes.  Only  those 
were  summo^d  who  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  scene  of  conflict. 
Thus  Ehud  "  blew  a  trumpet  in  the  mountain  of  Ephraim,  and 
the  children  of  Israel  went  down  with  him  from  the  mount,  and 
he  befor^  them"  (chap.  3 :  27) ;  Barak  took  with  him  ten  thousand 
men  of  Naphtali  and  Zebulon  to  meet  ^isera  (chap.  4:5-10); 
Gideon  blew  a  trumpet  and  assembled  an  army  of  thirty-two 


MILITARY  AFFAIRS.  515 

thousand  men  from  Manasseh  and  the  northern  tribes  (chaps.  6 : 
34,  35 ;  7 :  3) ;  and  Jephthah  assembled  against  the  Ammonites  an 
army  mainly  from  the  region  east  of  the  Jordan  (chap.  11,  seq.). 
Upon  Saul's  accession  to  the  kingdom,  there  was  a  general  sum 
moning  of  all  the  men  of  war  throughout  all  the  cosfcts  of  Israel 
—  330,000  in  number — to  rescue  the  men  of  Jabesh-gilead 
(1  Sam.,  chap.  11).  These  hasty  levyings  of  the  people  were  for 
brief  expeditions.  No  regular  provision  appears  to  have  been 
made  for  any  standing  army.  The  warriors  assembled  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment,  fought  without  wages,  accomplished  their 
work,  and  then  returned  to  their  homes. 

A  very  remarkable  provision  of  the  Mosaic  law  is  recorded  in  the  book 
of  Deuteronomy  (chap.  20:1-9).  When  the  Hebrews  were  about  to  en 
gage  in  battle,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  priest  to  exhort  the  soldiers  to  cour 
age  and  confidence  in  God.  The  officers  were  then  to  make  proclamation 
of  exemption  from  the  war  to  every  man  who  had  built  a  new  house  and 
not  dedicated  it,  or  planted  a  vineyard  and  not  eaten  the  fruit  of  it,  or  be 
trothed  a  wife  and  not  taken  her;  and  finally  they  were  to  say :  "What 
man  is  there  that  is  fearful  and  faint-hearted?  let  him  go  and  return  unto 
his  house,  lest- his  brethren's  heart  faint  as  well  as  his  heart." 

3.  But  upon  the  establishment  of  a  monarchical  form  of  gov 
ernment,  a  standing  army,  with  some  regular  provision  for  its 
maintenance,  became  a  necessity.  It  is  manifest  from  the  his 
tory  of  Saul  that  he  had  troops  in  constant  attendance  upon 
him,  and  so  had  all  the  kings  after  him;  though  we  have  no 
definite  information  as  to  the  manner  of  their  selection.  In 
special  emergencies  there  was,  under  the  kings,  in  addition  to 
the  regular  army,  a  general  levying  of  the  men  of  war.  Thus 
Kehoboani  assembled  from  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin 
an  army  of  180,000  men,  with  the  intention  of  fighting  against 
Jeroboam  (1  Kings  12 : 21) ;  Abijah,  king  of  Judah,  with  an  army  of 
400,000  men,  met  Jeroboam,  king  of  Israel,  who  had  at  his  com 
mand  double  that  number  (2  Chron.  13 : 3) ;  and  Asa  had  an  army 
of  580,000  men  (2  Chron.  14:8). 

Of  the  paid  troops  in  the  regular  armies  of  the  Greeks, 
Romans,  and  other  foreign  nations,  we  do  not  propose  to  speak. 


51G  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

II.     THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  ARMY. 

4.  The  mountainous  character  of  Palestine  was  not  suitable 
to  the  employment  of  cavalry,  or  of  war  chariots.     These  m-iv 
both  comm^i  in  Egypt  (Exod.  14 : 9,  23, 25,  28),  and  the  Israelites 
encouriterecP war-chariots  very  early  after  their  entrance  into  the' 
land  of  Canaan  (Josh.  17 : 16, 18 ;  Judg.  1:19;  'etc.) ;  but  they  never 
employed  them  or  mounted  warriors  before  the  time  of  the  kings. 
Samuel  forewarned  the  people  that  their  king  would  have  char 
iots  and  horsemen,  and  some  to  run  before  his  chariots  (1  Sam. 
8 : 11, 12).    Solomon  and  the  monarchs  after  him  had  chariots  and 
horsemen.    1  Kings  10 :  26 ;  16 : 9 ;  2  Kings  10 : 16 ;  Isa.  2:7;  etc. 
The  kings  and  their  chief  captains  rode  in  chariots,  with  a  retinue 
of  horsemen,  but  the  main  strength  of  the  Hebrew  armies  always 
lay  hi  their  foot-soldiers.    These,  as  among  other  ancient  nations, 
were  divided  into  heavy-armed  troops,  who  fought  hand  to  hand 
with  swords  and  spears,  and  light-armed  troops,  whose  chief 
weapons  were  bows  and  slings. 

5.  The  division  of  the  army  into  thousands  and  hundreds,  with 
their  captains,  is  frequently  mentioned.    1  Sam.  8 : 12 ;  17 : 18 ;  18 : 
13 ;  22 : 7 ;  29 : 2 ;  1  Chron.  12 : 14.  These  corresponded  very  nearly 
to  our  modern  regiments  and  companies.     There  was  also  a  sub 
division  of  the  hundreds  into  fifties.    1  Sam.  8 : 12 ;  2  Kings  1 : 9, 
seq.   Larger  divisions  of  the  army  were  made  according  to  circum 
stances.     Thus,  when  Saul  marched  against  the  Ammonites,  he 
divided  his  army  into  three  parts  (1  Sam.  11 : 11);  so,  also,  David, 
when  he  fought  against  Absalom,  keeping  also  a  reserve  with 
himself  (2  Sam,  18 : 2).     In  his  encounter  with  the  Syrians  and 
Ammonites;  Joab  made  two  divisions  of  his  army,  and  placed 
them  so  that  they  could  succor  each  other.     2  Sam.  10:9-14. 
Each  division  had  its  commander,  and  over  the  whole  was  a 
commander-in-chief. 

III.  ARMS  OFFENSIVE  AND  DEFENSIVE. 

The  chief  weapons  of  offence  used  by  the  heavy-armed  soldiers, 
were  the  sword,  spear,  and  javelin. 

The  form  of  the  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  swords,  as  also  of  the 


MILITARY  AFFAIRS.  517 

Grecian  and  Roman,  is  well  known  to  us  from  the  ancient  monu 
ments  and  works  of  art.  The  Egyptian  swords  were  from  two 
and  a  half  to  three  feet  in  length,  straight,  and  tapering  to  a 
sharp  point.  They  appear  to  have  been,  as  a  rule,  two-edged. 
They  had  also  a  falchion,  of  a  curved  form,  and  furnished  with 
a  single  edge.  This  was  used  only  for  cutting,  while  the  sword 
was  a  cut-and-thrust  instrument.  The  Assyrian  swords  were 
both  straight  and  curved.  The  swords  of  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
ma*ns  were,  as  a  rule,  short  and  straight,  made  for  cutting  and 
thrusting.  The  swords  of  the  Hebrews  seem  to  have  been  of 
the  same  general  character.  Thrusting  through  with  the  sword 
is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament;  cutting  or  hew 
ing  with  it  but  seldom. 

Ehud's  sword  (so  the  Hebrew  reads,  Judg.  3: 16,  making  no  distinction 
between  the  sword  and  the  dagger)  was  a  cubit  in  length,  straight  and  two- 
edged.  It  appears  to  have  had  the  usual  form  of  two-edged  swords,  but 
was,  perhapSj  shorter  than  the  average. 

The  sword,  when  not  hi  use,  was  encased  in  a  sheath,  which, 
as  well  as  the  handle  of  the  sword,  was  often  elaborately  orna 
mented.  The  ancients  generally  carried  the  sword  on  the  left 
side  attached  to  a  belt.  The  monuments  represent  Roman  sol 
diers  wearing  on  the  right  side  a  short  dagger-like  sword.  The 
Persian  acinaces  was  also  worn  fli  the  right  side. 

The  spear  was  a  staff  of  wood,  of  varying  length,  armed  with 
an  iron  blade.  The  Grecian  spear,  as  used  by  Homer's  warriors, 
served  for  both  thrusting  and  throwing.  That  of  Hector  was 
eleven  cubits  in  length.  II.,  6.  319.  The  Hebrew  spear  seems  to 
have  served,  occasionally  at  least,  the  same  double  purpose.  It 
was  the  spear  winch  Saul  ordinarily  earned  (1  Sam.  13:  22;  26: 
7,  seq.;  2  Sam.'l :  6)  that  he  threw  at  David  (1  Sam.  18 : 11 ;  19 : 10), 
and  afterwards  at  Jonathan  (1  Sam.  20 : 3).  The  translators  seem 
to  have  chosen  the  rendering  jatttZtft  in  these  last  named  passages, 
simply  from  the  circumstance  of  its  having  been  thrown,  while 
they  elsewhere  render  the  same  word  spear.  The  hind  end  of 
the  spear  was  armed  with  a  sharp  point,  by  means  of  which  it 
could  be  ftuck  in  the  ground.  1  Sam.  26:7.  It  was  this  that 


518  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Asaliel  thrust  through  the  body  of  Abner  as  he  followed  him. 
2  Sam.  2 : 23. 

The  true  javelin  or  dart  (Heb.  kidJibn  or  sltdali)  was  a  missile 
weapon  of  a  lighter  construction,  and  is  distinguished  from  the 
spear.  Thus  Goliath  of  Gath  had  a  spear  like  a  weaver's  beam, 
the  blade  of  which  weighed  six  hundred  shekels  of  iron ;  and,  in 
addition  to  this,  a  javelin  (Heb.  kidJtbn),  of  brass,  between  his 
shoulders ;  that  is,  slung  over  his  shoulders  to  be  used  as  occa 
sion  might  require. 

The  mace  or  war-club  was  a  staff  armed  with  iron,  used  by  the 
Assyiians,  Egyptians,  etc.  It  seems  to  be  the  instrument  referred 
to  by  Jeremiah  (Heb.  mappets,  rendered  in  our  version,  battle-axe, 
chap.  51 : 20).  The  true  battle-axe,  as  represented  on  the  Egyp 
tian  monuments,  does  not  appear  to  have  been  in  use  among  the 
Hebrews. 

7.  The  weapons  of  the  light-armed  troops  were  in  part  com 
mon  to  them  with  the  heavy-armed  soldiers.  According  to  Eaw- 
linson  (Herodotus,  9.  32,  note),  the  Egyptian  light-armed  in 
fantry  "  were  chiefly  archers ;  who,  besides  their  bows,  had  clubs, 
swords,  or  battle-axes,  and  occasionally  a  sort  of  flail  (as  in  the 

middle  ages) Some  had  light  javelins,  which  were  also 

used  by  the  chariot  corps."  The  Roman  light-armed  troops 
(velites),  besides  their  bows  or  •lings,  earned  each  a  cut-and- 
thrust  sword  and  seven  javelins  with  slender  points  like  arrows, 
so  that  when  thrown  they  bent,  and  could  not  easily  "be  thrown 
back  la»y  the  enemy  (Adam,  Roman  Antiquities).  But  the  dis 
tinguishing  weapons  of  the  light-armed  troops  were  boivs  and 
slings.  Hence  the  divisions  into  archers  and  slingers. 

In  the  hands  of  the  ancients  the  bow  was  a  very  formidable 
weapon.  The  bow  of  the  foot-soldiers  was  five  feet  or  more  hi 
length,  with  either  a  single  or  a  double  curvature.  It  was  made 
of  tough,  elastic  wood  tipped  with  horn,  sometimes  of  metal,  or 
of  the  horns  of  animals.  "The  bow  of  Pandarus  (II.,  4.  105,  seq.) 
was  made  of  the  horns  of  a  wild  goat  of  sixteen  palms  spread. 
The  power  of  the  bow  was  measured  by  the  strength  required 
to  bend  it.  This  operation  was  commonly  performed  by  placing 


COAT  OF  MAIL. 


CATAPULT. 


MILITARY  AFFAIRS.  519 

the  foot  upon  one  end  of  it,  and  pressing  down  the  other  end  by 
the  left  hand  and  the  weight  of  the  body,  while  the  string  was 
passed  into  the  notch  with  the  right.  Hence  the  common  He 
brew  expression  to  tread  the  bow,  for  bending  if,  as  our  translators 
have  uniformly  rendered.  The  suitors  of  Penelope  tried  in  vain 
to  bend  the  bow  of  the  mighty  Ulysses,  which  he  himself  strung 
with  ease  (Od.,  Bk.  21).  Such  a  bow  in  the  hands  of  its  owner 
was  a  terrible  instrument  of  death,  as  we  see  in  the  case  of  Jehu, 
who  sent  an  arrow  quite  through  the  body  of  the  retreating  king 
of  Israel,  so  that  it  came  out  at  his  heart.  2  Kings  9 : 24.  Each 
bowman  was  furnished  with  a  quiver  plentifully  supplied  with 
arrou'Sj  and  often  highly  ornamented.  The  arrows  were  of  wood 
or  reed,  tipped  with  a  metallic  head  and  furnished  with  feathers. 

The  sling  was  in  common  use  among  the  Hebrews,  Egyptians, 
and  Assyrians,  as  it  was  in  later  ages  among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  It  was  very  simple  in  its  construction,  consisting  of  a 
leathern  strap  with  two  strings.  The  stone,  being  placed  in  the 
strap,  was  whirled  rapidly  round,  and  then  discharged  by  letting 
go  one  of  the  strings.  Sometimes  bullets  of  lead  were  used  in 
stead  of  stones.  By  constant  practice  the  slinger  learned  to 
throw  with  great  precision,  as  we  see  in  the  case  of  David.  The 
Benjaniites  had,  in  their  war  with  the  other  tribes,  "  seven  hun 
dred  chosen  men  left-handed ;  every  one  could  sling  stones  at  a 
hair-breadth,  and  not  miss.  Judg.  20 : 16. 

8.  The  war-chariot  of  the  ancients  had  always  two  wheels, 
and  was  drawn  by  twro  horses  abreast.  If  there  were  three  or 
four  horses,  they  were  hi  like  manner  harnessed  abreast.  The 
frame  of  the  Egyptian  chariot  was,  according  to  "Wilkinson,  a 
nearly  Bern-circular  wooden  frame  with  straightened  sides.  It 
had  a  floor  made  of  rope  network,  and  was  mounted  from  behind, 
where  it  was  open.  The  Assyrian  chariot  was  not  essentially 
different.  Both  the  chariot  and  the  trappings  of  the  horses  are 
ornamented  according  to  the  rank  of  the  owner.  The  ordinary 
complement  of  a  war-chariot  is  twro  persons,  the  warrior  with 
his  bow  and  quiver,  and  sometimes  his  spear,  also,  attached  to 
the  side  of  the  chariot ;  and  the  charioteer,  standing  at  his  left 


520  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

side;  but  in  some  instances  the  king  is  represented  alone, 
with  the  reins  tied  around  his  body,  his  arms  being  thus  left  at 
full  liberty  to  wield  his  weapons.  Sometimes,  again,  a  third 
person  appears  standing  behind  the  other  two.  He  is  appa 
rently  the  third  man  (Heb.,  shalisli,  English  version,  captain),  who 
waited  on  the  warrior  and  executed  his  commands  (2  Kings 
9:25).  In  the  king's  chariot  of  state,  he  carried,  in  times  of 
peace,  the  royal  umbrella  ;  in  war,  a  shield  to  protect  his  master. 
The  chariots  of  iron  (Josh.  17 : 16,  18 ;  Judg.  1 : 19 ;  4:3)  were 
probably  not  chariots  armed  with  scythes,  which  seem  to  have 
been  unknown  to  the  inhabitants  of  Asia  in  this  early  age  (Xeno- 
phon,  Cyropsedia,  6.  1.  30) ;  but  chariots  bound  with  iron,  or  per 
haps  furnished  with  iron  frames. 

The  difficult  passage  (Exod.  14::  7),  where,  according  to  the  common  ren 
dering,  Pharaoh  "took  six  hundred  chosen  chariots,  and  all  the  chariots  of 
Egypt,  and  captains  (Heb.  slicftisldm,  third  men)  over  every  one  of  them," 
may,  perhaps,  be  rendered  with  equal  propriety :  ' '  third  men  on  all  of 
them,"  the  meaning  being  that  each  chariot  had,  besides  its  warrior  and 
charioteer,  its  attendant. 

9.  Defensive  armor  was  an  essential  part  of  the  ancient  war 
rior's  equipment.  The  introduction  of  gunpowder  has  made  this 
useless.  Against  artillery  it  can  avail  nothing,  and  the  protection 
which  it  might  furnish  against  musketry  is  more  than  counter 
balanced  by  the  loss  of  agility  and  speed.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  the  heavy  cavalry  of  some  nations  still 
wore  defensive  armor.  But  this  has  fallen  more  and  more  into 
disuse,  and,  with  the  present  immensely  increased  efficiency  of 
small  arms,  may  be  regarded  as  obsolete  for  all  coming  time. 
But  against  the  weapons  of  ancient  warfare  defensive  armor  was 
of  indispensable  importance.  The  principal  parts  of  it  were  the 
following : 

Tho  IK  Inn  I  for  the  head,  generally  furnished  with  flaps  to  pro 
tect  the  ears  and  back  of  the  neck,  but  leaving  the  face  uncov 
ered.  The  heaviest  helmets  were  made  of  the  hides  of  animals, 
covered  with  plates  of  brass  or  iron*,  and  having  the  flaps  strength 
ened  by  metallic  scales.  Then  there  were  lighter  helmets,  made 


MILITARY  AFFAIRS.  521 

simply  of  leather,  felt,  quilted  stuff,  etc.  As  to  form,  some  took 
the  shape  of  a  skull-cap,  fitted  closely  to  the  head ;  others,  that 
of  an  oval,  or  of  a  pointed  cone.  The  top  was  usually  orna 
mented  with  a  knob,  or  with  a  conspicuous  crest,  or  a  nodding 
plume.  Sometimes  it  was  entirely  plain.  There  are  various 
fanciful  forms  represented  on  the  monuments,  which  it  is  not 
necessary  to  describe. 

The  breastplate,  as  a  covering  for  the  body.  It  was  made  of 
leather  or  quilted  cloth,  and  was  often  strengthened  above  with 
small  metallic  plates,  or,  in  a  later  age,  iron  rings  twisted  within 
one  another  like  chains ;  or  it  was,  perhaps,  made  entirely  of  me- 
talhc  plates  or  rings,  and  worn  over  a  shirt.  Over  the  breast 
plate  was  worn  the  military  girdle.  1  Kings  2 :  5. 

41 
We  read  (1  Kings  22:3-4)  that  "a  certain  man  drew  a  bow  at  a  venture, 

and  smote  the  king  of  Israel  between  the  joints  and  the  breastplate" 
(marginal  rendering),  inflicting  upon  Vn'm  a  mortal  wound.  The  words 
may  be  understood,  with  our  translators,  to  mean  between  the  joints  of  the 
harness;  that  is,  in  the  seam  where  one  part  of  the  harness  was  joined  to 
another;  or  they  may  mean  where  the  harness  was  joined  to  some  other 
part  of  the  armor.  But  some  render  :  between  the  armpits  and  the  harness. 

Greaves  for  the  protection  of  the  legs.  They  were  made  of 
leather,  felt,  cloth,  or  metal.  Goliath  had  greaves  of  brass ;  and 
the  greaves  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  generally  made  of 
brass  or  tin.  See  the  references  in  Potter's  Grecian  Antiqui 
ties,  3.  4. 

There  was  also  a  military  shoe,  to  which  there  is  a  reference  in 
2  Sam.  2 :  5,  where  Joab  is  said  to  have  "  put  the  blood  of  war 
upon  his  girdle  that  was  about  his  loins,  and  in  his  shoes  that 
were  on  his  feet."  To  these,  also,  Paul  refers  in  his  well-known 
comparison  of  the  Christian  to  an  armed  warrior  (Ephes.  6: 15): 
"  Your  feet  shod  with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace." 
The  Roman  military  shoe,  worn  by  the  common  soldiers,  was  set 
with  nails  (Juvenal,  16.  24,  25). 

The  above  pieces  of  armor  were  worn  on  the  body.  The  shield 
was  carried  in  the  left  hand,  or  by  an  armor-bearer  who  went 
before  the  warrior.  The  frame  of  the  shield  was  a  light  frame 


522  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

of  wood  or  wicker-work,  covered  with  bull's  hide,  and  often  with 
plates  of  brass  or  wood,  and  a  boss  jutting  out  in  the  middle. 
Homer  describes  the  shield  of  Ajax  as  covered  with  seven  thick 
nesses  of  bull's  hide  and  an  eighth  covering  of  brass.  II.,  7.  222. 
The  shields  of  his  heroes  were  round,  as  appears  from  the  con 
stant  epithet,  equal  on  dd  sides.  The  Egyptian  shield  was  circu 
lar  at  the  summit,  and  square  at  the  base,  like  a  funereal  tablet, 
and  was  about  half  the  soldier's  height.  The  Assyrian  shield 
was  circular  or  oblong.  They  had  also  a  shield  which  stood  up 
right  on  the  ground  and  covered  the  wiiole  body.  The  top  of 
this  curved  inward,  and  it  seems  to  have  been  used  as  a  defence 
against  missiles  from  the  walls  of  cities.  Layard's  Nineveh,  2, 
chap.  4.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  had  a  larger  oblong  shield, 
and  a  smaller  circular  shield.  The  distinction  of  a  larger  and  a 
smaller  shield  existed  among  the  Hebrews  also.  The  larger 
shield  (tsinnah,  answering  to  the  Latin  scutum)  appears  to  have 
been  either  oblong  or  shaped  like  the  Egyptian  shield.  It  was 
this  that  Goliath's  armor-bearer  carried  before  him  (1  Sam.  17: 7). 
The  small  buckler  (maglien,  Latin  clypeus)  was  of  a  round  form. 
The  shield  and  buckler  are,  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  constant 
emblems  of  God's  protection. 

The  most  complete  description  which  we  have  iii  the  Old  Testament  of 
an  ancient  warrior's  equipment,  occurs  in  the  account  of  Goliath's  challenge 
to  the  Israelites  (1  Sam.  17:5-7):  "He  had  a  helmet  of  brass  upon  his 
head;  and  he  was  clothed  with  a  harness  of  scales"  (Heb.  kaskasslm,  scales, 
that  is,  small  plates  like  scales);  "and  the  weight  of  the  harness  was  five 
thousand  shekels  of  brass.  And  he  had  greaves  of  brass  upon  his  legs,  and 
a  javelin  of  brass"  (that  is,  armed  with  a  head  of  brass)  "between  his 
shoulders.  And  the  staff  of  his  spear  was  like  a  weaver's  beam;  and  the 
head  of  his  spear  weighed  six  hundred  shekels  of  iron;  and  one  bearing  a 
shield  went  before  him."  The  description  is  drawn  from  the  life,  and 
agrees  almost  exactly  with  that  of  Homer's  heroes.  Instead  of  ' '  six  cubits 
and  a  span,"  as  the  height  of  this  champion,  Josephus  reads  "four  cubits 
and  a  span."  The  weight  of  Goliath's  armor  was  six  hundred  shekels  of 
brass,  which  Thenius  estimates  at  something  over  one  hundred  and  forty- 
two  Dresden  pounds,  the  Dresden  pound  being  a  trifle  heavier  than  the 
English  pound  avoirdupois. 

The  apostle  Paul,  in  his  celebrated  description  of  the  Christian  warrior 
(Ephes.  6:13-17),  enumerates  almost  all  the  armature  of  the  Roman  soldier: 


MILITARY  AFFAIRS.  523 

"  Wherefore  take  to  yourselves  the  panoply  of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able 
to  withstand  in  the  evil  day,  and,  having  accomplished  all "  (having  gone 
through  with  the  fight  in  this  divine  armor),  "to  stand.  Stand,  therefore, 
having  your  loins  girt  about  with  truth,  and  having  put  on  the  breastplate 
of  righteousness;  and  having  shod  your  feet  with  the  preparation  of  the 
gospel  of  peace  "  (the  preparedness,  cheerful  promptitude,  which  the  gos 
pel  of  peace  gives);  "besides  ah1,  taking  to  yourselves  the  shield  of  faith, 
wherewith  ye  shall  be  able  to  to  quench  all  the  fiery  darts  "  (darts  or  arrows 
fitted  with  combustible  substances)  "of  the  wicked  one.  And  take  the 
helmet  of  salvation,  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word 
of  God." 

IV.     THE  ORDER  OF  BATTLE. 

10.  In  regard  to  the  Hebrew  order  of  battle,  we  have  no  defi 
nite  information.  The  Roman  armies  were  drawn  up  in  three  lines, 
the  light-armed  troops  being  posted  in  the  intervals  between  the 
companies  of  heavy-armed  soldiers,  and  on  the  wings.     But  we 
have  no  reason  to  think  that  any  such  definite  arrangement  pre 
vailed  in  the  Israelitish  armies.    We  may  infer  from  the  analogy 
of  procedure  in  the  armies  of  other  nations  that  the  battle  was 
begun  by  the  light-armed  troops,  the  main  body  following  them 
with  a  rapid  and  impetuous  charge  and  loud  shouts.     2  Chron. 
13 : 15 ;  Jer.  50 : 15 ;  51 : 14.     The  Orientals  relied  much  on  the 
impetuosity  of  the  first  charge ;  while  it  was  the  custom  of  the 
Roman  armies  to  stand  still,  and  let  the  enemy  exhaust  his 
strength  in  the  assault.     The  Hebrews,  in  common  with  all 
other  nations^  made  use  of  ambuscades.    Josh.,  chap.  8 ;  2  Chron. 
13:13,14 

11.  The  progress  of  the  science  of  war,  with  its  numerous 
modern  appliances,  has  continually  tended  to  sink  the  individual 
in  the  mass.     The  elements  of  success  in  modern  warfare  are 
numbers,  abundance  of  the  material  of  war,  strategic  skill  on 
the  part  of  the  commander,  courage  and  discipline  on  the  part 
of  the  troops.     Except  in  special  emergencies,  personal  strength 
and  prowess  are  of  little  avail.     But  in  ancient  times  a  large 
part  of  the  battle  consisted  in  the  individual  encounters  of  sol 
diers  with  soldiers,  the  victory  depending  mainly  on  personal 
strength  and  valor.     In  this  respect  there  is  a  wonderful  agree- 


524  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

ment  between  the  battles  described  by  Homer  and  those  re 
corded  in  the  Old  Testament.  When  Achilles  shows  himself  on 
the  Grecian  rampart,  and  shouts  aloud,  the  Trojans  flee  before 
him  in  dismay,  as  the  Hebrews  do  at  the  challenge  of  Goliath. 
The  Iliad  is  filled  with  the  account  of  personal  encounters.  The 
briefer  notices  of  the  Hebrew  battles  record  the  exploit  of  Jona 
than  and  his  armor-bearer  in  putting  to  flight  the  whole  army  of 
the  Philistines  (1  Sam.,  chap.  14) ;  of  David  in  slaying  Goliath 
(1  Sam.,  chap.  17) ;  of  the  three  mighty  men  who  brake  through 
the  host  of  the  Philistines,  and  drew  water  from  the  well  of 
Bethlehem ;  with  various  other  like  achievements  on  the  part  of 
David's  heroes  (2  Sam.,  chap.  23). 

V.     THE  SIEGE  OF  CITIES. 

12.  The  siege  and  defence  of  cities  have  in  all  ages  constituted 
a  prominent  part  of  war.     Although  the  ancient  modes  of  attack 
and  defence  differed  widely  from  those  which  now  prevail,  they 
were  no  less  systematic,  and  called  into  exercise  no  less  skill  and 
endurance.     Anciently,  all  towns  of  importance  were  surrounded 
by  watts,  sometimes  of  immense  height  and  thickness,  and  fur 
nished  with  gates  and  bolts  of  brass  or  iron.    There  was  a  breast 
work  at  top  for  the  protection  of  the  defenders,  and  towers 
were  arranged   at   intervals  along  the   summit   where   the  be 
sieged  could  with  more  effect  attack  the  assailants.     "When  the 
nature  of  the  ground  permitted,  a  ditch  was  dug  without  the 
walls,  which  increased  their  relative  height  and  made  them  more 
difficult  of  access,  especially  if  it  was  filled  with  water,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  moat  about  the  walls  of  Babylon.     In  addition  to 
these  means  of  defence,  some  cities  enjoyed  the  advantage  of 
being  built  on  the  edge  of  precipices,  or  on  the  summit  of  steep 
hills.     Jerusalem,  for  example,  was  protected  on  the  east  and 
south  by  deep  ravines,  and  Alesia,  in  Gaul,  was  built  on  the 
summit  of  a  very  lofty  hill,  so  that  it  was  impregnable  to  direct 
assault. 

13.  If  a  city  could  not  be  taken  by  sudden  assault,  strata 
gem,  or  the  treachery  of  its  defenders,  the  assailants  prepared 


MILITARY  AFFAIRS.  525 

for  a  reyiilar  siege,  and  the  defenders  for  a  protracted  resistance. 
The  first  concern  of  the  latter,  provided  they  had  timely  no 
tice  of  the  assault,  was  to  strengthen  the  defences  as  far 
as  possible,  and  to  see  that  the  place  was  abundantly  sup 
plied  with  provisions  and  water.  If  there  were  fountains  and 
reservoirs  without  the  walls  of  the  city,  they  endeavored  to 
make  them  unavailable  to  the  besiegers.  Hezekiah  stopped 
the  waters  of  certain  fountains  around  Jerusalem,  apparently 
by  carrying  them  into  the  city  by  subterranean  channels. 
2  Chron.  32 : 3,  4,  compared  with  ver.  30.  '  Besides  the  common 
•  offensive  weapons,  the  men  on  the  walls  were  provided  with 
great  stones  to  cast  down  upon  the  enemy;  also  with  engines, 
called  by  the  Romans  catapults  and  lattistce.  According  to 
Jalm  (Archaeology,  §  280),  "the  catapults  were  immense  bows, 
which  were  bent  by  means  of  a  machine,  and  which  threw  with 
great  force  large  arrows,  javelins,  and  even  beams  of  wood.  The 
lallisice,  on  the  other  hand,  may  be  denominated  large  slings, 
which  were  discharged  likewise  by  machines,  and  threw  stones 
and  balls  of  lead."  Of  this  nature  were  the  engines  provided  in 
Jerusalem  by  Uzziah,  "on  the  towers  and  upon  the  bulwarks, 
to  shoot  arrows  and  great  stones  withal."  2  Chron.  26:15.  The 
same  engines  were  used  by  the  besiegers,  as  well  as  fiery  darts 
to  set  fire  on  the  one  hand  to  the  houses  of  the  city,  and  on  the 
other  to  the  works  of  the  assailants. 

The  besiegers,  on  their  side,  encompassed  the  city  with  two 
lines  of  fortifications  at  some  distance  from  each  other ;  the  in 
ner  one  to  protect  them  against  the  sallies  of  the  townsmen,  the 
outer  to  guard  against  attacks  from  without.  Among  the  Romans 
"the  Hues  were,"  says  Adam  (Antiq.,  Military  Affairs),  "com 
posed  of  a  ditch  and  a  rampart,  strengthened  with  p,  parapet  and 
battlements,  and  sometimes  a  solid  wall  of  considerable  height 
and  thickness,  flanked  with  towers  and  forts  at  proper  distances 

round  the  whole From,  the  inner  line  was  raised  a  mount, 

composed  of  earth,  wood,  and  hurdles,  and  stone,  which  was 
gradually  advanced  towards  the  town,  always  increasing  in 
height,  till  it  equalled  or  overtopped  the  walls.  The  mount 


526  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

which  Caesar  raised  against  Avaricum,  or  Bourges,  was  330  feet 
broad,  and  80  feet  high.  COBS.  B.  G.,  7.  24."  There  were  also 
fixed  towers,  consisting  of  different  stories,  from  which  showers 
of  darts  and  stones  were  hurled  upon  the  besieged  by  means  of 
the  engines  above  described ;  also,  movable  towers,  which  were 
pushed  forward  and  backward  on  wheels.  The  towers  were 
protected  against  the  flaming  missiles  thrown  from  the  town 
by  raw  hides  and  other  appliances.  The  towers  were  some 
times  of  immense  size  and  height,  overtopping  even  the  towers 
of  the  city. 

But  the  most  formidable  engine  of  assault  was  the  battering 
ram.  The  Roman  battering-ram  is  thus  described  by  Adam 
(ubi  supra):  "It  was  a  long  beam,  like  the  mast  of  a  ship,  and 
armed  at  one  end  with  iron  in  the  form  of  a  ram's  head,  whence 
it  had  its  name.  It  was  suspended  by  the  middle  with  ropes 
or  chains  fastened  to  a  beam  that  lay  across  two  posts;  and 
hanging  thus  equally  balanced,  it  was  by  a  hundred  men,  more 
or  less  (who  were  frequently  changed), -violently  thrust  forward, 
drawn  Back,  again  pushed  forward,  till  by  repeated  strokes  it 
had  shaken  and  broken  down  the  wall  with  its  iron  head."  The 
ram  and  the  workmen  generally  were  protected  by  sheds  or 
mantlets,  made  of  wood  and  hurdles,  and  covered  with  earth, 
raw  hides,  or  other  incombustible  substances.  These  sheds 
were  placed  on  wheels,  and  thus  moved  backward  or  forward  as 
occasion  required.  Meanwhile  the  besieged,  when  they  saw  that 
a  breach  would  soon  be  made  in  the  walls,  reared  new  walls  be 
hind  it  with  a  deep  ditch  before  them. 

Another  mode  of  both  attack  and  defence  consisted  in  tho 
running  of  mines.  Thus  the  besiegers  sought  to  undermine  the 
walls  or  cut  off  the  springs  in  the  city.  The  besieged  employed 
the  same  means  to  overturn  the  works  of  the  enemy.  Some 
times  the  opposing  parties  of  miners  met  under  ground  and 
had  bloody  conflicts  there.  When  all  the  above-named  means 
of  assault  (and  various  others  which  need  not  be  specified) 
proved  unavailing,  the  assailants  sought  to  reduce  the  city  by 
famine. 


MILITARY  AFFAIKS.  527 

There  are  references  in  the  Old  Testament  to  the  besiegers'  mount  (2  Sam. 
20:15;  2  Kings  19:32;  Isa.  37:33;  Jer.  32:24;  33:4;  Ezek.  4:2;  Hab.  1:10, 
etc.);  to  the  bailer  ing  ram  (2  Sam.  20  : 15  ;  Ezek.  4:2;  21:22);  to  the  engines 
for  hurling  javelins  and  stones  (2  Chron.  26:15);  and  to  the  military  works 
of  the  besiegers  generally  (Deut.  20:20;  Micah  5:1).  The  Hebrew  dayek, 
rendered  in  our  version/or/,  or,  in  a  collective  sense,  forts  (2  Kings  25 : 1 ;  Jer. 
52:4;  Ezek.  4:2;  17: 17;  21:22;  26:8)  is  explained  by  some  to  mean,  in  a  col 
lective  sense,  towers;  by  others,  lines  of  circumvaUaiion.  In  Ezek.  4:1,  2, 
the  prophet  describes  in  his  own  graphic  way  the  different  processes  of  a 
siege:  "Also,  thou  son  of  man,  take  thee  a  tile,  and  lay  it  before  thee, 
and  portray  upon  it  the  city,  even  Jerusalem;  and  lay  siege  against  it,  and 
build  against  it  towers  (or,  lines  of  circuinvallation),  and  cast  up  against  it 
a  mount,  and  set  the  camp  against  it,  and  set  battering-rams  against  it 
round  about." 

14.  Among  the  remarkable  sieges  of  antiquity,  we  notice  the 
following : 

The  siege  of  Azotus  (Ashdod)  by  Psammetichus,  king  of  Egypt, 
about  B.  c.  630.  He  took  the  city  after  a  siege  of  twenty-nine 
years,  the  longest  siege  on  record.  Herodotus,  2. 157. 

The  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  captured  and 
buined  the  city  and  temple  after  about  a  year  and  a  half.  B.  c. 
588.  2  Kings,  chap.-  25. 

The  siege  of  Tyre,  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  which  Josephus  says 
(Antiq.,  10.  11. 1,  against  Apion,  1.  21)  lasted  thirteen  years.  He 
does  not  state  the  issue ;  but,  according  to  Ezekiel  (chap.  26),  he 
must  have  been  successful.  See  above,  Chap.  10,  No.  30. 

The  siege  of  Jlabylon,  by  Cyrus.  Finding  it  impossible  to 
take  the  city  by  the  ordinary  methods  of  assault,  he  diverted  the 
course  of  the  Euphrates,  and  then  marched  in  by  its  channel 
under  the  wall.  This  was  about  B.  c.  536.  See  Herodotus,  1. 
191 ;  Xenophon  Cyropredia,  7. 5. 

The  siege  of  Tyre,  by  Alexander  the  Great,  about  B.  c.  332. 
The  city,  being  on  an  island,  could  not  be  directly  approached. 
But  Alexander  built  a  causeway  from  the  main  land  to  the  island, 
and  thus  succeeded  in  taking  it  after  seven  months  of  hard  toil. 
Josephus,  Antiq.,  11.  8.  3;  Diodorus  Siculus,  17.  40-46. 

The  siege  of  Jerusalem,  by  the  Romans  under  Titus.  For  the 
particulars  of  this  celebrated  siege,  in  which  a  million  of  persons 


528  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

are  said  to  have  perished,  and  which  ended  in  the  complete  de 
struction  of  the  city  and  temple,  about  A.  D.  71,  see  Josephus' 
Jewish  War,  books  5  and  6. 

VI.     THE  EIGHTS  CLAIMED  BY  THE  VICTORS. 

15.  War  is  essentially  cruel.     It  is 'the  meeting  of  force  by 
force.     The  conquerors  among  the  ancient  heathen  nations  ac 
knowledged  no  limit  to  their  power,  but  such  as  they  prescribed 
to  themselves  on  the  ground  of  policy.     When  a  city  or  people 
capitulated  upon  specified  conditions,  the  recognized  law  of  an 
cient  nations  required  the  conquerors  to  abide  in  good  faith  by 
these  conditions.     But  when  a  city  was  taken  by  assault,  the  vic 
tors  claimed  the  right  of  disposing  of  the  persons  and  possessions 
of  the  vanquished  as  they  saw  good.     The  men  were  very  com 
monly  slain,  and  the  women  and  children  carried  into  captivity 
or  sold  as  slaves.     Sometimes  the  principal  men  only  were  put 
to  death,  and  the  rest  carried  captive  with  the  women  and  chil 
dren.     At  other  times  the  conquered  territory  was  not  depopu 
lated,  but  reduced  to  a  tributary  condition.     Such  was  ancient 
warfare  in  what  may  W1  called  its  normal  forms.     But,  under  the 
impulse  of  the  malignant  passions  which  war  generates,  many 
atrocities   were   perpetrated    the   recital   of    which   makes  us 
shudder. 

16.  For  warfare  with  other  nations  than  the  Canaanites,  the 
law  of  Moses  prescribed  a  definite  rule :     "  When  thou  comest 
nigh  unto  a  city  to  fight  against  it,  then  proclaim  peace  unto  it. 
And  it  shall  be  if  it  make  thee  an  answer  of  peace,  and  open  unto 
thee,  then  it  shall  be  that  all  the  people  that  is  found  therein 
shall  be  tributaries  unto  thee,  and  they  shall  serve  thee.    And  if 
it  will  make  no  peace  with  thee,  but  will  make  war  against  thee, 
then  thou  shalt  besiege  it ;  and  when  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  de 
livered  it  into  thy  hands,  thou  shalt  smite  every  male  thereof 
with  the  edge  of  the  sword ;  but  the  women  and  the  little  ones, 
and  the  cattle,  and  all  that  is  in  the  city,  even  all  the  spoil  thereof, 
shalt  thou  take  unto  thyself,  and  thou  shalt  eat  the  spoil  of  thine 
enemies,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee."   Deut.  20 : 


MILITARY  AFFAIRS.  529 

10-14.  It  is  to  be  assumed  that  the  war  here  contemplated  was 
just  and  necessary;  waged  not  against  a  peaceful  neighboring 
people,  but  against  those  who  sought  to  injure  the  Israelites. 
The  rule  of  procedure  is  in  full  accordance  with  the  usage  of 
ancient  warfare.  •  With  regard  to  its  severity,  the  following  re 
marks  of  Jahn  (Heb.,  Archaeology,  §  296)  are  worthy  of  being 
pondered :  "  It  is  permitted,  by  the  natural  law  of  nations,  to  a 
people,  to  inflict  as  many  and  as  great  evils  upon  an  enemy,  as 
shall  be  necessary  to  deter  others  from  committing  the  like  of 
fence.  The  prevalent  state  of  feeling  among  nations,  whether  it 
tend  to  kindness  or  to  cruelty,  will  determine  how  much  is  neces 
sary  to  secure  such  an  object.  Nations  anciently  could  not 
exhibit  that  humanity  and  forbearance  in  war  which  are  common 
among  modem  European  nations,  without  running  the  risk  of 
exposing  themselves  to  every  sort  of  injury."  "We  must  by  no 
means,  however,  suppose  that  all  the  cruelties  practised  by  He 
brew  monarchs,  of  which  we  have  an  account  in  the  Old  Testa 
ment,  are  in  accordance  with  either  the  spirit  or  the  letter  of  the 
Mosaic  law.  Such  atrocities  as  those  recorded  in  2  Kings,  15 : 16 ; 
2  Chron.  25 : 12 ;  and,  we  may  add,  2  Sam.  12  : 31,  compared  with 
1  Chron.  20 :  3,  are  simply  recorded  but  not  justified. 

We  have  iu  Dent.  20 : 19,  20,  a  precept  which  beautifully  illustrates  the 
just  and  considerate  spirit  of  the  Mosaic  law.  In  besieging  a  city  they 
were  forbidden  to  destroy  the  fruit-trees  of  the  neighborhood,  to  employ 
them  in  the  siege;  and  the  annexed  reason  is:  "for  the  tree  of  the  field  is 
man's  life."  No  wonder  that  the  people  who  lived  under  such  a  law  should 
have  had  the  reputation  of  being  merciful  in  war.  1  Kings  20 : 31. 

17.  The  extirpation  of  tJie  Canaanites  was  placed  by  Jehovah 
himself  on  a  different  ground.  "Of  the  cities  of  these  "people 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  doth  give  thee  for  an  inheritance,  thou 

shalt  save  alive  nothing  that  breatheth That  they  teach  you 

not  to  do  after  all  their  abominations  which  they  have  done  unto 
their  gods;  so  should  ye  sin  against  the  Lord  your  God."  Deut. 
20 : 16-18.  The  same  precept  is  elsewhere  given,  and  enforced  by 
the  same  reason  (Deut.  7 : 1-6 ;  12  : 29-31) ;  and  the  subsequent  his 
tory  of  the  Israelites  shows  that  the  danger  to  be  guarded  against 

C.eo=-.  A  .\utiq.  ^3 


530  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

was  not  imaginary  but  real.  Judg.,  chap.  2.  It  pleased  the  sov 
ereign  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  to  give  the  land  of  Canaan  to  his 
people  as  their  heritage.  The  grant  itself  involved  the  alternative 
of  either  expelling  and  destroying  them  or  reducing  them  to  servi 
tude.  Since  the  latter  course  would  have  exposed  the  covenant 
people  to  inevitable  corruption,  the  former  was  adopted ;  and  the 
divine  command  was  a  warrant  to  the  Israelites  to  do  what  would 
have  been  otherwise  unlawful.  This  transaction,  like  the  whole 
history  of  God's  government,  was  based  upon  the  eternal  princi 
ple  that  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness  is  of  supreme  value 
—worth  infinitely  more  than  the  lives  and  possessions  of  the 
idolatrous  Canaanites ;  both  of  which  belonged  to  Jehovah,  and 
could  be  destroyed  if  he  saw  good,  in  any  way  that  he  should 
appoint,  in  the  interest  of  the  great  plan  of  redemption.  "Be 
hold,  therefore,"  we  may  say,  "the  goodness  and  severity  of  God" 
— towards  the  Canaanites,  whose  measure  of  iniquity  was  full, 
severity  (Gen.  15 : 16);  but  towards  the  chosen  people  goodness, 
if  they  had  but  understood  it  and  continued  in  it. 


ROMAN    CITIZENSHIP.  531 


APPENDIX    TO    THE    SECOND    DIVISION. 

ON    ROMAN     CITIZENSHIP. 

1.  The  Apostle  Paul,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  availed  himself  of  his 
rights  as  a  I^oman  citizen  to  protect  himself  from  injury.  At  Philippi  he  and 
Silas  had  been  openly  beaten  and  thrust  into  the  inner  prison,  with  their 
feet  made  fast  in  the  stocks.     The  next  morning  the  magistrates  sent  to 
the  keeper  of  the  prison  an  order  for  their  release.     Whereupon  Paul  re 
plied  :  "They  have  beaten  us  openly  uncondemned,  being  Eomans,  and 
have  cast  us  into  prison ;  and  now  do  they  thrust  us  out  privily  ?    Nay, 
verily ;  but  let  them  come  themselves  and  fetch  us  out."     Upon  hearing 
this  message  from  Paul,  the  magistrates  "feared,  when  they  heard  that 
they  were  Romans.     And  they  came  and  besought  them,  and  desired  them 
to  depart  out  of  the  city. "    Acts  1C :  23,  24,  35-39.     When,  again,  they 
were  binding  him  in  the  castle  at  Jerusalem,  for  the  purpose  of  scourging 
him,  he  said  to  the  centurion  who  stood  by:  "Is  it  lawful  for  you  to  scourge 
a  man  that  is  a  Roman  and  uncondemned  ?     When  the  centurion  heard 
that,  he  went  and  told  the  "chief  captain,  saying,   Take  heed  what  thou 
doest :  for  this  man  is  a  Roman.     Then  the  chief  captain  came,  and  said 
unto  him,  Tell  me,  art  thou  a  Roman  ?    He  said,  Yea.    And  the  chief  cap 
tain  answered,  With  a  great  sum  obtained  I  this  freedom.    And  Paul  said, 
But  I  was  free  born.     Then  straightway  they  departed   from  him  that 
should  have  examined  him  "  (examined  him  by  scourging) ;  "  and  the  chief 
captain  also  was  afraid,  after  he  knew  that  he  was  a  Roman,  and  because 
he  had  bound  him."    Acts  22  :  24-30. 

In  view  of  these  passages  in  the  histoiy  of  Paul,  two  questions  arise  : 
In  what  ways  did  foreigners  obtain  Roman  citizenship  ?  and,  what  were 
the  privileges  to  which  it  entitled  them  ?  Passing  by  the  times  of  the  Re 
public,  we  shall  restrict  our  inquiries  to  the  earlier  period  of  the  Empire. 

2.  In  the  time  of  the  Empire,  Italy,  Cisalpine  Gaul  included,  enjoyed  the 
right  of  Roman  citizenship.     Out  of  Italy,  it  was  granted  to  certain  towns 
called  municipal  towns  (municipia).     "Of  these,"  says  Adam  (Aiitiq.,  Art., 
Public  Rights),  "there  were  different  kinds.    Some  possessed  all  the  rights 
of  Roman  citizens  except  such  as  could  not  be  enjoyed  without  residing  at 
Rome.     Others  enjoyed  the  right  of  serving  in  the  Roman  legion,  but  had 
not  the  right  of  voting  and  obtaining  civil  offices."     The  municipal  towns 
enjoyed  their  own  laws  and  customs,  and  were  not  obliged  to  receive 
the   Roman    laws   unless    they  chose  it.     Then,  again,  there  were  colo- 
nies,  consisting  of   cities  or   lands  which  Roman   citizens   were   sent    to 


532  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

inhabit.  These  colonies  differed  from  the  free  towns  (munidpia)  in  this 
that  they  used  the  laws  prescribed  to  them  by  the  Eoinans.  "Some  colo 
nies,"  says  Adam  (ubi  supra),  "consisted  of  Roman  citizens  only,  some  of 
Latins,  and  others  of  Italians.  Liv.,  39.  55.  Hence  their  rights  were  dif 
ferent.  Some  think  that  the  Eoman  colonies  enjoyed  all  the  rights  of  citi 
zens,  as  they  are  often  called  Eoman  citizens,  and  were  once  enrolled  in 
the  censor's  books  at  Eome.  Liv. ,  29.  37.  But  most  are  of  opinion  that 
the  colonies  had  not  the  right  of  voting,  nor  of  bearing  offices  at  Rome, 
from  Dio,43.  39  and  50. "  It  was  at  a  much  later  period  that  Caracalla  granted 
the  freedom  of  Eoman  citizenship  to  all  the  free  inhabitants  of  the  Eoman 
world.  Finally,  the  right  of  Eoman  citizenship  was  obtained  as  a  reward 
for  fidelity  to  the  Eoman  interest  (Suetonius,  Aug.,  47),  or  by  purchase,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  chief  captain.  Acts  22  : 28,  and  see  Dio  Cassius,  60.  17. 
The  children  of  Eoman  citizens  enjoyed  by  birth  the  prerogative  of  their 
fathers ;  that  is,  they  Vf ere  free-born, 

3.  It  is  certain  that  Paul's  father  was  a  Eornan  citizen ;  but  how  he,  or 
some  of  his  ancestors  before  him,  had  obtained  that  privilege  is  unknown. 
Some  have  supposed  that  he  had  it  simply  as  a  citizen  of  Tarsus.     But 
this  is  denied  by  Biblical  scholars  generally.    "Tarsus,"  says  Meyer  (Com 
mentary  in  loco),  "was  neither  a  colony  nor  a  municipal  town,  but  nfree 
city  (urbs  libera]  ;  which  had  received  indeed  from  Augustus,  after  the 
civil  war,  the  privilege  of  being  governed  by  its  own  laws  and  magistrates, 
in  subordination  to  the  Eoman  authority,  and  with  this  other  prerogatives 
(Appian,  Bell,  Civ.  5.  7  ;  Dio.,  Chrys.,  2,  p.  36  ed.,  Eeisk),  but  not  Eoman 
citizenship."     See  also  Winer,  Bib.  Eealworterbuch,  Art.,  Tarsus.     It  is 
sufficient  to  point  out  the  various  ways  in  which  a  foreigner,  like  Paul's 
father,  could  have  obtained  Eoman  citizenship,  without  attempting  to  de 
cide  anything  farther. 

4.  Among  the  privileges  to  which  Eoman  citizenship  entitled  its  possessor 
was  exemption  from  stripes  and  torture.     This  was  given  with  certain  lim 
itations  by  the  Valerian  law,  and  afterwards  absolutely  by  the  Porcian  law. 
To  this  there  are  many  references  in  the  writings  of  Cicero.    "  The  Porcian 
law,"  says  he  (Pro  Eabirio,  c.  3),  "forbade  rods  to  be  used  on  the  body  of 
any  Eoman  citizen."     In  his  oration  against  Verres  occurs  the  well-known 
passage  :  "A  Eoman  citizen,  judges,  was  beaten  with  rods,  at  Messana,  ill 
the  open  forum  :  while,  in  the  meantime,  no  groan  escaped  the  lips  of  the 
sufferer,  no  other  words  wc-xe  heard  from  him,  amid  the  resounding  blows 
of  the  rods,  except  these:  'I  am  a  Eoman  citizen.'    By  this  mention  of 
his  citizenship  he  thought  to  icpel  from  his  body  all  stripes  and  torture. 
But  in  vain.     Not  only  did  he  not  save  himself  from  the  violence  of  rods, 
but,  while  he  repeatedly  implored  deliverance  and  proclaimed  the  fact  of 
his  citizenship,  the  cross,  the  cross,  I  say,  was  made  ready  for  the  unhappy 
sufferer,  who  had  never  witnessed  such  an  exercise  of  power"  (2.  5.  62,  63). 


ROMAN  CITIZENSHIP.  533 

The  exercise  of  power  to  which  the  orator  refers  was  that  of  scourging  and 
crucifying  a  Roman  citizen  ;  for  Roman  citizenship  protected  its  possessor 
from  ignominious  forms  of  punishment,  such  as  crucifixion,  which  was  espe 
cially  a  servile  punishment.  According  to  Cicero  (against  Verres,  2.  1.  3), 
exemption  from  it  was  the  privilege  of  every  Roman  citizen.  In  accord 
ance  with  this  is  the  tradition  of  the  ancient  church  that,  while  Peter  was 
subjected  to  the  ignominious  death  of  crucifixion.  Paul  was  beheaded. 

5.  Another  privilege  enjoyed  by  the  Roman  citizen  was  the  right  of  appeal 
from  a  lower  to  a  higher  tribunal.  This  was  established  by  the  Valerian 
law,  and  afterwards  once  and  again  renewed.  After  the  subversion  of  the 
Republic,  the  final  appeal  was  to  the  emperor.  See  Adams'  Roman  An 
tiquities,  Art.,  Judicial  Proceedings,  and  the  authorities  there  referred  to. 
The  apostle  Paul,  as  a  Roman  citizen,  availed  himself  of  this  right  to  escape 
the  snares  laid  for  him  by  the  Jews.  Acts  25  :  9-12. 


534  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


THIRD    DIVISION 

SACRED  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTEE  XXVII. 

HISTORICAL   SURVEY. 

1.  "First  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in 
the  ear,"  is  the"  divine  law  of  procedure  in  the  kingdom  of  grace, 
not  less  than  in  the  kingdoms  of  nature  and  of  providence.    He 
in  whose  sight  a  thousand  years  are  but  as  yesterday,  when  it  is 
past,  never  forces  results  prematurely.     He  gave  man  at  the  be 
ginning  two  fundamental  institutions,  the  Sabbath  and  Marriage; 
the  first  looking  more  immediately  to  man's  relation  to  his  Crea 
tor,  the  second,  to  the  relation  of  the  sexes  to  each  other,  and 
thus  to  the  constitution  of  society  in  its  inmost  essence.   After  the 
fall  he  gave  the  great  promise  concerning  the  Seed  of  the  woman, 
which  contained  in  a  germinal  form  the  whole  history  of  re 
demption.    He  also  gave,  apparently,  the  institution  of  sacrifices, 
which  prefigured  the  work  that  the  Seed  of  the  woman  should 
perform  for  our  salvation.     Gen.  4  :  3,  4.     From  that  day  to  the 
present  it  seems  to  have  been  a  principle  of  the  Divine  govern 
ment  to  give  men  institutions  only  when  their  necessity  had  been 
fully  evinced  by  experience ;  and  that,  apparently,  on  the  ground 
that  in  no  other  way,  humanly  speaking,  can  their  permanent 
observance  be  secured. 

2.  The  sacred  record  informs  us  that  in  the  third  generation 
"  began  men  to  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord."     Gen.  4 :  26. 
From  some  notices  in  the  New  Testament  (2  Peter  2:5;  Jude, 


HISTORICAL  SURVEY.  535 

14, 15),  we  gather  that  there  were  before  the  flood  preachers  of 
righteousness  who  warned  the  ungodly  of  the  impending  judg 
ments  of  heaven.  There  was  a  spontaneous  separation  between 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  but  there  was  no  written  word 
and  no  church;  that  is,  no  organic  body  constituted  by  God 
to  be  his  peculiar  people,  and  having  institutions  of  his  appoint 
ment.  As  to  civil  government  they  had  apparently  only  the 
loose  organization  growing  out  of  the  family  relation.  The 
idea  of  a  state  as  an  organic  whole  Had  not  yet  been  developed ; 
nor  had  the  great  law,  "whosoever  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by 
man  shall  his  blood  be  shed,"  which  contains  within  itself  the 
germ  of  a  state,  been  as  yet  promulgated.  The  first  great  exper 
iment  was  made  with  the  race  as  a  whole  without  a  church, 
and  without  positive  enactments,  civil  or  religious,  except  so  far 
as  the  institutions  of  Eden,  with  that  of  sacrifices,  may  be  re 
garded  as  such. 

3.  After  the  deluge,  the  law  against  murder  was  announced, 
when  now  its  necessity  had  been  shown  by  centuries  of  violence 
and  bloodshed,  some  other  enactments  were  added,  and  the  ex 
periment  with  the  race  as  a  whole  was  renewed  and  continued 
until  the  time  of  Abraham.  Then,  when  men  had  once  more 
apostatized  from  their  Maker,  and  idolatry,  with  all  the  gross 
vices  that  accompany  it,  was  overspreading  the  world,  God 
changed  his  plan  of  procedure.  Leaving  the  mass  of  mankind 
for  a  season  "to  walk  in  their  own  ways"  (Acts  14:16),  he  se 
lected  one  family,  that  of  Abraham,  to  be  his  peculiar  people  and 
the  depositaries  of  the  precious  boon  of  revelation ;  that,  having 
trained  them  up  in  the  knowledge  of  himself  and  prepared  them 
by  types  and  prophecies  for  the  advent  of  his  Son,  he  might, 
from  them  as  a-  centre,  propagate  the  true  religion  in  its  last  and 
most  perfect  form,  over  all  the  earth.  He  began  with  one  family, 
but  he  had  in  view  the  redemption  of  the  race,  as  the  original 
promise  shows:  "In  thee  shall  all  families  of  the  earth  be 
blessed."  He  gave  to  Abraham  and  his  posterity  the  singfe  rite 
of  circumcision.  In  other  respects  divine  worship  was  left  in  its 
primitive  simplicity.  There  was  neither  sanctuary  nor  prescribed 


536  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

ritual.  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  builded  altars  under  the 
open  heaven ;  and  there  they  offered  sacrifices  and  called  on  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  Doubtless  their  posterity  in  Egypt  wor 
shipped  in  the  same  primitive  way. 

4.  But  when  God  had  brought  the  covenant  people,  now 
grown  to  be  a  nation,  out  of  Egypt  into  the  wilderness  of  Arabia, 
he  gave  commandment,  for  the  first  tune  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  that  they  should  make  him  a  sanctuary,  that  he  might 
dwell  among  them  (Ex.  25  :"8) ;  and,  in  connection  with  this,  he 
gave  to  them  in  the  Mosaic  law  an  elaborate  national  constitu 
tion,  embracing  alike  civil  and  religious  institutions.  Here  it  is 
important  to  bear  in  mind  the  following  points : 

First :  The  Mosaic  economy,  having  God  for  its  immediate 
author,  and  being  intended  to  regulate  the  whole  national  life  of 
the  Hebrews,  made  no  distinction  between  civil  and  religious 
duties,  so  far  as  the  jurisdiction  of  the  magistrate  was  concerned. 
Ifc  was  not  a  state  united  with  a  church,  but  a  state  embosoming 
in  itself  all  the  institutions  of  religion  in  an  organic  way.  Conse 
quently  the  magistrate  took  cognizance  alike  of  offences  against 
God,  such  as  idolatry  and  witchcraft,  and  civil  offences,  like  niur- 
der,  theft,  and  false  witness. 

Secondly :  It  was  supplementary  to  the  Abrahamic  covenant. 
It  did  not  supersede  it,  but  prepared  the  way  for  the  advent 
of  Christ,  in  whom  its  provisions  were  to  be  fully  carried  out. 
This  end  it  accomplished  in  various  ways ;  particularly  by  the 
full  revelation  which  it  made  of  God's  unity  and  infinite  per 
fections  ;  by  the  conviction  of  sin  which  it  produced,  with  which 
was  connected  an  ever-deepening  sense  of  the  need  of  redemp 
tion  ;  and  by  its  types  which  continually  foreshadowed  this  re 
demption.  Unless  we  constantly  bear  in  mind  this,  its  prepara 
tory  character,  we  fail  to  comprehend  the  wisdom  and  suitable 
ness  of  its  provisions. 

Thirdly :  It  follows  from  the  above  that  while  the  Abrahamic 
covenant  was  made  for  all  time,  the  Mosaic  economy  was  tem 
porary,  and  destined,  after  it  should  have  fulfilled  its  office,  to 
wax  old  and  vanish  away.  • 


HISTORICAL  SURVEY.  537 

Fou rthly:  The  multiplicity  and  minuteness  of  its  provisions 
were  adapted,  as  the  Apostle  Paul  shows  (Gal.  4 : 1-5),  to  the 
childhood  of  the  covenant  people  who  constituted  God's  church. 
They  were  ''under  tutors  and  govemers  until  the  time  appointed" 
by  God  for  the  full  liberty  of  manhood ;  and  the  ordinances  of 
the  Mosaic  law,  "Touch  not,  taste  not,  handle  not,"  were,  there 
fore,  in  place.  The  same  view  may  be  taken  of  the  splendor  of 
its  ritual.  Its  final  end  was  the  establishment  of  the  simple, 
spiritual  and  universal  system  of  Christianity.  But  the  human 
mind  could  not  be  elevated  at  once  to  the  idea  of  such  a  system. 
It  must  be  brought  up  to  it  by  a  long  course  of  preparation. 
"God,  therefore,  gave  to  his  people  a  ritual,  which  rigorously 
excluded  all  forms  of  idolatry  and  image  worship,  and  impurity 
of  every  kind ;  while  it  was,  at  the  same  time,  better  adapted 
than  the  rituals  of  the  surrounding  heathen  nations  to  strike  the 
minds  of  the  worshippers  with  awe.  Its  multiplied  ordinances  and 
its  outward  magnificence  served  as  a  resting-place  for  the  reli 
gious  feelings  of  the  Hebrews,  and  also  as  a  guard  against  the 
seductive  influence  of  the  sensuous  and  imposing  rites  of  heathen 
ism  wliich  they  could  not  but  witness  in  the  worship  of  the  sur 
rounding  nations.  If  the  Israelites  abused  this  ritual  to  nourish 
in  their  souls  a  spirit  of  formalism,  it  was  the  abuse  of  what  was 
good  and  needful  for  the  time  being. 

Fifthly :  Since  it  was  God's  purpose  that  his  people  should 
have  a  constitution  absolutely  free  from  all  admixture  of  heathen 
ish  superstitions,  it  followed  of  neceesity  that  it  should  be  given 
by  himself  immediately,  not  merely  in  its  great  principles,  but  in 
all  its  details.  The  subsequent  history  of  the  Israelites  shows 
that  if  any  discretion  had  been  left  to  them  in  respect  to  the 
rites  of  Hheir  religion,  heathenish  superstition  would  have  crept 
in  as  a  bad  leaven  to  corrupt  the  whole,  and  thus  the  very  end 
of  the  economy  would  have  been  defeated.  To  guard  against 
this,  God  gave  the  priests,  who  had  charge  of  his  service,  a 
severe  lesson  at  the  very  outset  on  the  necessity  of  a  strict 
adherence  to  the  rites  of  his  appointment.  Nadab  and  Abihu, 
the  two  eldest  sons  of  Aaron,  were  slain  by  the  immediate  judg- 

23* 


538  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

ment  of  God,  because  they  "offered  strange  fire  before  the 
Lord" — fire  not  taken  from  that  kept  burning  upon  the  altar 
(Lev.  6 : 12, 13) — "which  he  commanded  them  not."  And  Moses' 
comment  on  the  transaction  was :  "  This  it  is  that  the  Lord  spake, 
saying :  I  will  be  sanctified  in  all  them  that  come  nigh  me,  and 
before  ah1  the  people  I  will  be  glorified."  Lev.  10 : 1-3.  This 
simple  principle  covers  a  multitude  of  particulars.  The  ritual 
must  come  from  Jehovah  in  all  its  details,  that  it  might  be  pure 
throughout  from  all  admixture  of  heathenism.  It  is  probable 
that  some  very  obscure  provisions  of  the  Mosaic  law  had  refer 
ence  to  heathenish  superstitions  of  which  we  are  ignorant. 

5.  The  Mosaic  law,  with  the  exception  of  its  moral  precepts, 
taught  mainly  by  types.  These  were  the  "  shadow  of  good  things 
to  come,"  of  which  Christ  is  the  substance.  The  general  duties 
of  the  priests  in  the  line  of  instruction  are  specified  in  various 
passages  of  the  Old  Testament :  "  That  ye  may  put  difference 
between  holy  and  unholy,  and  between  unclean  and  clean;  so 
that  ye  may  teach  the  children  of  Israel  all  the  statutes  which 
the  Lord  hath  spoken  unto  them  by  the  hand  of  Moses."  Lev. 
10 : 10,  11.  Of  the  priests  in  the  sanctuary,  which  Ezekiel  sees 
in  vision,  all  the  appointments  of  which  are  in  conformity  with 
the  Mosaic  law,  it  is  said :  "  They  shall  teach  my  people  the  dif 
ference  between  the  holy  and  profane,  and  cause  them  to  discern 
between  the  unclean  and  the  clean."  Ezek.  44  : 23.  "  The  priest's 
lips  should  keep  knowledge,  and  they  should  seek  the  law  at  his 
mouth ;  for  he  is  the  messenger  of  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Mai.  2 : 7. 
It  was  the  duty  of  the  priests  to  see  that  the  people  were  in 
structed  in  the  law  of  Moses  and  that  its  statutes  were  main 
tained  in  their  purity.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  however,  that,  so 
far  as  we  can  gather  from  the  Old  Testament,  there  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  any  provision  for  the  stated  instruction  of  the 
people  out  of  the  law  before  the  Babylonish  captivity,  if  we  ex 
cept  the  reading  of  the  law  before  ah1  Israel,  "men  and  women  and 
children,"  once  in  seven  years,  "in  the  solemnity  of  the  year  of 
release,  in  the  feast  of  tabernacles."  Deut.  31 : 10-13.  It  is  not 
surprising,  therefore,  that,  in  the  period  immediately  preceding 


HISTORICAL  SURVEY.  539 

the  captivity,  when  the  priests  had  become,  as  a  body,  unfaithful 
to  their  charge,  the  grossest  ignorance  of  the  divine  law  should 
have  prevailed,  and  that  even  the  pious  king  Josiah  should  have 
been,  in  great  measure,  ignorant  of  its  contents.  2  Kings,  chap.  22. 
"It  is  probable,"  says  Keil  (Commentary  on  vers.  9-14),  "  that 
hitherto  Josiah  had  not  possessed  or  read  any  copy  of  the  law ; 
although  the  fundamental  knowledge  of  the  law,  which  all  the 
prophets  display,  makes  indubitable  the  dissemination  of  the 
Pentateuch  in  the  prophetic  circles."  Such  was  the  daily  sendee 
of  the  sanctuary  for  several  successive  centuries,  till  the  time  of 
David— a  solemn  adumbration  of  silent  types,  in  which  neither 
the  words  of  the  living  teacher  nor  the  voice  of  holy  song  was 
heard. 

6.  But  when  "the  sweet  psalmist  of  Israel"  arose,  sacred 
poesy  burst  from  his  soul,  smit  by  the  inspiration  of  God's  Spirit, 
like  the  Jordan  from  the  foot  of  Hermon,  in  a  pure  and  full 
stream ;  and  it  has  flowed  through  the  sanctuary  ever  since,  and 
will  continue  to  flow  to  the  end  of  time.  The  songs  of  IJavid 
and  his  coadjutors  may  be  supplemented,  but  they  can  never  be 
superseded ;  for  they  open  the  floodgates  of  the  pious  heart,  and 
pour  forth  its  emotions  as  no  uninspired  song  can  do.  They 
well  up  from  the  centre  of  the  soul,  fresh  and  sparkling,  and  for 
this  reason  the  lapse  of  ages  does  not  diminish  their  adaptation 
to  the  wants  of  God's  worshippers.  In  the  twenty-fifth  chapter 
of  the  first  book  of  Chronicles  we  have  a  detailed  account  of 
the  arrangement  made  by  David  of  the  sons  of  Asaph,  Heman, 
and  Jeduthun,  in  twenty-four  courses,  "who  should  prophesy 
with  harps,  with  psalters  and  with  cymbals."  And  the  record 
adds  that  "  the  number  of  them,  with  their  brethren,  that  were 
instructed  in  the  songs  of  the  Lord,  even  all  that  were  cunning, 
was  two  hundred  four  score  and  eight."  From  that  time  onward 
"  the  service  of  song  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  "  (1  Chron.  6  :  31) 
constituted  a  part  of  divine  worship  at  the  sanctuary. 

The  account  of  the  cleansing  of  the  sanctuary  under  Hezekiah  contains 
a  lively  picture  of  tliis  part  of  divine  worship.  In  connection  with  the 
offering  of  the  several  sacrifices  the  king  "set  the  Levites  in  the  house  of 


540  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

the  Lord  with  cymbals,  with  psalteries,  and  with  harps,  according  to  the 
commandment  of  David,  and  of  Gad  the  king's  seer,  and  Nathan  the 
prophet ;  for  so  was  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  by  his  prophets.  And 
the  Levites  stood  with  the  instruments  of  David,  and  the  priests  with  the 
trumpets.  And  Hezekiah  commanded  to  offer  the  burnt-offering  upon  the 
altar.  And  when  the  burnt-offering  began,  the  song  of  the  Lord  began 
also  with  the  trumpets,  and  with  the  instruments  ordained  by  David,  king 
of  Israel.  And  all  the  congregation  worshipped,' and  the  singers  sang,  and 
the  trumpeters  sounded ;  and  all  this  continued  until  the  burnt-offering 
was  finished.  And  when  they  had  made  an  end  of  offering,  the  king  and 
all  that  were  present  with  him  bowed  themselves  and  worshipped.  More 
over,  Hezekiah  the  king  and  the  princes  commanded  the  Levitos  to. sing 
praises  unto  the  Lord  with  the  words  of  David,  and  of  Asaph  the  seer. 
And  they  sang  praises  with  gladness,  and  they  bowed  their  heads  and 
worshipped."  2  Chron.  29:25-30. 

The  same  service  of  song  was  carefully  perpetuated,  after  the  captivity, 
in  the  second  temple.     Ezra  2  :  41 ;  7:7;  Neh.  7:1;  11 :  22,  23. 

7.  Yeiy  soon  -after  the   establishment  of    the   twenty-four 
courses  of  singers,  came,  under  Solomon,  the  substitution  of  the 
famflefor  tJie  tabernade.     This,  however,  brought  no  change  to 
the  Mosaic  ritual.     It  was  simply  an  accommodation  of  the  sanc 
tuary  to  the  altered  circumstances  of  the  people,  as  intimated  by 
David.     "  See  now,  I  dwell  in  a  house  of  cedar,  but  the  ark  of 
God  dweUeth  within  curtains."    2  Sam.  7 : 2.     "With  the  edifice 
erected  by  Solomon  were  connected  courts  and  chambers  for  the 
convenience  of  the  worshippers  and  of  the  priests.     But  the 
temple  proper,  as  we  shah1  see  hereafter,  was  modelled  after  the 
tabernacle,  and  ah1  the  services  appointed  by  Moses  remained 
unchanged.     The  same  was  true  of  the  second  temple  erected 
after  the  captivity  by  Zerubbabel  and  his  associates,  and  after 
wards  renewed  by  Herod  the  great,  with  a  splendor  exceeding 
even  that  of  Solomon's  temple. 

8.  After  the  captivity  there  grew  up   in  a  quiet  way  an 
other  institution  of  immense  importance,  the  influence  of  which 
reached  over  into  Christendom,  and  is  felt  in  our  day.    This  was 
the  Jeioish  Synagogue.     Of  this  we  shall  speak  more  particularly 
in  the  proper  place.   We  notice  it  now  as  containing  an  essential 
addition  to  the  stated  worship  of  God ;  an  addition,  however, 


HISTORICAL  SURVEY. 

not  having  for  its  seat  the  temple,  but  dispersed  through  the 
cities  and  villages  of  the  land,  and  thus  foreshadowing,  in  a  re 
markable  way,  the  great  principle  of  Christianity  announced  by 
our  Lord  in  his  discourse  with  the  woman  of  Samaria:  "The 
hour  conieth  when  ye  shall  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  at 

Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father The  hour  cometh,  and 

now  is,  when  the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in 
spirit  and  in  truth.  God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him 
must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  John  4 : 21,  23.  The 
synagogue  adumbrated  the  Christian  sanctuary,  also,  in  the  sim- 
plicity  of  its  forms  of  worship.  Leaving  to  the  temple  the  altar 
with  its  priesthood  and  ritual  of  types,  it  occupied  itself  with 
prayer,  praise,  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  and  addresses  to 
the  people.  Sections  of  the  law  and  the  prophets  were  read, 
and,  on  certain  occasions,  other  portions  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  expounded  in  the  vernacular  of  the  congregation.  After  this 
came  the  sermon  or  address  to  the  people.  These  simple  spir 
itual  services,  with  singing  and  prayer,  constituted  the  body  of 
the  synagogue  worship;  and  thus  naturally  furnished  to  the 
primitive  Christian  congregations  a  model  of  divine  service.  To 
complete  the  stated  public  worship  of  God  it  only  remained  that 
the  teachings  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  should  be  added  to  the 
words  of  Moses  and  the  prophets.  This  came  in  the  fullness  of 
time,  and  is  our  rich  inheritance  from  the  past. 


542  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE   TABERNACLE  AND   ITS    FURNITURE. 

I.    STRUCTURE  OF   THE    TABERNACLE  AND  COURT. 

1.  THE  Divine  command  to  Moses  (Exod.  25  : 8),  "  Let  them 
make  me  a  sanctuary ;  that  I  may  dwell  among  them,"  gives  the 
essential  idea  of  a  sanctuary,  and  that  for  all  time.     It  is  a  house 
built  for  God,  that  he  may  dwell  in  it,  and  manifest  himself 
there  to  his  people.     In  his  essential  presence,  Gpd  dwells  in  no 
temple  made  with  hands,  "seeing  the  heaven  and  heaven  of 
heavens*  cannot  contain  him."     But  in  his  manifested  presence — 
that  is,  in  the  revelations  which  he  makes  to  men  of  his  own 
character  and  works,  and  of  their  duties  to  him — he  can  and 
does  Swell  in  human  temples,  where  his  servants  worship  him 
through  the  ordinances  of  his  appointment. 

2.  The  Israelitish  tabernacle,  as  described  by  Moses  (Exod., 
chap.  25,  seq.),  was  very  simple  in  its  structure.     Its  framework 
for  three  sides — the  north,  south,  and  west — consisted  of  boards 
standing  upright,  side  by  side  (rather  planks  than  boards,  but  we 
retain  the  familiar  term  of  our  version),  and  making  an  enclo 
sure  for  these  three  sides,  ten  cubits  high,  thirty  cubits  long  from 
east  to  west,  and  ten  cubits  wide.     The  eastern  end,  which  con 
stituted  the  front,  had  only  a  veil  suspended  from  five  pillars. 
This  enclosure  of   thirty  cubits    by  ten  with  a  height  of   ten 
cubits  was  then  divided  by  a  rich  veil,  running  parallel  to  the 
two  ends  and  supported  by  four  pillars,  into  the  outer  sanctuary 
or  holy  place,  twenty  cubits  by  ten,  and  the  inner  sanctuary,  or 
lioly  of  holies,  ten  cubits  in  each  of  its  three  dimensions.     Each 
of  the  upright  boards  had  two  projections  or  "tenons"  at  its 
lower  end,  and  underneath  were  two  sockets  of  silver,  one  for 
each  tenon.     Though  not  stated  by  Moses,  it  is  manifest  that 
there  was,  in  the  words  of  Josephus  (Antiq.,  3.  6.  3)  "  a  hole  in 


I'LAX   OF  THK   TABERNACLE. 


HIGH -PRIEST  AND  BREASTPLATE. 


THE  TABERNACLE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE.       543 

each  socket  for  receiving  the  tenon."  These  walls  were  further 
strengthened  on  the  outside  by  bars  running  crosswise  through 
rings  of  gold. 

Shlttim-wood  was  employed  for  the  woodwork  of  the  tabernacle  and  its 
furniture  throughout.  It  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  this  was  a  species 
of  acacia,  growing  in  the  Arabian  peninsula.  No  acacia-trees  are  found 
in  this  region  at  present  large  enough  to  furnish  planks  of  the  length  and 
width  ascribed  to  the  boards  of  the  tabernacle — ten  cubits  by  a  cubit  and  a 
half ;  but  we  must  remember  that  the  primitive  forests  existing  in  Moses' 
day  have  long  been  destroyed.  According  to  Theophrastus  (Hist.  Plant, 
4.  3),  boards  were  anciently  cut  from  the  Acacia  twelve  cubits  in  length  ; 
and  Jerome  says  (on  Joel,  3  : 18)  :  ' '  The  trees  are  so  great  that  very  wide 
planks  (tabulata)  may  be  .cut  from  them."  It  is  not,  therefore,  necessary 
to  assume,  as  some  do,  that  the  boards  of  the  tabernacle  consisted  of  two 
or  more  pieces  joined  together ;  although  this  might  be  admitted,  since  in 
the  only  passage  out  of  the  book  of  Exodus  where  the  Hebrew  word  oc 
curs  (keresli,  Ezek.  27  :  6)  it  denotes  plank-work ;  that  is,  planks  joined  to 
gether  composing  the  deck  of  a  ship.  Shittim-wood  was  every  way  suita 
ble  for  the  movable  framework  of  the  tabernacle,  being,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  Jerome  (ubi  supra),  "a  veiy  strong  wood  of  incredible  light 
ness  and  beauty ;"  and  he  adds,  elsewhere  (on  Isa.  41 : 19),  that  it  was  not 
subject  to  decay.  . 

The  boards  of  the  tabernacle,  its  bars,  its  pillars,  and  the  woodwork  of 
its  interior  furniture  were  overlaid  with  gold,  probably  in  very  thin  plates. 

Moses  gives  ten  cubits  for  the  height  of  the  boards,  and  a  cubit  and  a 
half  for  their  width.  Their  thickness  is  nowhere  stated.  The  rabbins  as 
sume  that  it  was  a  cubit.  The  way  in  which  they  arrive  at  this  extraordi 
nary  conclusion  (in  which  they  are  followed  by  many  modern  scholars)  is 
plain.  The  sacred  record  tells  us  that  on  each  side  were  twenty  boards, 
each  a  cubit  and  a  half  in  breadth,  which  makes  the  required  length  of 
thirty  cubits.  It  further  gives  for  the  west  or  hind  end,  first,  six  boards, 
and  then,  separately,  two  boards,  one  for  each  corner.  Exod.  26  :  22,  23. 
The  six  boards,  being  each  a  cubit  and  a  half  wide,  make  a  wall  of  nine 
cubits.  Assuming  now,  as  do  the  rabbins,  that  the  two  corner  boards  were 
of  the  same  width  as  the  rest,  we  have  for  the  entire  west  end  twelve  cu 
bits,  just  enough  to  reach  across  from  outside  to  outside,  provided  the 
thickness  of  the  side  walls  be  taken  at  a  cubit  But  we  may  well  hesitate 
to  admit  such  an  enormous  thickness.  How  could  such  an  immense  mass 
of  timber  with  ah1  "the  bars  thereof,  and  the  pillars  thereof,  and  the  sock 
ets  thereof,"  and,  in  addition  to  these,  "the  pillars  of  the  court  round 
about,  and  their  sockets,  and  their  pins,  and  their  cords"  (Numb.  4:31,  32), 
be  transported  from  place  to  place  by  the  help  of  four  wagons  and  eight 


544  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

oxen,  the  number  assigned  to  the  sons  of  Merari  (Numb.  7  : 8)  for  this  ser 
vice  ?  Even  upon  the  lowest  assumption  for  the  length  of  a  cubit,  it  is  plain 
that  four  wagons,  drawn  by  four  yoke  of  oxen,  could  not  have  transported 
48  pieces  of  timber,  each  ten  cubits  long,  a  cubit  and  a  half  wide,  and 
a  cubit  thick,  all  of  them  overlaid  with  gold  ;  9  pillars  for  the  taberna 
cle,  ten  cubits  in  length  and  overlaid  with  gold ;  60  pillars  for  the  court, 
five  cubits  in  length ;  100  sockets  of  silver,  weighing  a  talent  each ;  with 
all  the  sockets,  pins  and  cords  of  the  court.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  assume 
such  a  thickness  for  these  boards.  The  fact  that  the  two  comer  boards  are 
mentioned  separately  allows  us  to  assume  that  their  width  was  determined 
by  the  exigency  of  their  position.  Josephus  says  (ubi  supra)  that  they 
"were  four  fingers  thick.  This  would  make  the  width  of  the  corner  boards 
half  a  cubit  and  four  fingers. 

Another  hypothesis,  based  on  the  marginal  rendering :  they  shall  be 
twinned,  that  is,  doubled  (Exod.  26  :  24),  makes  the  corner  boards  to  consist 
each  of  two  ports  joined  together  at  right  angles  with  each  other ;  one  part 
on  a  line  with  the  west  end,  the  other  on  a  line  with  the  sides.  But  this 
would  of  necessity  make  the  length  of  the  area  of  the  tabernacle  exceed 
thirty  cubits — an  objection  which  is  not  disposed  of  by  making  an  allow 
ance  for  the  pillars  that  supported  the  veil  between  the  inner  and  the  outer 
sanctuary  (Keil  and  others) ;  for  these  pillars  did  not  constitute  the  sepa 
rating  wall.  That  was  made  by  the  veil,  which  must  have  hung  on  the  one 
side  of  them  or  on  the  other,  and  have  constituted  the  limit  of  the  apartments 
on  each  side.  Sec  Ba'hr,  Symbolik  1,  p.  59,  who  explains  the  words,  "they 
shall  be  coupled  or  doubled  to  one  ring"  (Exod.  26  : 24)  to  mean  that  where 
the  corner  boards  meet  each  a  side  board  the  two  shall  be  firmly  joined  to 
gether  above  and  below  by  one  ring  let  into  each. 

The  silver  sockets  weighed  each  a  talent.  Exod.  38  :  27.  Some  sup 
pose  that  they  were  of  a  quadrangular  form  ;  others  that  they  were  pointed 
or  wedge-shaped  beneath,  so  as  to  be  sunk  into  the  earth.  So  Josephus, 
who  compares  them  (Antiq. ,  3.  6.  2)  to  the  spike  at  the  butt  end  of  a  spear. 

There  were  five  bars  on  each  side  running  through  rings  on  the  outside 
of  the  boards.  Of  these  it  is  said  that  "the  middle  bar  in  the  midst  of  the 
boards  shall  reach  from  end  to  end."  Exod.  26  : 28.  According  to  Josephus 
(ubi  supra),  the  middle  bar  at  the  west  end  projected  somewhat  each  way, 
and  received  into  holes  provided  for  the  purpose  the  middle  bars  of  the 
sides,  by  which  means  the  sides  and  ends  were  bound  firmly  together.  It 
is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  other  four  bars  on  each  side  extended  half 
the  length  of  the  tabernacle,  and  were  placed  end  to  end  in  two  lines ;  so 
that  there  were  three  rows  of  bars,  not  five,  as  represented  by  Lundius  and 
others.  So  Jarchi  (on  Exod.  26  :  26),  who,  however,  makes  the  unnecessary 
supposition  that  the  middle  bar  passed  not  on  the  outside  through  rings 
provided  for  it,  but  through  Jhc  substance  of  the  boards. 


THE  TABERNACLE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE.      545 

3.  We  come  next  to  the  covering  of  the  framework,  which 
was  four-fold. 

First :  The  innermost  and  by  far  the  richest  covering,  which  is 
called  emphatically  the  tabernacle  (Exod.  26:1,  6,  7;  36:8,  14), 
consisted  of  the  curtains  made  of  fine  twined  linen,  with  blue, 
and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  cherubim,  the  work  of  the  cunning 
workman.  The  length  of  each  curtain  was  twenty-eight  cubits, 
an4  its  width  four  cubits,  a  convenient  width  for  weaving.  They 
were  then  joined  (probably  by  sewing,  as  Jarchi  suggests,  on 
Exod.  26:3)  into  two  compound  curtains,  consisting  each  of  five 
pieces,  and  therefore  twenty  cubits  in  width.  The  provision  for 
fastening  these  together,  when  the  tabernacle  was  set  up,  is  thus 
stated  by  Moses  (Exod.  26 : 4-6),  according  to  the  most  approved 
rendering  of  the  text:  "And  thou  shalt  make  loops  of  blue  on 
the  edge  of  the  one  curtain"  (one  compound  curtain),  "on  the 
border  of  the  coupling"  (on  its  edge  where  it  is  coupled  to  the 
other  compound  curtain) ;  "  and  so  shalt  thou  make  in  the  edge 
of  the  outermost  curtain"  (the  curtain  lying  farthest  from  the 
door  of  the  sanctuary)  "at  the  second  coupling"  (where  this 
second  compound  curtain  is  coupled  to  the  first).  "Fifty  loops 
shalt  thou  make  in  the  one  curtain,  and  fifty  loops  shalt  thou 
make  in  the  border  of  the  curtain  which  is  at  the  second  coupling" 
(the  border  where  the  second  compound  curtain  is  coupled  to  the 
first);  "  the  loops  shall  be  over  against  each  other.  And  thou  shalt 
make  fifty  taches"  (or  clasps)  "of  gold,  and  thou  shalt  join  the 
curtains  together  with  the  taches,  and  it  shall  be  one  tabernacle." 

Secondly :  Over  the  innermost  curtain  was  a  second  made  of 
goats'  hair,  which  is  called,  in  distinction  from  the  first,  the  tent. 
Exod.  26 : 11,  12,  13>  etc.  This  consisted  of  eleven  curtains,  each 
thirty  cubits  long  and  four  wide,  united,  like  the  preceding,  into 
two  compound  curtains;  the  one  in  front  containing  six  single 
pieces,  and  having,  therefore,  a  width  of  twenty-four  cubits ;  the 
other  made  of  five  pieces,  with. a  width  of  twenty  cubits.  These 
two  compound  curtains  were  joined  together  by  loops  and  brass 
taches,  when  the  tabernacle  was  erected,  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  two  parts  of  the  inner  curtain. 


546  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Thirdly:  Over  the  curtain  of  goats'  hair  was  a  covering  of 
rams'  skins  dyed  red,  as  our  version  rightly  renders ;  not  as  Lun- 
dius,  skins  with  the  wool  of  rams  having  a  reddish  brown  fleece. 

FourtJdy :  Over  all  was  a  covering  of  tahash  skim,  rendered 
in  our  version  badgers'  skins,  but  thought  by  many  to  have  been 
the  skins  of  some  species  of  marine  animal  that  anciently 
abounded  in  the  Red  sea,  probably  the  seal  or  the  dugong. 

» 

The  symbolism  of  the  inner  curtain  will  be  considered  hereafter.  We 
add  here  a  few  remarks  pertaining  to  its  material  structure.  There  has 
been  much  controversy  on  the  question  whether  this  inner  curtain  was 
made  of  linen  or  cotton,  since  the  Hebrew  word  (shesh)  seems  to  include 
both.  This  question  is  discussed  by  Bahr  (Symbolik,  p.  263,  seq.),  Keil 
(Archaologie,  $  17),  and  many  other  writers.  We  pass  it  by  as  of  no  par 
ticular  importance.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  colored  stuffs  were  of 
wool.  The  blue  (  hyacinth  of  the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate)  was  a  bluish  or 
cerulean  purple,  obtained  from  a  species  of  shell-fish  found  in  the  Medi 
terranean.  The  purple  proper  was  a  reddish  purple  obtained  from  another 
species  of  shell-fish.  The  scarlet  (including  crimton)  was  a  dye  produced 
from  an  insect  (coccus  ilicis)  found  in  eastern  countries.  It  is  generally 
agreed  that  these  colors  were  inwoven,  not  embroidered. 

4.  Respecting  the  arrangement  of  these  curtains  there  are 
several  discordant  opinions.  We  give,  first  of  all,  the  common, 
and,  as  it  seems  to  us,  the  preferable  view :  that  the  two  inner 
most  compound  curtains,  called  the  tabernacle,  were  laid  across 
the  framework  of  the  tabernacle,  side  by  side,  and  hung  down 
without  on  each  of  its  sides.  Being  each  twenty  cubits  in  width, 
the  first  would  exactly  cover  the  outer  sanctuary,  so  that  the  line 
of  loops  and  taches,  by  which  it  was  joined  to  the  second  or 
hinder  curtain,  would  come  directly  over  the  veil  that  separated 
the  outer  from  the  inner  sanctuary.  Exod.  26 :  33.  One-half  of 
the  width  of  the  hinder  curtain  would  cover  the  inner  sanctuary ; 
while  the  remaining  ten  cubits  would  hang  over  the  west  end  of 
the  framework,  being  prevented  from  reaching  the  ground  by 
the  width  of  the  boards,  which  may  be  assumed  to  have  been 
not  over  a  quarter  of  a  cubit.  The  curtains  were  twenty-eight 
cubits  in  length.  .Of  this  about  ten  and  a  half  cubits  would  lie 
over  the  sanctuary  and  the  ends  of  the  boards ;  and  the  remain- 


THE  TABERNACLE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE.        547 

der  would  hang  down  one-half  on  each  side,  the  ends  boing 
somewhat  more  than  a  cubit  from  the  ground. 

The  two  compound  curtains  of  goats'  hair  were  next  laid  on 
so  that  their  line  of  loops  and  taches  coincided  with  that  of  the 
inner  curtains.  The  first  of  these  curtains  consisted,  as  we  have 
seen,  of  six  pieces,  only  five  of  which  were  needed  to  cover  the 
outer  sanctuary.  The  sixth  superfluous  piece  was  to  be  doubled 
over  in  the  fore-front  of  the  tabernacle.  Exod.  26 :  9.  The  sa 
cred  record  adds  (vers.  12, 13) :  "  And  the  remnant  that  remaineth 
of  the  curtains  of  the  tent,  the  half  curtain  that  remaineth  "  (that 
is,  as  we  understand  it,  the  half  of  the  hindermost  compound 
curtain  that  remains  after  the  innermost  sanctuary  is  covered) 
"  shall  hang  over  the  back  side  of  the  tabernacle.  And  the  cubit 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  cubit  on  the  other  side  of  that  which 
remaineth  in  the  length  of  the  curtains  of  the  tent"  (which  were 
thirty  cubits  long,  and  therefore  just  a  cubit  longer  on  each  side 
than  the  innermost  curtains  underneath  them)  "  shall  hang  over 
the  sides  of  the  tabernacle  on  this  side  and  on  that  side  to  cover 
it."  We  understand  by  "the  tabernacle"  in  this  and  the  prece 
ding  verse,  the  innermost  curtain,  as  in  vers.  1,  6,  7 ;  and  thus  all 
is  plain  and  consistent. 

Various  other  arrangements  have  been  assumed,  which  will 
now  be  briefly  noticed. 

Bahr,  Kiel,  Fairbairn,  and .  others  assume  that  the  innermost  curtain 
hung  down  on  the  inside  of  the  framework,  being  supported  by  rows  of 
hooks  attached  to  the  tops  of  the  boards.  Bahr  maintains  this  view  on 
various  grounds,  among  which  are  the  following  :  that  the  innermost  cur 
tain  is  often  called  the  tabernacle,  as  the  second  is  the  tent,  because,  as  he 
thinks,  it  constituted  the  tabernacle  itself,  that  is,  the  inside  of  the  same, 
its  walls  of  wood  serving  only  as  a  framework  to  support  it :  and  again, 
that  the  inner  sanctuary  of  Solomon's  temple,  which  was  modelled  after 
the  tabernacle,  was  carved  on  the  inside  with  images  of  cherubim.  1  Kings 
6 : 29.  We  are  willing  to  allow  due  weight  to  these  two  considerations. 
But  when  he  argues,  further,  that  since  this  innermost  curtain  was  the 
most  sumptuous  and  elaborate  work  of  art  belonging  to  the  tabernacle  it 
is  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  only  the  part  overhead  was  allowed  to  be 
visible,  he  takes  a  wrong  view  of  the  matter.  The  tabernacle  and  its  fur- 


548  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

niture  were  not  simply  works  of  art,  made  to  please  the  eye  of  the  be 
holder,  but  they  contained  a  holy  symbolism.  It  is  necessary  that  works 
of  art  should  be  exposed  to  full  view ;  but  all  that  is  needful  in  the  case  of 
material  symbols  is  that  their  structure  be  known,  as  that  of  these  could 
be  from  the  reading  of  the  law  and  the  reports  of  the  officiating  priests. 
The  power  of  symbols  is  increased  by  a  degree  of  concealment.  In 
truth,  the  deepest  symbol  within  the  tabernacle,  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
with  its  overshadowing  cherubim,  was  seen  only  once  a  year  by  the  high 
priest ;  and  the  interior  of  the  ark,  overlaid  as  it  was  with  gold,  and  con 
taining  the  two  tables  of  the  law,  written  with  the  finger  of  God,  was  hid 
from  even  his  view.  Whatever  weight  there  may  be  in  the  above-named 
arguments  of  Bahr,  and  others  which  he  adduces,  it  is,  as  it  seems  to  us, 
overborne  by  the  plain  words  of  the  record  above  quoted  (Exod.  26  : 13), 
which  are  perfectly  nafural  and  intelligible  upon  the  supposition  that  the 
curtains  of  goat's  hair  rested  throughout  upon  the  innermost  curtains,  but 
not  otherwise. 

Ferguson,  in  an  elaborate  article  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary  under  the 
word  Temple,  propounds  a  peculiar  theory.  According  to  him,  the  central 
pillar  at  the  front  of  the  tabernacle  was  fifteen  cubits  in  height,  with  a 
corresponding  pillar  at  the  hind  end,  and  probably  an  intermediate  pillar 
also ;  and  these  pillars  supported  a  ridge-pole  over  which  the  curtains 
were  thrown.  Then  he  places  on  each  side  of  the  tabernacle  a  vei-andak, 
five  cubits  wide.  The  result  is  the  framework  of  a  roof,  the  two  slopes  of 
which  are  each  almost  exactly  fourteen  cubits  wide,  and  meet  at  right  an 
gles  to  each  other — just  width  enough  to  be  covered  by  the  innermost  cur 
tains,  wliile  the  curtains  of  goats'  hair  must  hang  over  them  on  each  side 
to  the  extent  of  a  cubit.  He  further  supposes,  contrary  to  the  plain  mean 
ing  of  the  context,  that  "the  middle  bar  in  the  midst  of  the  boards,"  which 
reaches  from  end  to  end  (Exod.  26:28),  is  the  ridge-pole  above  noticed, 
understanding  the  words  "in  the  midst  of  the  boards"  to  mean  not  half 
way  between  the  top  and  the  bottom  but  halfway  between  the  north  and 
the  south  side  ;  whereas  it  is  obvious  from  the  connection  that  this  middle 
bar  is  one  of  the  five  bars  named  in  the  preceding  verse.  The  main  argu 
ment  for  this  arrangement  is  that  there  must  be  a  roof  to  shed  rain  and 
snow.  It  must  be  conceded  that  in  Palestine,  during  the  rainy  season, 
.  some  provision  for  carrying  off  water  from  the  roof  of  the  tabernacle  was 
necessary.  But  could  not  the  priests  who  had  charge  of  it  have  provided 
for  this  exigency  in  some  less  cumbersome  way  ? 

"The  pins  .of  the  tabernacle"  (Exod.  27  : 19  ;  35  : 18),  which  are  dis 
tinguished  from  "the  pins  of  the  court,"  are  apparently  the  pins  used  in 
making  fast  the  coverings  of  the  tabernacle  which  we  have  been  consider 
ing.  The  necessity  of  these,  at  least  for  the  outer  coverings,  is  obvious. 


THE  TABERNACLE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE.      549 

5.  The  tabernacle  was  enclosed  in  an  open  court  one  hundred 
cubits  long  by  fifty  in  width.     The  enclosure  consisted  of  curtains 
five  cubits  high  suspended  by  hooks  from  pillars  resting  on  s<  >ck- 
ets  of  brass  and  "  filleted  with  silver  "  at  the  top ;  that  is,  connected 
at  the  top  by  fillets  or  slender  silver  rods  running  from  one  pillar 
to  another.     The   curtains  were   made  simply  of  "fine  twined 
linen,"  with  the  exception  of  the  gate  on  the  eastern  side  which 
was  twenty  cubits  wide,  and  adorned  with  a  rich  veil  "of  blue, 
and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  twined  linen,  wrought  with 
needlework."    Exod.  27 : 16. 

The  wood  of  which  the  pillars  were  made  is  not  specified.  Doubtless 
it  was  sliittim-wood.  They  had  "chapiters,"  that  is,  ornamented  heads, 
overlaid  with  -silver.  -Exod.  38  : 19.  There  were  20  pillars  on  each  side, 
and  10  on  each  end.  This  gives  60  pillars  in  all,  provided  the  corner-pil 
lars  be  each  reckoned  once  only.  This  is  manifestly  the  true  mode  of  reck 
oning,  since  it  gives  exactly  five  cubits  for  the  spaces  between  the  pillars. 
If  we  begin,  namely  at  one  corner,  and  measure  around  the  court,  placing 
a  pillar  for  every  five  cubits  of  distance,  we  shall  have  at  the  end  of  the 
circuit,  where  the  last  pillar  is  placed,  just  60  in  all. 

The  position  of  the  tabernacle  within  the  court  is  not  given.  It  is  nat 
ural  to  assume,  after  Philo  (Vita  Mos.,  3,  p.  668),  that  its  front  was  50  cu 
bits  from  the  entrance,  and  that  it  was  equally  distant  from  the  north  and 
south  side.  "  The  tabernacle,"  says  he,  "was  pitched  in  the  midst  [of  the 
court] ,  being  thirty  cubits  long,  while  its  boards  had  a  breadth  of  ten  cu 
bits.  It  was  equally  distant  from  the  court  in  three  directions,  those  of 
the  two  sides  and  that  of  the  hind  end,  and  this  distance  amounted  to 
twenty  cubits.  But  in  front,  as  was  suitable  on  account  of  the  multitude 
of  those  that  entered,  there  was  the  larger  interval  of  fifty  cubits." 

II.  THE  FURNITURE  OF  THE  TABERNACLE. 

6.  We  begin  with  the  holy  of  holies.     Here  was  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  (Exod.  25 : 10,  seq.),  so-called  because  in  it  were  depos 
ited  the  two  tables  of  the  law  which  contained  summarily  the 
terms  of  the  covenant  made  by  God  with  his  chosen  people. 
Exod.  25 : 16.     It  was,  therefore,  the  most  sacred  piece  of  furni 
ture  belonging  to  the  tabernacle,  and  above  it  was,  as  we  shall 
see,  the  peculiar  dwelling-place  of  Jehovah.   The  ark  was  a  chest 
of  sliittim-wood,  two  and  a  half  cubits  long,  and  a  cubit  and  a 


550  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

a  half  in  width  and  depth.  It  was  overlaid  within  and  without 
with  pure  gold,  and  had  an  ornamental  cornice  of  gold  around  its 
upper  margin.  It  was  further  fitted  with  four  gold  rings,  one  at 
each  corner,  and  therefore  two  on  a  side.  Through  these  were 
passed  two  staves  of  shittim-wood  overlaid  with  gold,  by  which 
it  was  borne  when  the  Israelites  journeyed  from  one  place  to 
another.  The  direction  concerning  these  staves,  that  they  "  shall 
be  in  the  rings  of  the  ark;  they  shall  not  be  taken  from  it" 
(ver.  15),  seems  to  mean,  when  compared  with  Numb.  4 : 8,  that 
when  the  ark  is  in  its  place  in  the  holy  of  holies,  the  staves  shall 
be  in  the  rings.  They  were  apparently  taken  out  in  the  process 
of  covering  it  for  removal. 

Above  the  ark  was  placed  a  lid  of  pure  gold,  of  the  same 
length  and  breadth,  which  is  called  in  our  version,  the  mercy- 
seat.  This  expression  represents  the  words  employed  in  the 
Greek  and  Latin  versions,  both  of  which  mean  place  of  propiiiar- 
twn  •  and  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  they  truly  ex 
press  the  meaning  of  the  original  Hebrew  word  (kapporeth),  a 
term  applied  only  to  this  cover  of  the  ark,  on  and  before  which 
was.  sprinkled  the  blood  of  propitiation  on  the  great  day  of 
atonement,  to  "  make  propitiation  for  the  holy  place,  because  of 
the  uncleanness  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  because  of  their 
transgressions  in  all  their  sins."  Lev.  16 : 14^-16.  Above  the 
mercy-seat,  at  its  two  ends,  were  placed  the  two  cherubim,  which 
are  thus  described  (Exod.  25 : 18-20) :  "  And  thou  shalt  make 
two  cherubim  of  gold,  of  beaten  work  shalt  thou  make  them,  at 
the  two  ends  of  the  mercy-seat.  And  make  thou  one  cherub  at 
the  one  end  and  one  cherub  at  the  other  end.  Of  the  mercy- 
seat  shalt  thou  make  the  cherubim"  (that  is,  apparently,  thou 
shalt  make  them  as  inseparable  parts  of  its  substance)  "at  the 
two  ends  thereof.  And  the  cherubim  shall  spread  forth  their 
wings  above,  covering  the  mercy-seat  with  their  wings ;  and  their 
faces  shah1  be  towards  each  other;  towards  the  mercy-seat  shall 
the  faces  of  the  cherubim  be "  (that  is,  their  faces  shall  be  to 
wards  each  other,  and  at  the  same  time  inclined  towards  the 
mercy-seat).  Hence  we  infer  that  the  two  wings  of  each  cherub 


ARK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


INCENSE-ALTARS. 


ALTAR  OF  BURNT-OFFERINGS. 


TABLE  OF  SHOW-BUEAD. 


rx;  CANDLESTICK. 


THE  TABEKNACLE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE.       551 

were  spread  upward  and  forward  so  as  to  meet  those  of  the 
other  cherub  over  the  middle  of  the  mercy-seat.  Different  from 
this  was  the  arrangement  of  the  two  great  cherubim  in  Solomon's 
temple.  1  Kings,  6 :  27.  Between  the  cherubim  over  the  mercy- 
seat  was  the  shekinah,  that  is,  dwelling-place  of  Jehovah.  See 
further  in  No.  19  below. 

The  mercy-seat,  as  covering  the  ark,  may  be  called  a  lid.  But  we  must 
not  conceive  of  it  as  simply  a  cover,  and  so  a  mere  appendage  to  the  ark. 
On  the  contrary,  it  was  coordinate  with  it  in  importance,  constituting  with 
it,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  one  glorious  symbol.  The  rendering  propitia 
tory,  or  place  of  propitiation,  is  in  full  accordance  with  the  Hebrew  form  of 
the  word  (from  the  Piel  form  kipper,  to  atone). 

The  meaning  of  these  cherubic  figures  will  be  considered  in  another 
place.  As  to  their  particular  form  we  have  little  light.  The  cherubim  of 
Ezekiel's  vision  (chap.  1)  had  each  four  faces — of  a  man,  of  a  lion,  of  an 
ox,  and  of  an  eagle.  In  the  book  of  Revelation  (chap.  4)  these  four  faces 
are  distributed  among  the  four  living  creatures,  one  to  each.  From  the 
words  of  Ezekiel  (chap.  10  : 14) :  "And  every  one  had  four  faces ;  the  first 
face  was  the  face  of  a  cherub,  and  the  second  face  was  the  face  of  a  man, 
and  the  third  the  face  of  a  lion,  and  the  fourth  the  face  of  an  eagle," 
where  "the  face  of  a  cherub"  manifestly  corresponds  to  "the  face  of  an 
ox"  (chap.  1 : 10),  we  infer  that  the  Hebrew  cherub  ordinarily  had  but  one 
face,  and  that  the  face  of  an  ox.  Ideal  winged  beings  were  familiar  to  the 
ancients,  as  we  learn  from  the  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  monuments,  on 
which  appear  winged  men,  and  quadrupeds  with  the  heads  of  eagles, 
winged  asps,  winged  bulls  with  human  heads,  etc.  It  would  seem  that 
God  took  the  general  idea  of  winged  symbolic  beings  already  known  to 
the  covenant  people,  ennobled  it,  spiritualized  it,  and  removed  it  from 
all  approach  to  idolatrous  worship.  The  Egyptians  had  their  sacred  arks 
surmounted  by  winged  figures,  but  containing  within  a  cat,  crocodile,  or 
serpent,  as  an  object  of  worship.  Clement,  of  Alexandria,  quoted  in  Wil 
kinson's  Ancient  Egyptians,  5.  275.  But  the  ark  of  the  covenant  contained 
only  the  Divine  law,  written  on  two  tables  of  stone,  and  hidden  from  all 
eyes ;  and  above  God  dwelt  not  icithin  the  cherubim,  but  between  them  ; 

not  in  any  material  form,  but  invisible  to  mortal  eyes. 

• 

7.  In  the  outer  sanctuary,  before  the  veil  that  separated  it 
from  the  holy  of  holies,  stood  the  table  of  shoicbread  on  the 
north  side,  the  golden  candlestick  on  the  south  side,  and  the 
golden  altar  of  incense  Between  them.  Exod.  40 : 22-26. 

In  describing  these  we  begin  with  the  golden  altar  of  incense. 


552  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Exod.  30 : 1,  seq.  This  was  made  of  shittim-wood,  a  cubit  square 
at  top  and  bottom,  and  two  cubits  in  height,  with  horns  at  the 
corners.  It  was  overlaid  throughout  with  gold,  and  had  also  a 
golden  border  round  about,  underneath  which  on  two  opposite 
sides  (not  corners)  were  two  golden  rings  for  the  staves  by  which 
it  was  borne.  These  staves  were  made  of  shittim-wood  and  over 
laid  with  gold.  Upon  this  Aaron  was  commanded  to  burn  in 
cense  every  morning  and  evening  when  he  trimmed  the  lamps, 
and  to  make  an  atonement  on  the  horns  of  it  once  a  year,  on  the 
great  day  of  atonement,  with  the  blood  of  the  sin-offerings.  It 
was  not  to  be  used  for  any  burnt-sacrifice,  oblation,  or  drink- 
offering.  Exod.  30 : 7-10 ;  Lev.  16 : 18,  19. 

The  office  of  burning  incense  fell,  in  process  of  time,  to  the  regular 
courses  of  priests,  and  was  determined  daily  by  lot.  See  on  this  point 
Liglitfoot,  on  Luke  1 :  8,  9. 

8.  The  table  of  showbread  (Exod.  25 :  23,  seq.)  was  of  shittim- 
wood  overlaid  with  gold,  a  cubit  and  a  half  in  height,  two  cubits 
in  length,  and  one  in  breadth.  The  border  or  "enclosing"  (mis- 
gereth)  of  a  hand-breadth  round  about  (ver.  25),  is  most  natu 
rally  understood  of  a  framework  immediately  under  the  leaf  of 
the  table,  which  served  as  a  support  to  the  legs,  as  in  our  modern 
tables.  The  border  was  ornamented  with  a  golden  crown  round 
about.  Whether  this  was  the  same  as  the  golden  crown  to  the 
table  mentioned  in  the  preceding  verse,  or  the  table  and  its  bor 
der  had  each  a  crown,  is  a  point  on  which  the  Jewish  rabbins  are 
not  agreed.  Each  of  the  feet  had  a  ring  of  gold  for  the  staves 
by  which  it  was  borne.  "Over  against  the  border  ".(rather  near 
by  the  border,  being  directly  under  it)  "shall  the  rings  be  for 
places  of  the  staves  to  bear  the  table"  (ver.  27).  The  sacred 
record  mentions  (ver.  29),  as  apparatus  for  tlie  table,  four  kinds 
of  vessels,  the  exact  form  of  which  is  uncertain.  "We  may,  per 
haps,  render :  "  dishes,  cups,  cans,  and  libation-bowls." 

Upon  the  table  were  placed  every  Sabbath  twelve  loaves  (Heb., 
halloth,  cakes  manifestly  of  a  flat  form),  ^vhich  were  arranged  in 
two  rows  (Heb.,  order-ings),  consisting  each  of  six  loaves  laid  one 


THE  TABKKNACLE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE.       553 

upon  another,  with  pure  frankincense  upon  each  row.  AVhen  the 
new  bread  was  brought  into  the  sanctuary,  the  old  was  removed, 
its  frankincense  burned  for  a  "  a  memorial,  a  fire-offering  to  Je 
hovah,"  and  the  priests  then  ate  it  in  the  holy  place  as  a  most 
holy  thing.  See  Lev.  24 :  5-9.  When  David  and  the  young  men 
that  were  with  him  ate  of  this  bread  (1  Sam.  21 :  3-6),  they  vio 
lated  the  letter  of  the  law,  as  the  Saviour  concedes.  Matt.12 : 4 ; 
Mark  2 :  25,  26.  Their  justification  lay  in  the  exigency  of  the 
case.  Their  life  was  of  more  value  than  a  rite.  Matt.  12 :  7. 

On  the  Arch  of  Titus  is  a  representation  of  the  table  of  showbread 
belonging  to  the  sacred  temple.  It  has  a  border  running  round  it,  but  not 
rising  above  the  leaf ;  also,  apparently,  the  remains  of  another  border 
around  the  middle  of  the  legs.  Since  the  table  was  fixed  in  one  place, 
its  legs  had  no  rings. 

The  bread  is  called  bread  of  the  presence,  that  is,  of  Jehovah's  presence 
(Exod.  25  :  30  ;  35  : 13  ;  39  : 36  ;  1  Sam.  21 : 7— Eng.  version  21 :  6  ;  1  Kings 
7  :48 ;  2  Chron.  4  : 19);  but  in  the  later  books  more  commonly  bread  of  the 
ordering  (1  Chron.  9  :  32  ;  23  :  29  ;  Neh.  10  :  34^Eng.  version  10: 33),  or  the 
ordering  of  bread  (2  Chrpru  13  : 11).  For  its  symbolical  meaning,  see  below. 

Each  loaf  contained  two  tenth  deals  of  fine  flour  (in  all  probability  un 
leavened,  according  to  the  Jewish  tradition).  If,  as  seems  natural,  we 
understand  here  two  tenth  parts  of  an  ephah  (which  is  generally  reckoned 
at  about  three  pecks),  we  shall  find  that  the  loaves  were  of  great  size,  and 
that  no  other  arrangement  was  practicable  except  that  given  by  the  rab 
bins — an  arrangement  in  two  piles. 

9.  The  golden  candlestick,  so  called  (Exod.  25 :  31,  seq.),  was  a 
lamp-stand  consisting  of  an  upright  shaft  (Heb.,  kane),  restmg 
upon  a  pedestal  (yarekh).  This  shaft,  with  its  lamp  at  the  top, 
is  the  part  repeatedly  called  the  candlestick  (menbrali)  in  the  de 
scription.  From  it  there  branched  out  at  intervals  three  pairs  of 
shafts,  which  we  are  to  conceive  of  as  curving  upward,  with  a 
lamp  at  the  summit  of  each,  making  seven  lamps  in  all.  It  is 
expressly  said  that  three  branches  came  out  of  the  one  side  of 
the  upriglit  shaft,  and  three  out  of  the  other — the  opposite  side 
(ver.  32) ;  so  that  the  seven  lamps  formed  a  line,  which  we  may 
assume  to  have  been  level  with  the  horizon.  Each  branch  was 
ornamented  with  three  almond-like  bowls,  with  a  knob  and  a 
flower  (ver.  33) ;  where  we  are  to  understand  a  knob  and  a  flower 

Geog.  &  Anil'].  'J4 


554  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

for  each  bowl,  since  that  was  the  arrangement  in  the  main  shaft 
(ver.  34).  An  almond-like  bowl  probably  means  a  bowl  made 
like  the  flower  of  an  almond.  The  knobs  were  ball-like  protu 
berances.  The  rabbins  call  them  apples ;  Josephus,  pomegrtni<'f<H. 
The  main  shaft  had  four  bowls  with  their  knobs  and  flowers. 
One  knob  was  under  each  pah:  of  branches,  and  the  fourth  ap 
parently  above  them,  immediately  under  the  lamp.  To  the  can 
dlestick  belonged  two  instruments,  which  may  be  rendered  .v//  of 
fers  (Eng.  version  tongs,  for  the  same  use)  and  snuff-dishes.  The 
size  of  the  candlestick  was  sufficiently  determined  by  the  direc 
tion  :  "  Of  a  talent  of  gold  shall  it  be  made  with  all  these  vessels" 
(ver.  39).  "From  this  mass  of  gold  a  lamp-stand  made  hollow 
could  be  formed  of  considerable  size."  Keil,  on  Exod.  25  :  39. 

.  The  golden  candlestick  is  also  exhibited,  though  in  an  imperfect  condi 
tion,  on  the  arch  of  Titus.  It  conforms  in  general  to  the  above  descrip 
tion.  Surprise  has  been  expressed  at  the  existence  on  the  pedestal  of  this 
lamp  of  eagles  and  marine  monsters ;  and  this  fact  has  been  thought  to 
cast  suspicion  on  the  accuracy  of  the  copy.  But.under  the  auspices  of 
Herod  the  Great,  who  virtually  rebuilt  the  temple,  such  figures  may  have 
been  allowed,  being  regarded  simply  as  ornaments. 

10.  In  the  court  in  front  of  the  tabernacle  were  the  bra 
zen  altar  for  sacrifice  (Exod.  27 : 1,  seq.)  and  the  laver  (Exod. 
30:17,  seq.). 

The  brazen  altar,  called  also  the  altar  of  burnt  offering  (Exod. 
4(ff  10),  was  a  hollow  frame  of  shittim-wood,  five  cubits  square 
and  three  cubits  high,  with  horns  at  the  four  corners.  It  was 
overlaid  throughout  with  brass.  The  sacred  record  adds  (Exod. 
27:4, 5) :  "  Ami  tliou  shalt  make  for  it  a  grate  of  network  of  brass ; 
and  thou  shalt  make  upon  the  network  four  rings  of  brass  upon 
its  four  corners.  And  thou  shalt  put  it  under  the  circuit"  (Heb., 
I'lirkoWi,  a  margin  or  projecting  ledge  running  round  the  altar)  "of 
the  altar  beneath,  and  the  network  shall  be  unto"  (shall  reach 
unto)  "the  half  of  the  altar"  (that  is,  the  half  of  the  altar  in 
height,  or  the  middle  of  the  altar).  Some  have  supposed  that 
this  grate  of  network  was  placed  within  the  altar  as  a  receptacle 
for  the  wood  of  the  sacrifice.  But  in  this  case  it  could  not  well 


THE  TABERNACLE  AND  ITS   FURNITURE.      555 

have  been  sunk  halfway  down ;  and  besides  it  contained  the  rings 
for  the  staves  by  which  the  altar  was  borne  (vers.  6,  7),  a  decisive 
proof  that  it  was  without  the  altar.  Of  those  who  adopt  this 
latter  view,  some,  as  Jonathan  (in  his  Targnni),  make  the  grate 
horizontal.  But  the  more  common  opinion  is  that  the  projecting 
ledge  around  the  middle  of  the  altar  was  horizontal,  and  of  a 
width  sufficient  to  allow  the  priests  to  walk  on  it  in  their  minis 
trations  ;  while  the  network  ran  around  the  altar  parallel  to  its 
four  sides,  and  extended  upward  from  the  ground  011  which  it 
rested  to  the  outer  margin  of  the  ledge,  thus  furnishing  a  sup 
port  to  it.  Compare  the  two  offsets  or  terraces  (Eng.  version, 
settles)  of  the  altar  in  Ezekiel's  vision  (chap.  43:13-17).  The 
prohibition  to  go  up  by  steps  to  God's  altar  was  on  the  ground 
of  decorum  (Exod.  20  :  26),  and  did  not  forbid  ascent  by  a  slope. 
By  such  a  sloping  ascent  the  priests  ascended,  according  to  Jose- 
phus  (Jewish  War,  5.  5.  6),  to  the  altar  of  Herod's  temple,  which 
was  fifteen  cubits  high. 

The  interior  of  the  altar,  being  empty  in  journeying,  was  filled 
with  earth  whenever  the  people  encamped;  and  this  was,  as 
Jarchi  remark's  (on  Exod.  27 :  5)  the  very  altar  of  earth  prescribed 
by  God  himself,  the  framework  of  boards  serving  simply  to  hold 
the  earth  on  which  the  wood  and  the  victim  were  laid. 

The  apparatus  for  the  ajtar  consisted  of  pans  to  receive  the 
ashes,  shovels,  basins  for  receiving  and  sprinkling  the  blood  of  the 
victims,  fiesh-hooks,  for  tending  the  sacrifices,  and  fire-pans;  all  of 
brass. 

11.  The  directions  for  making  the  laver  (Exod.  30 : 17,  seq.) 
are  of  the  most  general  kind.  "  Thou  shalt  also  make  a  laver  of 
brass,  and  its  foot "  (Heb.,  kannb,  its  base) "  of  brass ;  and  thou  shalt 
put  it  between  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  and  the  altar, 
and  thou  shalt  put  water  therein.  And  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall 
wash  their  feet  therefrom"  (that  is,  manifestly,  with  water  drawn 
therefrom).  "When  they  go  into  the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega 
tion,  they  shall  wash  with  water  that  they  die  not ;  or  when  they 
come  near  to  the  altar  to  minister,  to  burn  offering  made  by  fire 
unto  the  Lord."  It  has  been  suggested  with  much  probability, 


556  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

that  the  base  was  itself  receiver  for  water  drawn  from  the  laver 
above,  and  that  here  the  priests  washed. 

In  Exod.  38  :  8  we  are  told  that  Bezaleel  ' '  made  the  laver  of  brass,  and 
its  base  of  brass,  with  the  mirrors  of  the  assembling  women  who  assem 
bled"  (or,  the  serving  women  who  served,  as  in  1  Sam.  2  :22)  "at  the  door 
of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation."  The  common  understanding  of 
these  words,  namely,  that  the  laver  and  its  base  were  made  from  the  mir 
rors,  is  preferable  to  that  of  B'ahr  and  others  :  "he  made  the  laver  of  brass, 
and  its  base  of  brass  with  the  mirrors  of  the  women  ;"  that  is,  having  made 
the  utensil  of  brass,  he  furnished  it  with  "mirrors  of  the  women."  But 
to  what  end  would  this  be  done  ? 

12.  We  bring  our  account  of  the  furniture  of  the  tabernacle 
to  a  close  by  a  notice  of  the  holy  anointing  oil  and  the  holy  siveet 
incense. 

For  the  anointing  oil  Moses  is  directed  to  take,  according  to 
the  most  probable  rendering  of  the  original  (Exod.  30 :  23,  seq.), 
"spices  the  most  excellent,  pure  myrrh"  (literally,  myrrh  that 
flows  of  its  own  accord,  which  was  regarded  as  the  best)  "five 
hundred  [shekels] ;  and  fragrant  cinnamon  half  as  much,  two 
hundred  and  fifty  [shekels] ;  and  sweet  calamus,"  two  hundred 
and  fifty  [shekels]  ;  and  cassia"  (Heb.,  kctsiah,  a  bark  resembling 
cinnamon),  "five  hundred  [shekels],  after  the  shekel  of  the  sanc 
tuary;  and  of  olive  oil  a  hin"  (about. five  quarts,  the  shekel  being 
about  half  an  ounce  avoirdupois).  Of  these  a  holy  anointing  oil 
was  to  be  made  "  after  the  art  of  the  apothecary,"  to  be  employed 
exclusively  in  consecrating  the  sanctuary  and  its  furniture,  and 
the  high  priest  and  his  sons.  All  compounds  like  it  for  private 
use  were  forbjdden  on  pain  of  death. 

13.  For  the  composition  of  the  sweet  incense,  the  direction 
was  (Exod.  30:34,  seq.):  "Take  unto  thee  sweet  spices;  stacte" 
(either  the  gum-resin  of  myrrh,  or  a  species  of  storax  gum-resin), 
"  and  onycha "  (the  shell  of  a  species  of  muscle,  which,  when 
burned,  emits  a  musky  odor;  but  some,  as  Jarchi,  understand 
the  Hebrew  word  to  signify  an  aromatic  root  of  some  kind),  "  and 
galbanum  "  (a  resinous  substance  of  a  strong  odor,  but  whether 
the  gum-resin  called  galbanum  by  us  is  doubtful) ;  "  these  sweet 


THE  TABERNACLE   AND  ITS  FURNITURE.       557 

spices  and  pure  frankincense"  (the  well-known  fragrant  gum- 
resin  of  India) ;  "  of  each  shall  there  be  a  like  weight"  (or,  each 
part  shall  be  prepared  separately).  "And  thou  shalt  make  it  an 
incense,  a  composition  after  the  art  of  the  apothecary,  salted, 
pure,  and  holy.  And  thou  shalt  beat  some  of  it  small,  and  put 
some  of  it  before  the  testimony,  in  the  tent  of  the  congregation 
where  I  will  meet  with  thee ;  it  shall  be  unto  you  most  holy." 
As  in  the  case  of  the  holy  anointing  oil,  the  people  were  forbid 
den  to  make  any  composition  like  it  for  private  use,  under  pen 
alty  of  death.  This  was  the  sweet  incense  burned  on  the  golden 
altar. 

III.     REMOVAL  OF  THE  TABERNACLE  AND  ITS 
FURNITURE. 

14.  "  God  is  not  the  author  of  confusion,"  says  the  apostle ; 
and  upon  this  he  grounds  the  precept :  "  Let  all  things  be  done 
decently,  and  in  order  "  (1  Cor.  14 :  33,  40) — a  precept  by  which 
he  carried  over  into  the  Christian  congregations  the  great  prin 
ciple  of  order  that  pervaded  the  old  Mosaic  economy.  All  the 
arrangements  for  tlie  journeying  of  the  Israelities  in  the  wilderness, 
and  for  the  transfer  of  the  tabernacle  and  its  furniture  from  place 
to  place,  were  marked  by  the  same  order  and  decorum  that  pre 
vailed  in  the  ritual  of  religious  service.  First,  in  the  inner  cir 
cle,  immediately  around  the  tabernacle  and  its  court,  pitched 
the  priests  and  Levites.  Then,  in  the  outer  circle,  the  tribes 
pitched  in  a  prescribed  order — on  the  east  side,  Judah,  Issachar, 
and  Zebulun ;  on  the  south  side,  Keuben,  Simeon,  and  Gad ;  on 
the  west  side,  Ephraim,  Manasseh,  and  Benjamin ;  on  the  north 
side,  Dan,  Asher,  and  Naphtali  (Numb.,  chap.  2) ;  and  every  un 
clean  person  wras  removed  without  the  limits  of  the  camp  (Numb. 
5  : 1-4).  Two  silver  trumpets  were  provided  "  for  the  calling  of 
the  assembly,  and  for  the  journeying  of  the  camps;"  and  the 
manner  of  blowing  them  for  each  of  these  purposes  was  pre 
scribed.  Numb.  10 : 1,  seq.  When  the  congregation  journeyed 
the  order  was :  first,  the  three  tribes  that  pitched  on  the  east 
side ;  then  the  Levites  belonging  to  the  families  of  Gershon  and 
Merari  with  the  tabernacle  (see  below) ;  next,  the  three  tribes  of 


558  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

the  south  side ;  after  them  the  Levites  of  the  families  of  Kohath, 
with  the  sanctuary  (see  below) ;  then  the  three  tribes  of  the  west 
side;  and,  finally,  the  three  tribes  of  the  north  side.  Numb., 
chap.  10. 

15.  Every  priestly  function  belonged  to  Aaron  and  his  sons ; 
while  the  Levites  were  solemnly  presented  before  them  that  they 
might  minister  to  them  and  "  do  the  service  of  the  tabernacle." 
Numb.  3  : 5-13.  The  several  parts  of  this  service  were  distrib 
uted  among  them  in  an  orderly  way,  as  follows : 

Before  the  tabernacle  on  the  east  side,  which  was  the  most 
honorable  place,  pitched  Moses  and  Aaron  and  his  -sons,  "keeping 
the  charge  of  the  sanctuary.  Numb.  3 : 38.  The  record  adds 
(Numb.  4 : 16)  that  "  to  the  office  of  Eleazar  the  son  of  Aaron  the 
priest  pertaineth  the  oil  for  the  light,  and  the  sweet  incense,  and 
the  daily  oblation"  (unbloody  offering),  "and  the  anointing  oil; 
the  oversight  of  all  the  tabernacle,  and  of  all  that  therein  is,  in 
the  sanctuary  and  in  its  vessels."  This  work,  as  also  the  super 
vision  of  the  Kohathites,  was  laid  upon  him  as  chief  of  all  the 
Levites.  Numb.  3  :  32. 

The  next  place  in  dignity,  as  we  infer  from  the  order  in  which 
the  tribes  marched,  was  the  south  side ;  and  here  accordingly 
were  stationed  the  Kohathites,  who  had  charge  of  the  most  sa 
cred  things — "  the  ark,  and  the  table,  and  the  candlestick,  and 
the  altars"  (the  golden  altar  and  the  brazen  altar,  probably  the 
laver  also),  "  and  the  vessels  of  the  sanctuary  wherewith  they 
minister,  and  the  hanging "  (the  inner  veil  that  separated  the 
holy  of  holies  from  the  outer  sanctuary),  "  and  all  the  service 
thereof."  Numb.  3  :  31. 

Next  in  order  were  the  Gershonitcs,  behind  the  tabernacle  on 
the  west  side.  They  had  charge  of  all  the  curtains  and  cover- 
Jings  pertaining  to  the  tabernacle  and  its  court,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  the  inner  veil  above  specified ;  and  also  of  the  cords  be 
longing  to  the  curtain  for  the  door  of  the  court.  Numb.  3 : 25,  26. 

The  sons  of  Merari  pitched  on  the  north  side  of  the  taber 
nacle,  and  to  them  was  assigned  the  heaviest  service — the  boards, 
bars,  pillars,  and  sockets  of  the  tabernacle,  with  all  the  imple- 


THE  TABERNACLE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE.       559 

nieiits  pertaining  to  them ;  also  the  pillars  of  the  court,  with  their 
sockets,  pins,  and  cords.  Numb.  3  :  36,  37. 

To  the  sons  of  Gershon  were  given,  for  their  part  of  the  ser 
vice,  two  wagons  and  four  oxen ;  to  the  sons  of  Merari,  four  wag 
ons  and  eight  oxen.  The  sons  of  Kohath  had  no  oxen  or  wag 
ons,  as  they  bare  upon  their  shoulders  the  burdens  assigned  to 
them.  Numb.  7:6-9. 

16.  Although  the  Kohathites  were  the  bearers  of  the  most 
holy  things,  the  work  of  preparing  them  for  removal  belonged  to 
the  priests  alone.  The  Kohathites  were  not  permitted  to  enter 
the  sanctuary  or  to  see  when  the  holy  things  were  covered,  under 
penalty  of  death.  Numb.  4  : 18-20.  They  were  most  beautiful 
and  precious ;  but  they  were  not  mere  works  of  art  made  to  be 
gazed  upon  and  admired.  They  were  shadows  of  good  things 
to  come  hidden  from  all  eyes  but  those  of  the  officiating  priests. 
Undoubtedly  their  sacredness  was  enhanced  in  the  minds  of  the, 
people  by  their  perpetual  concealment.  But  this  can  hardly 
have  been  the  only  end  proposed  by  the  divine  wisdom.  "  The 
heavenly  things  themselves,"  of  wThich  they  were  "figures"  (Heb. 
9  : 23,  24),  were  as  yet  mysteries  awaiting  their  explanation  in 
the  fulness  of  time ;  and  it  w^as  most  suitable  that  the  types 
themselves  should  be  covered  from  the  eyes  of  the  multitude. 
Of  this  principle  we  have  a  significant  hint  in  the  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  (9  :  7,  8) :  "Into  the  second"  (the  inner  sanctuary)  "en 
ters  the  high  priest  alone  once  a  year,  not  without  blood,  which 
he  offers  for  himself  and  for  the  errors  of  the  people ;  the  Holy 
Ghost  this  signifying  that  the  way  into  the  most  holy  place  is 
not  yet  made  manifest,  while  the  first  tabernacle  is  yet  standing." 

A  solemn  majesty  pervades  the  directions  given  to  the  priests  in  the 
fourth,  chapter  of  Numbers  for  the  preparation  of  these  articles.  When  the 
camp  sets  forward,  Aaron  and  his  sons  are  to  cover  the  ark  with  the  veil 
that  hangs  before  it,  put  upon  it  a  covering  of  badgers'  skins,  spread  over 
this  a  cloth  wholly  blue,  and  put  in  its- staves.  Upon  the  table  of  show- 
bread  they  are  to  spread  a  cloth  of  blue,  put  upon  it  all  the  vessels  belong 
ing  to  it  with  the  showbread,  spread  upon  them  a  cloth  of  scarlet,  put  over 
this  a  covering  of  badgers'  skins,  and  put  in  its  staves.  The  candlestick, 
with  its  oil- vessels  and  all  the  implements  belonging  tc  it,  is  to  be  wrapped 


560  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

in  a  cloth  of  blue  ;  this  is  to  be  put  in  a  covering  of  badgers'  skin- 
the  whole  put  upon  a  bar.  The  golden  altar  is  to  be  covered  first  with  a 
cloth  of  blue,  then  with  a  covering  of  badgers'  skins,  and  its  staves  put  in 
order.  "All  the  instruments  of  ministry,  wherewith  they  minister  in  the 
sanctuary,"  are  to  be  put  in  a  cloth  of  blue,  covered  with  a  covering  of 
badgers'  skins,  and  put  on  a  bar.  After  they  have  cleansed  the  bra/ru 
altar  of  its  ashes,  they  are  to  spread  a  purple  cloth  upon  it,  lay  upon  this 
all  its  implements,  spread  over  the  whole  a  covering  of  badgers'  skins,  and 
put  its  staves  in  order.  No  directions  are  given  for  the  removal  of  the 
laver.  The  reader  will  notice  that  every  article  of  furniture  pertaining  to 
the  sanctuary  was  covered  externally  with  badgers'  skins,  except  the  ark  of 
the  covenant.  This  was  distinguished  from  all  the  rest  by  a  covering 
wholly  of  blue,  perhaps  as  an  emblem  of  the  heavenly  firmament  wln-ro 
God  resides,  his  earthly  dwelling-place  being  between  the  cherubim  that 
overshadowed  the  ark. 

It  is  to  be  understood  that  upon  encamping  the  Kohathites  delivered 
the  holy  things  again  to  Aaron  and  his  sons,  to  be  by  them  set  in  order. 
No  particular  directions  are  given  for  the  two  other  divisions  of  the  Le- 
yites,  the  sons  of  Gershon  and  Merari.  It  is  simply  said  that  they  are 
to  act  "under  the  hand  of  Ithaniar  the  son  of  Aaron  the  priest."  Vers. 
28,  33. 

IV.     SYMBOLISM   OF  THE  TABERNACLE  AND  ITS 
FURNITURE. 

17.  The  Mosaic  economy  in  all  its  parts  was  "  a  shadow  of 
good  things  to  come."  Heb.  10  : 1.  We  have  in  this  declara 
tion  of  God's  word  the  key  to  the  symbolical  meaning  of  the 
tabernacle  with  its  various  appointments.  It  represented  not 
what  we  render  to  God  by  our  services,  but  the  good  things 
which  he  has  provided  for  us  hi  the  plan  of  redemption,  and 
which  he  bestows  upon  his  sincere  worshippers  through  the  ordi 
nances  of  his  own  appointment.  Radically  erroneous  is  the  view 
which  regards  the  sacrifices,  oblations,  and  -  showbread  as  mere 
scenic  representations  of  the  provision  wliich  the  servants  of  a 
monarch  are  accustomed  to  make  for  his  table ;  the  sweet  in 
cense  as  an  emblem  of  the  homage  paid  to  him,  etc.  "  God  is 
not  worshipped  with  men's  hands,  as  though  he  needed  anything, 
seeing  he  giveth  to  all  life,  and  breath,  and  all  things."  He  does, 
indeed,  require  us  to  worship  him  with  reverence  and  godly  fear 


THE  TAHKKNACLJ:  AXD  ITS  FURNITURE.     501 

through  the  ordinances  which  he  has  appointed ;  but  it  is  that 
we  may  be  the  receivers,  not  the  givers. 

In  endeavoring  to  unfold  the  symbolism  of  the  tabernacle  and 
its  furniture,  it  is  best  to  avoid  minute  details ;  such,  for  exam 
ple,  as  the  meaning  of  the  different  colors  in  its  curtains.  When 
we  go  into  these  particulars,  without  a  warrant  from  som«  indi 
cation  of  Scripture,  we  are  in  danger  of  substituting  our  own 
ingenious  speculations  for  the  mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  types, 
as  in  parables,  the  meaning  often  lies  in  a  figure  taken  as  a  whole, 
not  in  the  dissection  of  its  parts. 

18.  The  tabernade  as  a  whole  was  God's  earthly  dwelling- 
place.  "  Let  them  make  me,"  said  he  (Exod.  25  : 8),  "  a  sanctu 
ary  ;  that  I  may  dwell  among  them."  But  God's  true  residence 
is  in  heaven,  as  the  Scripture  affirms  in  hundreds  of  places. 
The  material  tabernacle,  made  with  men's  hands,  was  then  a  type 
of  God's  tabernacle  above  not  made  with  hands.  This  idea  is 
exhibited  with  much  beauty  and  force  in  the  epistle  to  the  He 
brews.  The  Jewish  high  priest  went  once  every  year  -into  the 
earthly  holy  of  holies  with  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats,  which  he 
sprinkled  upon  and  before  the  mercy-seat  to  make  expiation  for 
the  sins  of  the  people.  Heb.  9  :  7  compared  with  Lev.  16  : 14,  15. 
"With  reference  to  this  solemn  rite  the  sacred  penman  says  (Heb. 
9  : 11,  12) :  "  Christ  having  come,  a  high  priest  of  good  things  to 
come"  (a  high  priest  through  whose  mediation  we  receive  those 
very  "  good  things  to  come  "  which  were  shadowed  forth  in  the 
office  of  the  Jewish  high  priest),  "entered,  once  for  all,  through 
the  greater  and  more  perfect  tabernacle  not  made  with  hands, 
that  is  to  say,  not  of  this  creation"  (not  belonging  to  this  mate 
rial  creation);  "neither  through  the  blood  of  goats  and  calves" 
(as  a  medium  of  approach),  "but  through  his  own  blood,  into 
the  holy  place,  having  obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us."  As 
the  Jewish  high  priest  went,  year  by  year,  through  the  earthly 
sanctuary  into  the  material  holy  of  holies  with  the  blood  of 
bulls  and  goats,  to  make  theje  in  the  presence  of  God,  who 
dwelt  between  the  cherubim,  a  typical  expiation  for  the  sins  of 
the  people ;  so  Christ  has  gone,  once  for  all,  through  the  heav- 

2'* 


5G'2  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

enly  tabernacle  into  the  true  holy  of  holies,  to  present  before  his 
Father's  throne  his  own  blood  as  a  perfect  expiation  for  the  sins 
of  his  people,  thus  obtaining  eternal  redemption  for  them.  Again ; 
the  same  writer,  having  referred  to  the  fact  that  "  almost  all  things 
are,  according  to  the  law,  purified  in  blood"  (by  means  of  blood), 
"and  without  shedding  of  blood  remission  does  not  take  place" 
(Heb.  9 : 22),  goes  on  to  say  (vers.  23,  24) :  "  It  was  therefore 
necessary  that  the  patterns"  (representations  or  types)  "of  things 
in  the  heavens"  (that  is,  of  the  heavenly  tabernacle  with  its  high 
realities)  "  should  be  purified  with  these "  (with  the  blood  of 
material  victims),  "  but  the  heavenly  things  themselves  with  bet 
ter  sacrifices  than  these.  For  Christ  entered  not  into  holy  places 
made  with  hands"  (such  as  the  earthly  tabernacle  with  its  outer 
and  inner  sanctuary),  "which  are  figures  of  the  true"  (the  true 
heavenly  tabernacle),  "but  into  heaven  itself"  (which  is  the  true 
tabernacle  of  God),  "  now  to  appear  before  God's  face  in  our 
behalf." 

The*  ailmomtion  to  Moses  (Exod.  25:40  and  elsewhere):  "And  look 
that  thou  make  them  after  the  pattern  which  was  showed  thee  in  the 
mount,"  refers,  apparently,  to  a  representation  made  to  Moses  in  vision, 
after  which  he  was  to  make  the  tabernacle  with  its  furniture.  This  vision 
was  an  adumbration  of  heavenly  realities  in  forms  drawn  from  earthly 
things ;  so  that  the  tabernacle  itself,  with-  its  appointments,  being  modelled 
after  it,  was  "a  shadow  of  heavenly  things."  Heb.  8:5.  It  is  not  neces 
sary  to  adopt  the  gross  Jewish  idea  of  an  actual  heavenly  temple  or  taber 
nacle  after  which  the  earthly  tabernacle  was  to  be  made. 

19.  The  tabernacle  was  God's  earthly  dwelling-place.  "We 
may  call  it  the  palace  of  the  heavenly  king.  But  a  king's  palace 
has  its  audience-chamber,  where  he  receives  those  who  are  per 
mitted  to  come  into  his  presence.  In  the  Mosaic  tabernacle  the 
S/H'kinah,  that  is,  the  dwelling-place  of  Jehovah,  was  within  the 
veil  in  the  inner  sanctuary,  between  the  wings  of  the  cherubim 
that  overshadowed  the  mercy-seat.  This  we  learn  from  the 
original  direction  for  the  construction  of  the  ark  (Exod.  25  : 21, 
22):  "And  thou  shalt  put  the  mercy-seat  above  upon  the  ail;; 
and  in  the  ark  thou  shalt  put  the  testimony"  (the  two  tables  of 
stone  containing  the  ten  commandments)  "  that  I  shall  give  thee. 


THE  TABERNACLE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE.  .  ;".r.:j 

And  there  will  I  meet  with  thee,  and  I  will  commune  with  thee 
from  above  the  mercy-seat,  fr<5in  between  the  two  cherubim  which 
are  upon  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  of  all  things  which  I  will  give 
thee  in  charge  unto  the  children  of  Israel."  In  accordance  with 
these  words  God  repeatedly  promised  that  he  would  meet  with 
Moses  at  the  mercy-seat  (Exod.  30  :  36 ;  Lev.  16:2;  Numb. 
17  : 4)- ;  and  after  the  dedication  of  the  tabernacle  and  altar  it  is 
recorded  that  "  when  Moses  went  into  the  tent  of  the  congrega 
tion  to  speak  with  him  "  (that  is,  with  God),  "  he  heard  the  voice 
of  one  speaking  unto  him  from  off  the  mercy-seat  that  was  upon 
the  ark  of  the  testimony,  from  between  the  two  cherubim ;  and 
he  spake  unto  him  "  (Numb.  7  : 89).  Hence  Jehovah  is  described 
in  the  Old  Testament  as  he  who  dwells  between  the  cherubim. 
1,  Sam.  4:4;  2  Sam.  6:2;  2  Kings  19:15;  Isa.  37:16;  Psa. 
80  : 1 ;  99  : 1.  In  the  ark  beneath  the  mercy-seat  were  the  two 
tables  of  the  divine  law,  God's  presence  overshadowing  them 
and  keeping  them  inviolate.  This  signified  that  God  is  the  foun 
tain  of  law,  and  that  they  who  approach  him  must  come  to  him 
as  a  holy  lawgiver,  in  a  reverential  and  obedient  spirit. 

We  have  retained  the  expression  of  our  version,  tabernacle  of  the  congre 
gation,  though  the  rendering,  tabernacle  of  meeting,  would  be  more  appro 
priate.  The  meaning  of  the  words  can  be  gathered  from  a  passage  in  the 
book  of  Exodus  (chap.  29  : 42-45),  of  which  we  give  the  literal  rendering  : 
"It  shall  be  a  perpetual  burnt-offering  throughout  your  generations  at 
the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting  before  Jehovah,  where  I  will  meet  with 
you  to  speak  unto  thee  there.  And  I  will  meet  there  with  the  children 
of  Israel,  and  it  [the  tabernacle]  shall  be  sanctified  by  my  glory.  And  I 
will  sanctify  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  the  altar :  Aaron  also  and  his  sons 
will  I  sanctify  to  minister  to  me  as  priests.  And  I  will  dwell  among  the 
children  of  Israel,  and  I  will  be  to  them  for  a  God."  From  these  words  it 
is  plain  that,  as  the  tabernacle  itself  is  called  a  dwelling-place  (Heb.,  mish- 
Tcan)  because  God  dwells  in  it,  so  also  is  it  called  the  tent  of  meeting  (some 
times  more  fully,  taber-nade  of  the  tent  of  meeting,  Exod.  40  :  6,  29),  as  being 
the  place  where  God  meets  and  communes  with  his  servants. 

The  cherubim  appear  everywhere  as  the  ministers  of  God's  will.  Gen. 
3  : 24  ;  Ezek.,  chaps.  1,  10  ;  Rev.,  chap.  4,  seq.  The  cherubim  of  Ezekiel's 
vision  are  the  bearers  of  God's  throne.  They  have  four  fronts — a  repre 
sentation  of  the  universality  of  their  ministrations — and  they  move  instan 
taneously  in  any  required  direction,  according  to  the  will  of  the  divine 


"><'>!:  .  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Spirit  that  pervades  them,  going  and  returning  like  a  flash  of  lightning. 
Their  appearance  is  like  burning  coal*  of  fire,  and  they  have  each  four 
faces — the  faces  of  the  four  beings  that  stand  severally  at  the  head  of  the 
four  orders  of  living  beings,  according  to  the  Hebrew  division — by  which 
seems  to  be  represented  the  combination  in  them  of  all  that  is  excellent  in 
created  life.  The  four  living  creatures  (that  is,  cherubim)  of  John's  vision 
have  the  four  faces  distributed  among  them  ;  and  they,  like  the  wheels  in 
Ezekiel's  vision,  are'  full  of  eyes — the  symbol  of  intelligence.  They  are 
"in  the  midst  of  the  throne  and  round  about  the  throne,"  ascribing  glory 
to  God,  and  executing  his  purposes.  Chap.  G :  1,  3,  5,  7;  15:7.  "What 
now  do  they  represent  ?  Are  they  the  heavenly  pmcers  exclusively,  us  in 
the  expression,  "the  Lord  of  hosts"?  or  the  representation  of  "all  that 
has  life  on  earth  "  (Hengstenberg  on  the  Apocalypse,  4:6)?  or  something 
more  comprehensive — the  representation  of  all  created  living  beings  in  heav 
en  and  on  earth,  as  standing  under  God's  absolute  control  and  ministering 
to  his  will  V  This  last  seems  to  us  the  preferable  view. 

The  cherubim  that  overshadow  the  mercy-seat  have  their  faces  looking 
towards  each  other,  consequently  towards  Jehovah  who  dwells  between 
them  above  the  ark.  Their  faces  are  also  bowed  towards  the  mercy-seat. 
This  may  represent  either  simply  the  posture  of  adoration,  or  the  reveren 
tial  contemplation  of  that  which  the  ark  contains.  The  symbolism  of  the 
cherubic  figures  upon  the  inner  curtains  of  the  tabernacle  (Exod.  26  :  1), 
and  upon  the  inner  veil  of  the  sanctuary  (Exod.  26  :31),  is  for  substance 
the  same  as  that  of  the  cherubim  upon  the  mercy-seat. 

20.  In  the  outer  sanctuary,  before  the  veil  that  separated  it 
from  the  holy  of  holies,  stood,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the  south 
side  the  golden  candlestick  with  its  seven  lamps,  and  on  tl^e 
north  side  the  table  of  showbread  with  its  twelve  loaves.  These 
typified  the  light  and  the  life  that  come  from  God's  presence 
through  the  ordinances  of  his  appointment ;  and,  since  the  end 
of  all  these  ordinances  is  the  exhibition  to  our  understanding 
and  heart  of  Jesus  Christ  crucified,  they  typified  Christ  as  the 
light  of  the  world  and  the  bread  of  life.  Between  them  stood 
the  golden  altar,  on  which  the  priests  burned  sweet  incense  every 
morning  and  evening  before  the  Lord.  The  burning  of  sweet  in 
cense  is  a  natural  symbol  of  prayer.  In  the  book  of  Revelation 
(chap.  5 : 8)  the  sweet  incense  (Eng.  version  sweet  odors)  is  ex- 
pivssly  defined  to  be  "the  prayers  of  the  saints."  In  accordance 
with  this  view,  the  psalmist  prays  (Psa.  141 :  2) :  "Let  my  prayer 


THE  TABKUXACLK   AND  ITS  PTJBNITUBE.      -Mi." 

be  set  forth  before  thee  as  incense;  and  the  lifting  up  of  niy  hand.-; 
as  the  evening  sacrifice ;"  where  the  ascent  to  heaven  of  both  the 
incense  and  the  sacrifice  in  fire  and  smoke  is  a  natural  symbol 
of  presentation  to  God.  But  in  the  present  instance  it  is  the 
priest  who  typifies  Christ,  interceding  by  the  sweet  incense  in 
behalf  of  God's  people,  so  that  the  act  is  a  solemn  representation 
of  Christ's  intercession,  by  which  the  prayers  of  believers  are 
made  acceptable  to  God.  Compare  Rev.  8 :  3-5,  where  the  in 
cense  makes  "the  prayers  of  all  the  saints"  acceptable  to  God, 
as  is  indicated  by  the  symbolical  transaction  in  ver.  5.  There 
.  fire  taken  from  the  altar  of  sweet  incense  is  cast  upon  the  earth, 
signifying  that  God  is  preparing  to  answer  "the  prayers  of  all 
the  saints  "  by  judgments  upon  their  persecutors. 

The  symbolism  of  the  outer  and  inner  veil  of  the  sanctuary, 
as  also  of  the  altar  and  laver,  will  be  considered  in  connection 
with  that  of  the  Aaronic  priesthood  and  sacrifices. 

21.  For  the  symbolism  of  the  materials  employed  in  the  con 
struction  of  the  tabernacle  and  its  furniture,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  what  is  said  in  the  Companion  to  the  Bible,  Chap.  37,  No.^8, 
under  the  head  of  ritual  types.     It  is-  there  shown  (1)  that  the 
general  predomness  of  the  materials  shadowed  forth  the  excel 
lence  of  God's  service,  and,  by  necessary  consequence,  the  sacred- 
ness  of  man's  obligation  to  give  to  God  the  best  of  ah1  that  he 
has ;  (2)  that  the  gradation  so  carefully  observed  in  respect  to 
the  costliness  and  splendor  of  the  materials  was  made  upon  the 
principle  that  God's  presence  constituted  the  glory  of  the-  taber 
nacle  ;  and  that  the  closer  the  relation  which  its  parts  bore  to 
him,  the  greater  was  the  glory  with  which  they  were  invested. 

22.  Finally,  when  the  tabernacle  was  reared  up  and  conse 
crated  by  anointing  it  with  the  holy  oil  (Exod.  40 :  9-11),  the  pillar 
of  cloud,  the  symbol  of  Jehovah's  presence,  "  covered  the  tent  of 
the  congregation,  and  the  glory  of  Jehovah  filled  the  tabernacle. 
And  Moses  was  not  able  to  enter  into  the  tent  of  the  "congrega 
tion,  because  the  cloud  dwelt  upon  it,  and  the  glory  of  Jehovah 
filled  the  tabernacle."   Exod.  40 :  34,  35 ;  Numb.  9 : 15  ;.and  com 
pare  1  Kings  8:10,  11;   2  Chron.  5 : 13  ;   7:2;  Isa,  6:4; 


566  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

15  : 8.  This  same  cloud,  the  symbol  of  God's  presence,  guided 
the  Israelites  in  their  journeyings  throughout  their  forty  years' 
•pilgrimage  in  the  wilderness.  "  When  the  cloud  was  taken  up  from 
upon  the  tent,  then  after  that  the  children  of  Israel  journeyed ; 
and  in  the  place  where  the  cloud  abode,  there  the  children  of 
Israel  encamped."  "Whether  it  were  two  days  or  a  month  or  a 
longer  time,  while  the  cloud  prolonged  its  dwelling  upon  the  tab 
ernacle,  the  children  of  Israel  abode  in  camp  and  did  not  jour 
ney;  but  when  it  was  taken  up  they  journeyed "  (Numb.  9:17, 
22) — a  blessed  symbol  of  the  guidance  which  God  vouchsafes  to 
his  church,  and  to  every  true  member  of  it,  in  the  journey  to  the 
heavenly  Canaan. 

The  word  sliekinah  signifies  simply  dwelling-place;  but  inasmuch  as  Je 
hovah's  visible  dwelling  was  in  a  cloud  amid  the  brightness  of  fire  (Exod. 
19  :  9,  16,  18  ;  20  : 18,  21 ;  24  : 16-18;  40  : 38  ;  etc.),  the  term  was  employed 
by  the  later  Jews  to  express  his  manifested  presence  in  a  cloud  between 
the  wings  of  the  cherubim  that  overshadowed  the  ark.  That  there  was  such 
a  manifestation  in  Moses'  day  is  plain  from  the  words  of  God  to  Moses 
(Lev.  16:2):  "Speak  unto  Aaron,  thy  .brother,  that  he  come  not  at  all 
times'  into  the  holy  place  within  the  veil,  before  the  mercy-seat  wliich  is 
upon  the  ark ;  that  he  die  not ;  for  I  will  appear  in  the  cloud  upon  the 
mercy-seat."  How  constant  was  this  appearance  during  the  continuance  of 
the  ark,  we  will  not  venture  to  affirm.  All  are  agreed  that  it  was  wanting 
in  the  second  temple  wliich  had  not  the  ark. 


PEIESTHOOD,  SACRIFICES  AND  OBLATIONS.   5C7 


CHAPTEK  XXIX. 

THE  PRIESTHOOD,  SACRIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS. 

1.  THE  Aaronic  priesthood,  with  its  sacrifices  and  oblations, 
is  considered  in  the  Companion  to  the  Bible,  Chap.  37,  and  to  this 
the  reader  is  referred.  We  simply  recapitulate  the  essential 
points  relating  to  the  priesthood  and  sacrifices. 

The  Levitical  priests  typified  Christ  (1)  in  their  possession  of 
of  the  same  common  human  nature  as  those  in  whose  behalf  they 
acted  (Heb.  2  : 11,  14,  17,  18 ;  4  : 15 ;  5 : 1,  2) ;  (2)  in  the  fact  that 
they  were  appointed  to  their  office  by  God  (Heb.  5 : 4-6) ;  (3)  in 
their  being  mediators  between  God  and  the  people,  not  in  a  general 
way,  but  (4)  through  the  propitiatory  sacrifices  which  they  were 
ordained  to  offer.  Heb.  5:1;  7  :  27 ;  8:3;  9 : 12-28  ;  10  : 10-14. 

The  points  of  dissimilarity  between  the  Levitical  priests  and 
Christ,  their  great  Antitype,  by  which  the  superior  dignity  and 
efficacy  of  his  priesthood  were  illustrated,  are :  (1)  that  they  were 
sinners,  needing  to  offer  sacrifice  first  for  their  own  sins,  and 
then  for  the  sins  of  the  people  (Heb.  5:3),  while  he  was  "  holy, 
harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sinners,  and  made  higher  than 
the  heavens  "  (Heb.  7  :  26) ;  (2)  that  they  were  many,  "  because 
they  were  not  suffered  to  continue  by  reason  of  death,"  but  he, 
"because  he  continueth  ever, hath  an  unchangeable  priesthood" 
(Heb.  7 :  23,  24) ;  (3)  that  their  offerings,  being  only  typical,  could 
not  make  a  true  expiation  for  sin,  and  therefore  needed  to  be 
continually  repeated,  while  Christ  by  his  one  offering,  "  perfected 
for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified" — perfected  them  in  respect  to 
the  expiation  of  sin,  which  is  the  foundation  on  which  the  work 
of  personal  sanctification  rests.  Heb.  10 : 11,  12. 

Mediatorship  between  God  and  man  through  propitiatory 
sacrifice  constitutes  the  essence  of  priesthood.  It  is  a  false  and 
mischievous  idea  that  there  can  be  true  mediating  priests  under 
the  Christian  dispensation.  The  very  supposition  of  their  neces- 


568  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

sity  is  an  affront  to  the  all-sufficient  priesthood  and  sacrifice  of 
Christ.  Believers— all  believers,  people  as  well  as  ministers — 
are  "a  holy  priesthood  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices,"  "the  sac 
rifice  of  praise  to  God  continually"  (1  Pet.  2:5;  Heb.  13:15), 
and  these  figurative  sacrifices  are  the  only  ones  known  to  the 
New  Testament. 

In  respect  to  sacrifices,  the  essential  idea  is  making  atonement 
for  sin  by  blood.  "  It  is  the  blood  that  maketh  an  atonement  for 
the  soul."  Lev.  17 : 10,  11.  The  reason  that  the  blood  makes 
atonement  is  that  "the  life  of  the  flesh  is  in  the  blood."  The  life 
of  an  innocent  victim  is  offered  to  God  instead  of  the  life  of  the 
sinner,  and  God  accepts  it  as  a  vicarious  propitiation.  The  sac 
rifices  of  the  Mosaic  ritual  were  of  various  classes,  each  class 
having  its  own  accessory  idea ;  but  underlying  them  all  was  the 
fundamental  idea  of  propitiation  through  blood.  In  the  Levitical 
sacrifices  the  propitiation  was  typical ;  in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ 
a  true  atonement  was  made  for  sin. 

We  add  some  remarks  pertaining  to  the  Levitical  priesthood, 
to  the  sacrifices  and  oblations,  and  to  the  priests  and  Levites 
considered  as  distinct  parts  of  the  Hebrew  commonwealth. 

I.     THE  AAEONIC    PEIESTHOOD. 

2.  In  the  last  terrible  plague  that  befell  Egypt,  all  the  first 
born  of  man  and  beast  were  slain ;  while  among  the  Israelites 
they  were  preserved  by  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  the  pas 
chal  lamb.  Exod.  12 :  7,  13.  In  view  of  this  deliverance,  God 
claimed  all  the  first-bom  of  man  and  beast  as  his  own  in  a  spe 
cial  sense.  Exod.  13:2.  Afterwards  he  took  the -Levites  and 
their  cattle  instead  *of  the  first-born  of  man  and  beast  among  the 
other-  tribes.  "  Take  the  Levites  instead  of  all  the  first-born 
among  the  children  of  Israel,  and  the  cattle  of  the  Levites  in 
stead  of  their  cattle ;  and  the  Levites  shall  be  mine :  I  am  the 
Lord."  Numb.  3 : 45 ;  and  see  chap.  8.  From  the  tribe  of  Levi, 
thus  set  apart  for  the  special  service  of  Jehovah,  God  took  Aaron 
and  his  sons  for  the  priesthood  (Exod.  28:1),  giving  them  the 


PBIESTHOOD,  SACRIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS.   509 

tribe  of  Levi  for  their  attendants.  The  whole  arrangement  is 
given  in  the  following  words  (Numb.  3  :  6-10) :  "  Bring  the  tribe 
of  Levi  near,  and  present  them  before  Aaron,  the  priest,  that 
they  may  minister  unto  him.  And  they  shall  keep  his  charuv. 
and  the  charge  of  the  whole  congregation"  (charge,  in  the  ^ 
of  duties  with  which  they  are  charged  in  behalf  of  Aaron  and 
the  congregation)  "  before  the  tent  of  the  congregation,  to  do  the 
service  of  the  congregation.  And  they  shah1  keep  all  the  instru 
ments  of  the  tent  of  the  congregation "  (that  is,  the  tabernacle 
itself,  with  all  its  furniture),  "and  the  charge  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  to  do  the  service  of  the  tabernacle.  And  thou  shalt  give 
the  Levites  unto  Aaron  and  his  sons ;  they  are  wrhoh*y  given  unto 
him  out  of  the  children  of  Israel.  And  thou  shalt  appoint  Aaron 
and  his  sons,  and  they  shall  wrait  on  their  priestly  office ;  and  the 
stranger"  (that  is,  one  "not  of  the  seed  of  Aaron,"  Numb.  16 : 40) 
"that  coineth  nigh"  (nigh  to  the  sanctuaiy  to  perform  any 
priestly  function)  "shah1  be  put  to  death."  "No  man,"  says  the 
writer  to  the  Hebrews  (chap.  5:4),  "taketh  this  honor  unto 
himself,  but  he  that  is  called  of  God,  as  was  Aaron." 

The  office  of  high  priest  descended  from  Aaron  in  the  line  of  Eleazar,  the 
eldest  of  his  two  surviving  sons.  Numb.  20  :  22-28.  Afterwards  it  was,  for 
some  unknown  reason,  transferred  to  the  line  of  Ithamar ;  for  we  find  Eli 
and  his  descendants,  who  belonged  to  that  line  (1  Sam.  14  : 3,  compared 
with  1  Sam.  22  : 9,  20 ;  and  1  Chron.  24 : 3)  executing  the  office  of  high 
priest  till  Solomon's  time,  who  put  Zadok,  of  the  line  of  Eleazar  (1  Chron. 
24  : 3),  in  the  place  of  Abiathar,  a  descendant  of  Eli.  1  Kings  2  :  27. 

3.  Aaron  and  his  sons  having  been  thus  taken  from  among 
the  children  of  Israel  to  minister  in  the  priest's  office,  they  were 
inducted  into  it  with  great  solemnity.     First  of  all,  Moses  was 
directed  to  make  for  them  "holy  garments  for  glory  and  for 
beauty."    Exod.  28 : 2,  seq.    Those  of  Aaron,  the  high  priest,  are 
very  fully  described.     Leaving  to  the  commentators  the  minute 
details  of  the  description,  we  give  as  concisely  as  possible  the 
general-  idea  of  the  different  parts  of  his  official  robes. 

4.  Of  these  the  cpliod,  with  the  breastplate  attached  to  it,  was 
the  outermost.     It  was  made  of  the  richest  materials — "gold" 


570  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

(that  is,  golden  threads  woven  into  its  texture,  Exod.  39  :  3),  "  and 
blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  twined  linen."  Exod.  28 : 5, 6. 
As  to  form,  it  consisted  of  two  pieces  reaching  down,  according 
to  Jewish  writers,  to  the  middle  of  the  thighs ;  one  piece  cover 
ing  the  fore  part  of  the  body  and  the  other  the  back.  The  two 
shoulder-pieces  (vers.  7,  12)  appear  to  have  been  strips  attached 
to  the  right  and  left  border  of  the  upper  part  of  the  ephod,  and 
extending  above  over  the  shoulders,  thus  connecting  the  two 
pieces  of  the  ephod.  On  each  of  the  shoulder-pieces,  directly 
over  the  shoulder,  was  an  onyx-stone,  set  in  an  ouch,  or  socket, 
of  gold.  These  were  graven  with  the  names  of  the  twelve  chil 
dren  of  Israel,  six  in  each  stone,  according  to  the  order  of  their 
birth,  'that  Aaron  might  "bear  their  names  before  the  Lord  on 
his  two  shoulders  for  a  memorial"  (ver.  12).  The  ephod  had 
also  a  girdle  of  the  same  texture — gold,  and  blue,  and  purple, 
and  scarlet,  and  fine  twined  linen ;  which  appears  to  have  con 
sisted  of  two  lateral  straps  passing  around  the  body,  by  which 
the  two  parts  of  the  ephod  were  kept  each  in  its  place. 

Some  writers  represent  that  the  onyx-stone  ouches  served  also  for 
clasps  or  buttons  to  fasten  together  the  two  halves  of  the  ephod.  But  the 
Hebrew  text  ascribes  to  them  no  such  office.  It  simply  states  that  they 
were  stones  of  memorial  (ver.  12),  leaving  us  at  liberty  to  assume  that  the 
shoulder-pieces  passed  over  the  shoulders  beyond  the  onyx-stones  to  form 
a  connection  with  the  hinder  part  of  the  ephod.  As  to  the  ouches  and 
chains  of  gold  mentioned  in  vers.  13,  14,  they  seem  to  be  the  same  as  those 
described  in  vers.  22-25. 

5.  The  breastplate  of  judgitent  was  made  of  the  same  rich 
materials  as  the  ephod.  The  direction,  "  Foursquare  shall  it  be, 
being  doubled;  a  span"  (half  a  cubit)  "shall  be  the  length 
thereof,  and  a  span  the  breadth  thereof"  (ver.  16),  leads  natu 
rally,  though  not  necessarily,  to  the  idea  that  the  breastplate 
was  a  bag  or  pouch  half  a  cubit  square.  On  its  front  were  placed 
twelve  precious  stones  in  four  rows,  three  in  each  row.  The 
^stones  were  set  in  gold,  and  engraven  with  the  names  of  the 
twelve  children  of  Israel.  "And  Aaron,"  says  the  sacred  rec 
ord,  "  shall  bear  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  breast- 


PRIESTHOOD,  SACRIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS.    571 

plate  of  judgment  upon  his  heart,  when  he  goeth  in  unto  the 
holy  place,  for  a  memorial  before  the  Lord  continually"  (ver. 
29).  The  size  of  the  breastplate  corresponded  very  nearly  with 
the  open  space  between  the  two  shoulder-pieces  of  the  ephod. 
In  its  two  upper  corners  were  two  rings  of  gold  with  golden 
chains  of  wreathen  work,  which  were  fastened  at  their  other  end 
to  ouches  in  the  upper  part  of  the  shoulder-pieces.  In  its  two 
lower  comers,  on  the  inside  next  to  the  ephod,  were  also  two 
rings  of  gold  with  ribbons  of  blue  (hyacinthine  purple)  attached 
at  then-  other  end  to  golden  rings  placed  in  the  lower  margin  of 
the  shoulder-pieces  just  above  the  girdle  of  the  ephod.  Thus 
was  the  breastplate  held  firmly  in  its  place. 

*  The  following  literal  rendering  of  vers.  26-28  may  help  to  make  the 
description  of  the  lower  fastenings  of  the  breastplate  more  intelligible  : 
"And  thou  shalt  make  two  rings  of  gold,  and  shalt  put  them  upon  the 
two  ends"  (lower  corners)  "of  the  breastplate,  on  its  border  which  is  over 
against  the  ephod"  (faces  the  ephod)  "on  the  inside.  And  thou  shalt 
make  two  rings  of  gold,  and  shalt  put  them  upon  the  two  shoulder-pieces 
.of  the  ephod  below  on  its  front  part  by  its  junction"  (where  the  ephod  is 
joined  to  the  shoulder-pieces)  "above  the  girdle  of  the  ephod.  And  they 
shall  bind  the  breastplate  by  its  rings  to  the  rings  of  the  ephod  by  a  rib 
bon  of  blue,  that  it  may  be  above  the  girdle  of  the  ephod,  that  the  breast 
plate  may  not  be  loosened  from  the  ephod." 

6.  Then  follows  the  direction  (ver.  30) :  "  And  thou  shalt  put 
in  the  breastplate  of  judgment  the  Urim  and  the  Thummim ;  and 
they  shall  be  upon  Aaron's  heart,  when  he  goeth  in  before  the 
Lord :  and  Aaron  shall  bear  the  judgment  of  the  children  of 
Israel  upon  his  heart  before  the  Lord  continually."  Compare 
Lev.  8:8.  "And  he  put  upon  him"  (Aaron)  "the  breastplate, 
and  he  put  in  the  breastplate  the  Urim  and  Thummim."  It  is 
clear  from  the  first  of  these  passages  that  the  office  of  the  Urim 
and  Thummim  was  to  obtain  judgment  from  God — God's  decis 
ion  on  questions  submitted  to  him ;  and  that  for  this  reason  the 
breastplate,  as  containing  the  Urim  and  Thummim,  was  called 
"the  breastplate  of  judgment."  With  this  agree  the  few  histor 
ical  notices  respecting  the  use  of  the  breastplate  in  seeking  conn- 


572  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

sel  from  God.  When  Joslma  is  appointed  as  Moses'  successor, 
it  is  directed  that  "he  shall  stand  before  Eleazar  the  priest,  and 
he  shall  ask  counsel  for  him  through  the  judgment  of  the  Urim  " 
(Numb.  27  : 21) ;  after  Saul's  apostasy,  when  he  inquired  of  the 
Lord,  "  the  Lord  answered  him  not,  neither  by  dreams,  nor  by 
Urim,  nor  by  prophets"  (1  Sam.  28  :  6) ;  after  the  captivity,  cer 
tain  priests,  whose  genealogy  could  not  be  found,  were  forbidden 
to  eat  of  the  most  holy  things  "  till  there  stood  up  a  priest  with 
Urim  and  Thummim"  (Ezra  2  :  63).  Besides  these  express  noti 
ces,  we  have  the  case  of  David's  inquiry  by  means  of  the  ephod 
which  Abiathar  the  high  priest  had  brought  with  him  (1  Sam. 
23  :  6,  9-12) ;  where  the  ephod  is  that  containing  the  breastplate 
with  the  Urim  and  Thummim.  Compare  also  1  Sam.  23:2,  4; 
Judg.  1:2;  20:18,  23;  where  the  inquiry  was  manifestly  nuuTo 
in  the  same  way. 

The  words  Urim  and  Thummim  signify  Lights  and  Perfec 
tions  ;  the  light  and  perfection,  namely,  of  God's  judgments  given 
through  them ;  but  what  they  were  is  a  question  on  which  the 
most  ancient  Jewish  writers  are  not  agreed.  Whatever  they 
were,  they  were  lost  at  the  Babylonish  captivity.  Ezra  2  : 63. 
But  that  which  they  represented,  the  light  and  perfection  of 
divine  truth  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  rich  heritage  of 
the  Christian  church. 

Joseplms  (Antiq.  3.  8.  9)  identifies  the  Uriin  and  Tlmnimim  with  the 
stones  in  the  breastplate,  which,  he  says,  indicated  God's  will  by  a  preter 
natural  splendor.  Philo  (de  vita  Mosis,  lib.  3,  and  do  Monarch. ,  lib.  2) 
describes  them  as  two  images,  manifestation  and  truth,  carried  in  the  pouch 
of  the  breastplate.  A  favorite  idea  of  modern  scholars  (Michaelis,  Jahn, 
and  others)  is  that  they  were  a  sacred  lot,  consisting  of  three  precious 
stonos,  carried  in  the  pouch  of  the  breastplate,  one  having  engraven  upon 
it  the  Hebrew  word  answering  to  Yes,  one  the  word  answering  to  No,  and 
the  third  being  without  engraving  of  any  kind,  so  that  the  drawing  of  this 
gave  no  response  from  Jehovah.  We  abstain  from  further  conjectures. 

7.  The  robe  of  the  cpliod  was  a  garment  all  of  blue  worn  under 
the  ephod.  It  was  woven  throughout  without  seam,  and  h;id 
"  a  hole  in  the  top  of  it  in  the  midst  thereof"  for  the  insertion  of 


PRIESTHOOD,  SACRIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS.    573 

the  head,  with  a  strong  binding  around  it  to  prevent  its  being 
rent.  It  must  also  have  had  annholes,  having  been  apparently 
destitute  of  sleeves.  According  to  Josephus  (Jewish  War,  5.  5.  7) 
it  reached  to  the  ankles.  The  remarkable  ornaments  on  the 
lower  border  of  it  are  thus  described  (Exod.  28  :  33-35) :  "  And 
thou  shalt  make  upon  its  skirts  pomegranates  of  blue,  and  pur 
ple,  and  scarlet,  upon  its  skirts  round  about ;  and  bells  of  gold 
between  them  round  about :  a  golden  beh1  and  a  pomegranate, 
a  golden  bell  and  a  pomegranate,  upon  the  skirts  of  the  robe 
round  about.  And  it  shall  be  upon  Aaron  for  ministering ;  and 
his  sound  shall  be  heard  when  he  goeth  in  unto  the  sanctuary 
before  the*  Lord,  and  when  he  cometh  out,  that  he  die  not." 

Under  the  robe  next  to  the  skin  was  worn  the  tunic  of  check 
ered  work  (ver.  39),  the  sleeves  of  which  undoubtedly  extended 
to  the  wrists.  There  were  also  linen  breeches  reaching  "  from  the 
loins  even  unto  the  thighs"  (ver.  42),  which  all  the  priests  were 
required  to  wear  in  their  ministrations. 

8.  Over  the  whole  dress  was  wound  a  girdle  of  embroidered 
work.     On  the  head  of  the  high  priest  was  placed  a  mitre  (Heb., 
mitsnepheth,  turban,  distinguished  from  the  ~bonnets  or  caps,  Heb., 
migbaoth,  of  the  common  priests),  to  the  forefront  of  which  was 
fastened  with  a  ribbon  of  blue  a  golden  plate  engraven  with  the 
words :  HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD. 

9.  The  drjess  of  the  common  priests  was  less  elaborate.     It 
consisted  of  tunics,  girdles,  and  bonnets,  made  "for  glory  and  for 
beauty,"  with  the  linen  breeches  above  mentioned. 

10.  The  general  significance  of  these  official  robes  is  indicated 
by  the  words  of  inspiration:  "for  glory  and  for  beauty."     In 
the  person  of  the  Jewish  high  priest  Christ  our  great  high  priest 
was  typified.    It  was  therefore  proper  that  the  glory  and  beauty 
of  the  divine  Antitype  should  be  shadowed  forth  by  the  splendor 
of  the  garments  in  which  the  human  type  was  arrayed.     "What 
ever  may  have  been  the  material  form  of  the  Urirn  and  Thurn- 
mim,  we  know  that  they  were  the  medium  through  which  the 
perfect  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  communicated  to  his  peo 
ple  light,  truth,  and  guidance ;  and  that  thus  they  typified  the 


574  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

office  of  him  who  said,  "  I  am  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the 
life:  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me."  The  two 
onxy-stones  on  the  high  priest's  shoulders  were  graven  with  the 
names  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  the  twelve  stones  on  his 
breastplate  contained  the  same  names.  Thus,  in  the  language 
of  the  sacred  record,  the  high  priest,  when  he  entered  the  sanc 
tuary,  bare  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel  "  before  the  Lord 
upon  his  two  shoulders  for  a  memorial"  (ver.  12),  and  "upon  his 
heart  before  the  Lord  continually"  (ver.  29) — a  beautiful  and 
most  expressive  symbol  of  Christ's  almighty  power  and  un 
changeable  love.  He  bears  his  people  on  his  shoulders,  as  the 
one  to  whom  "  all  power  is  given  in  heaven  and  in  earth ;"  and 
on  his  heart,  as  he  who  loved  his  people  and  gave  his  life  for 
their  redemption. 

The  office  of  the  bells  on  the  high  priest's  robe  is  that  "his  sound  may 
be  heard  when  he  goeth  in  unto  the  holy  place  before  the  Lord,  and  when 
he  cometh  out,  that  he  die  not"  (ver.  35).  The  bells  were  then  the  sym 
bol  of  announcement — announcement  not  to  man,  but  to  the  majesty  of 
heaven,  that  he  came  before  Him  in  the  way  of  His  appointment. 

The  essential  part  of  the  high  priest's  mitre  was  the  golden  plate  Avith 
the  inscription  :  HOLINESS  UNTO  THE  LORD.  ' '  It  shall  be  upon  Aaron's 
forehead,  that  Aaron  may  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  holy  things,  which  the 
children  of  Israel  shall  hallow  in  all  the  gifts  of  their  hallowed  tilings  ;  and 
it  shall  be  always  upon  his  forehead,  that  they  may  be  accepted  before  the 
Lord"  (ver.  38).  The  golden  plate  is  then  the  sign  and  seal  of  Aaron's 
vicarious  office.  He  appears  before  God  in  behalf  of  the  people  as  their 
mediator,  taking  upon  himself  and  expiating  the  iniquity  of  their  hallowed 
gifts  in  the  way  of  God's  appointment,  that  so  the  people  may  be  accepted 
before  the  Lord.  Some  have  regarded  the  mitre  as  a  symbol  of  the  ;v  *_///// 
dignity  of  Christ,  our  great  high  priest.  But  when  this  truth  was  to  be 
represented  in  the  person  of  the  high  priest  Joshua  (Zech.  6  :  11,  §eg.), 
the  prophet  was  directed  to  make  crowns  of  silver  and  gold,  and  set  them 
upon  his  head ;  which  would  hardly  have  been  necessary,  had  the  mitre 
which  the  high  priest  wore  continually  represented  the  kingly  dignity.  It 
was  by  three  distinct  lines — of  priests,  of  prophets,  and  of  kings — that  God 
shadowed  forth  the  fulness  of  Christ's  mediatorship. 

11.  Next  in  order  comes  the  solemn  inauguration  of  Aaron  and 
his  sons  to  the  priestly  office.  Exod.,  chap.  29 ;  Lev.,  chap.  8. 


PRIESTHOOD,  SACRIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS.    575 

Aaron  and  his  sons  are  brought  into  the  court  before  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle,  and  there  washed  with  water ;  a  symbol  of  the 
putting  away  of  all  spiritual  uncleanness,  and  of  the  inward 
purity  required  for  their  ministrations.  They  are  then  clothed 
with  the  holy  garments ;  the  tabernacle  with  all  its  furniture  is 
consecrated  by  anointing  with  the  holy  oil ;  the  altar  and  all  its 
vessels,  with  the  laver  and  its  base,  are  in  like  manner  consecra 
ted  by  sprinkling  the  holy  oil  upon  them  seven  times ;  and  the 
anointing  oil  is  poured  upon  Aaron's  head  to  sanctify  him. 
Anointing  with  oil  was  the  symbol  of  consecration  (in  the  case 
of  things  without  life,  of  dedication),  and  of  the  gift  of  the  J  [<>(>/ 
Spirit  accompanying  such  consecration  when  made  according  to 
divine  appointment.  Hence  the  Redeemer,  as  specially  conse 
crated  by  God  to  his  office,  and  having  the  Holy  Spirit  without 
measure  (John*  3  :  34),  is  called  by  way  of  preeminence  the 
Anointed  (in  Hebrew,  3fc-ssiah ;  in  Greek,  Christ}. 

12.  After  the  anointing  came  the  sacrifices,  in  wThich  Moses  of 
necessity  officiated  as  priest.  These  included  all  the  three  kinds 
prescribed  by  the  law,  with  the  accompanying  oblations.  See 
below.  (1.)  The  sin-offering,  consisting  of  a  young  bullock ;  for 
Aaron  and  his  sons,  being  sinners,  must  first  bring  a  sin-offering 
in  their  own  behalf,  before  they  could  offer  sacrifices  ur  behalf  of 
the  people.  Heb.  5:3;  7 : 27.  The  blood  of  this  sin-offering 
was  not  earned  into  the  sanctuary,  according  to  the  usual  law  for 
the  victims  whose  bodies  were  burned  without  the  camp.  Lev. 
6  :  30;  Heb.  13  : 11.  Instead  of  this  Moses  put  some  of  it  on  the 
horns  of  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  and  poured  the  remainder  at 
the  bottom  of  the  altar ;  thus  sanctifying  and  consecrating  it  "  to 
make  expiation  for  it."  Lev.  8  :  15.  (2.)  The  burnt-offering, 
consisting  of  a  ram,  which  signified  the  entire  devotion  to 
God  of  Aaron  and  his  sons  through  expiatory  blood.  See  below. 
(3.)  The  ram  of  consecration,  which  was  a  peace-offering,  but  con 
nected  with  peculiar-  rites.  Moses  took  of  its  blood  "  and  put  it 
upon  the  tip  of  Aaron's  right  ear,  and  upon  the  thumb  of  his 
right  hand,  and  upon  the  great  toe  of  his  right  foot."  After 
wards  he  brought  Aaron's  sons  to  the  altar,  and  did  the  same  to 


570  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

them.     By  this  ceremony  was  signified  the  completeness  of  their 
consecration  through  blood. 

After  this  "  Moses  took  of  the  anointing  oil,  and  of  the  blood 
which  was  upon  the  altar,  and  sprinkled  it  upon  Aaron,  and 
upon  liis  garments,  and  upon  his  sons,  and  upon  his  sons'  gar 
ments  with  him ;  and  sanctified  Aaron,  and  his  garments,  and  his 
sons,  and  his  sons'  garments  with  him."  Lev.  8  :  30. 

13.  All  the  above  transactions  took  place  on  the  first  day  of 
the  consecration,  which  lasted  seven  days.     During  all  this  time 
Aaron  and  his  sons  were  commanded  to  abide  at  the  door  of  the 
tent  of  the  congregation  day  and  night.     On  each  of  the  six  fol 
lowing  days  they  offered  a  bullock  for  a  sin-offering ;  and  when 
they  had  thus  made  expiation  for  the  altar  and  sanctified  it  sc\  <-n 
days,  they  anointed  it  with  the  holy  oil.    Exod.  29  :  36,  37.    Final 
ly,  on  the  eighth  day  Aaron  first  offered  for  him'self  a  calf  for  a 
sin-offering  and  a  ram  for  a  burnt-offering :  after  this  he  offered 
in  IcJtalf  of  the  congregation  of  Israel  a  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin- 
offering  ;  a  calf  and  a  lamb  of  the  first  year,  without  blemish,  for 
a  burnt-offering;  a  bullock  and  a  rain  for  peace-offerings  ;  ;m<l  a 
meat-offering  (unbloody  oblation)  mingled  with  oil  (Lev.  9:1, 
seq.). 

The  solemnity  of  this  inauguration  was  in  harmony  with  the 
dignity  of  the  priestly  office.  Aaron  and  his  sons  typified  the 
person  of  Christ;  and  the  sacrifices  and  oblations  which  they 
offered  shadowed  forth  Christ's  sacrifice  of  himself  on  Calvary 
for  man's  redemption,  and  the  perfect  obedience  which  he  ren 
dered  to  the  Father.  The  priesthood  with  its  sacrifices  was, 
tlu-refore,  the  central  part  of  the  Mosaic  ritual,  even  as  Christ's 
person  and  propitiatory  sacrifice  constitute  the  central  part  of 
the  gospel. 

II.     THE  SACKIFICES  AND  OBLATIONS. 

14.  The  question  concerning  the  nature  and  classification  of 
the  Levitical  sacrifices  and  the  transactions  connected  with  them 
is  discussed  in  the  Companion  to  the  Bible  (Chap.  37,  Noa  14~16)i 
and  to  this  the  reader  is  referred.     In  the  book  of  Leviticus  the 


P1UESTHOOD,  SACRIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS.    577 

order  of  prescription  is  the  burnt-offerings  (chap.  1),  the  oblation* 
(chap.  2),  the  peace-offerings  (chap.  3),  the  sin-offerings  (chap.  4), 
the  trespass-offerings  (chap.  5 — chap.  6:7);  various  supplemen 
tary  directions  being  afterwards  added  (chap.  6 :  8 — chap.  7  :  38). 
But  the  true  natural  order  is  given  in  the  sacrifices  for  the  sanc- 
tificatioii  and  consecration  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  of  the 
congregation,  as  already  considered.  Exod.,  chap.  29;  Lev., 
chaps.  8,  9. 

15.  The  sin-offering,  which  was,  as  its  name  indicates,  wholly 
expiatory  and  propitiatory,  naturally  came  first  in  order,  since 
the  expiation  of  sin  is  the  first  condition  for  an  acceptable  ap 
proach  to  God.  On  the  more  important  occasions,  as  when  the 
high  priest  or  the  whole  congregation  had  sinned  through  igno 
rance,  the  blood  of  the  sin-offering  was  earned  into  the  outer 
sanctuary  and  put  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  sweet  incense. 
On  the  great  day  of  atonement  (chap.  16)  it  was  earned  into  the 
inner  sanctuary,  and  sprinkled  upon  the  mercy-seat,  and  before 
the  mercy-seat  seven  times.  For  these  cases  the  law  was :  "  No 
sin-offering,  whereof  any  of  the  blood  is  brought  into  the  taber 
nacle  of  the  congregation  to  make  atonement  in  the  sanctuary, 
shall  be  eaten:  it  shall  be  burnt  with  fire"  (chap.  6  :  30) ;  namely, 
without  the  camp  in  a  clean  place,  after  certain  prescribed  parts — 
"the  fat  that  covcreth  the  inwards,  and  all  the  fat  that  is  upon 
the  inwards,  and  the  two  kidneys,  and  the  fat  that  is  upon  them, 
which  is  upon  the  flanks,  and  the  caul  above  the  liver  upon  the 
kidneys;"  which  parts  comprise  all  the  separable  fat  of  the 
inwards,  and  are  therefore  called  "all  the  fat"  (Lev.  3  : 16;  4 : 8, 
19,  26,  31,  35 ;  7  :  3),  or  simply  "  the  fat "  (Lev.  3  : 9 ;  6  : 12 ;  7 : 33 ; 
8:26;  9:19;  16 :  2o*;  17:6;  Numb.  18:17;  etc.)— had  been 
burned  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  (Lev.  4 : 8-12,  19-21,  26, 
31,  35 ;  16 : 25,  27).  In  other  cases  the  blood  of  the  sin-offer 
ings  was  applied  to  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  burnt-offering ; 
and  then  the  officiating  priests,  after  burning  upon  the  altar  the 
same  prescribed  parts,  ate  the  flesh  in  the  court  of  the  taberna 
cle  (chap.  6 :  26,  29) ;  but  no  offerer  ate  of  the  flesh  of  the  victim 
presented  in  his  own  behalf. 

Geo0-.  &  Aiivi-t.  25 


578  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

The  sacredness  of  this  sin-offering,  by  the  blood  of  which 
atonement  was  made,  is  forcibly  indicated  in  the  divine  direction 
concerning  it  (chap.  6 : 26-29) :  "  The  priest  that  offereth  it  for 
sin  shall  eat  it :  in  the  holy  place  shall  it  be  eaten,  in  the  court 
of  the  tent  of  the  congregation.  Whoever  shall  touch  its  flesh 
shall  be  holy,  and  upon  whatsoever  garment  its  blood  shall  be 
sprinkled,  thou  shalt  wash  that  whereon  it  was  sprinkled  in  the 
holy  place.  And  every  earthen  vessel  wherein  it  is  sodden  shall 
be  broken :  and  if  it  be  sodden  in  a  brazen  vessel,  it  shall  be 
both  scoured  and  rinsed  in  wrater.  All  the  males  among  the 
priests  shall  eat  of  it :  it  is  most  holy." 

Some  difficulty  has  been  felt  in  determining  the  exact  distinction  be 
tween  the  sin-offering  and  the  trespass-offering.  The  law  itself  declares  (Lev. 
7  :  7)  that  ' '  as  the  sin-offering  is,  so  is  the  trespass-offering  :  there  is  one 
law  for  them. "  The  trespass-offering  was  then  a  species  of  sin-offering. 
That  it  was  of  a  subordinate  character  may  be  inferred  from  two  facts : 
(1.)  Not  only  was  its  blood  never  carried  into  the  sanctuary,  but  it  was  not 
put  upon  the  horns  of  the  brazen  altar  :  it  was  simply  sprinkled  round 
about  upon  the  altar.  Lev.  5  :  9  ;  7  :  2.  (2.)  It  was  never  employed,  like 
the  sin-offering,  for  general  expiation  on  public  occasions,  but  was  always 
a  private  offering  for  particular  offences.  A  comparison  of  the  passages  in 
which  trespass-offerings  are  prescribed  (Lev.  5 : 1 — 6;  7:1 — 7; Num.  5:6-8) 
seems  to  indicate  that  they  belonged  especially  to  trespasses  (t gainst  human 
righls,  for  which  restitution  was  required. 

16.  The  distinguishing  mark  of  the  burnt-qfferwg  was  the 
consumption  of  the  whole  victim  upon  the  altar;  hence  the  naino 
whole  burnt-offering  (Heb.,  Italil)  is  sometimes  applied  to  it,  and 
in  later  usage  the  Greek  term  holocaust,  which  means  the  same 
thing.  After  the  animal  had  been  slain,  its  blood  was  sprinkled 
round  about  upon  the  altar,  it  was  flayed,  cut  in  pieces,  and  laid 
in  order  upon  the  wood.  The  head,  the  fat,  the  inwards,  and 
the  legs,  after  being  washed  in  water,  were  added ;  and  then  the 
priest  burned  "  all  on  the  altar,  to  be  a  burnt-sacrifice,  a  fire- 
offering,  a  sweet  savor  unto  Jehovah."  Lev.  1 : 9.  The  hide  of 
the  victim  was  given  to  the  officiating  priest.  Lev.  7  :  8. 

That  the  burnt-offering  signified  completeness  is  admitted  by 
all.  Some  refer  this  completeness  to  the  offering  itself,  as  that 


PRIESTHOOD,  SACRIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS.   579 

form  of  sacrifice  which  comprehends  in  itself  all  others,  and  so 
concentrates  in  itself  all  worship.  But  we  cannot  separate,  in 
the  intention  of  God,  the  completeness  of  the  offering  from  the 
state  of  mind  which  it  symbolizes  in  the  offerer  himself.  Be 
cause  of  the  completeness  and  comprehensiveness  of  its  form  it 
signified  the  entire  self-consecration  of  the  offerer  to  God.  But  this 
was  a  consecration  made  through  the  Uood  of  expiation.  To  sig 
nify  this,  the  blood  of  the  burnt-offering  was  sprinkled  by  the 
priest  round  about  upon  the  altar;  or  in  the  case  of  a  bird, 
where  the  quantity  was  very  small,  was  wrung  out  at  the  side  of 
the  altar. 

Entire  self-devotion  to  God  being  the  prominent  idea  of  the 
burnt-offering,  it  naturally  followed  the  sin-offering,  where  both 
kinds  of  sacrifice  were  employed.  But  because  of  its  compre 
hensiveness  it  was  first  in  dignity.  For  this  reason  no  animals 
but  males  without  blemish  were  allowed  for  burnt-offerings.  For 
the  same  reason  also  this  form  of  sacrifice  was  chosen  for  the 
daily  offerings — a  lamb  every  morning  and  evening,«and  on  the 
Sabbath-day  two  lambs  (Numb.  28  :  3-10) ;  whereby  the  perpet 
ual  self-devotion  of  the  people  to  God  through  the  blood  of  expi 
ation  was  signified. 

The  Hebrew  term  olcih  signifies  ascension,  going  up.  According  to 
Gesenius  it  was  "so  called  as  being  earned  up  and  laid  upon  the  altar." 
But  tlie  explanation  given  long  ago  "by  Jerome  (on  Ezek.,  chap.  45  : 15-17) 
that  it  is  so  called  "  because  it  is  all  consumed  by  the  sacred  fire" — all 
ascends  to  God  as  a  sweet  savor  (Gen.  8  :  20,  21,  etc.),  is  preferable. 

Public  burnt-offerings  were  prescribed  by  the  law  on  various  occasions  ; 
but  private  burnt-offerings  were  of  the  worshipper's  own  free  wiU. 

17.  The  peace-offering  (rather,  offering  of  renditions;  that  is, 
offering  in  which  the  offerer  rendered  to  God  the  tribute  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving  which  was  his  due)  was  subdivided  into  three 
kinds — the  thank-offering,  as  an  expression  of  gratitude  to  God 
for  favors  received  (Lev.  7  : 11-15) ;  the  votive-offering,  in  pursu 
ance  of  a  vow  made  to  God  in  time  of  trouble,  and  therefore 
essentially  a  thank-offering  for  deliverance  (ver.  16) ;  the/ree-ttftZ?- 
ofering  (ibid.),  which  seems  to  have  been  a  general  expression  of 


580  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

thankfulness  to  God  without  reference  to  specific  favors  received, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  thank-offering,  or  to  deliverance  from  specific 
troubles,  as  in  the  case  of  the  votive-offering.  The  peace-offer 
ing  was  then,  in  all  its  varieties,  essentially  eucharistic.  Hence 
iis  social  and  festive  character,  by  which  it  was  distinguished 
from  the  sin-offerings  and  trespass-offerings.  When  the  victim 
had  been  slain  and  its  blood  sprinkled  upon  the  altar  round 
about,  the  fat  of  the  inwards,  comprising  the  two  kidneys  and 
liver  (see  above,  No.  15)  was  burned  upon  the  altar,  the  breast 
and  the  right  shoulder  were  given  to  the  officiating  priest  (Lev. 
7 : 28-34),  and  then  the  offerer  and  his  friends  feasted  joyfully 
before  the  Lord  on  the  remainder  (Lev.  7 : 11,  seq.).  In  the  case 
o$  a  thank-offering,  the  flesh  was  to  be  eaten  the  same  day;  but 
if  the  sacrifice  was  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow,  or  was  a  free-will-offer 
ing,  the  flesh  might  be  eaten  on  the  following  day  also ;  but  all 
that  remained  over  was  to  be  burnt  with  fire.  It  is  manifest 
from  this  that  the  peace-offering  signified  joyful  communion  with 
God  in  thanksgiving  and  praise ;  but  this,  too,  only  through  the 
blood  of  propitiation  sprinkled  upon  the  altar. 

In  the  three  classes  of  offerings  we  have,  then,  typically  set 
forth :  (1)  in  the  sin-offering  (of  which  the  trespass-offering  was  a 
subordinate  species),  expiation  of  sin,  restoring  man  to  God's  fa 
vor;  (2)  in  the  burnt-offering,  self -consecration;  (3)  in  the  peace- 
offering,  lioly  communion  with  God  and  man  —  all  three  only 
through  "sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ"  the  great  Anti 
type  of  the  Levitical  priests  and  sacrifices. 

The  prohibition  against  eating  of  the  flesh  of  the  peace-offerings  after 
the  second  day  tended,  indeed,  to  promote  liberality  on  the  part  of  the 
offerer,  since  he  could  not  reserve  the  flesh  of  his  sacrifice  for  future  use. 
But  the  immediate  ground  of  the  prohibition  seems  to  have  been  to  guard 
against  the  danger  of  defiling,  as  well  the  holy  flesh  as  the  offerer,  through 
an  incipient  process  of  putrefaction  ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  in  hot  cli 
mates  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  preserve  flesh  in  its  soundness  beyond 
the  second  day. 

The  feasts  of  the  Hebrews  naturally  took  a  religious  form.  They  con 
sisted  of  holy  festive  meals  in  wliich  the  flesh  of  peace-offerings  AY;IS  c;it-  u. 
When  the  offerer  was  a  king,  like  David,  or  Solomon,  he  gave,  on  great 


PRIESTHOOD,  SACRIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS.  581 

public  occasions.  a  IVast  to  the  whole  nation.  See  2  Sam.  6:17-19  ;  1  Kings 
8  :  62-66.  In  allusion^  to  this  usage,  the  Messiah,  as  the  great  king  of  all 
nations,  is  beautifully  represented  in.  the  twenty-second  Psalm  (vers. 
25-31)  as  paying  to  God  his  vows — vows  in  the  form  of  peace-offerings — 
for  the  deliverance  vouchsafed  to  him,  and  summoning  all  nations  to  the 
feast 

18.  The  unbloody  oblations  (called  in  our  version  meat-offer 
ings)  were  partly  supplementary  to  the  sacrifices.  Such  were 
the  cakes  and  wafers  of  unleavened  bread  connected  with  the 
peace-offering  at  Aaron's  consecration  (Lev.,  chap.  8) ;  and  the 
oblations  of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil,  and  of  wine,  that  were 
always  to  accompany  the  burnt-offerings  and  peace-offerings. 
Numb.,  chaps.  15,  28,  29.  Such,  also,  was  the  salt  which,  accord 
ing  to  the  Jewish  interpretation  of  Lev.  2  : 13  accompanied  every 
sacrifice  as  well  as  oblation.  See  Ezek.  43  :  24 ;  Mark  9  : 49 ;  and 
compare  Josephus  Antiq.,  3.  9.  1. 

Other  oblations,  like  those  prescribed  in  the  third  chapter  of 
Leviticus,  were  apparently  independent  of  sacrifices.  No  leaven 
or  honey — both  the  natural  emblems  of  corruption :  "  leaven  as 
being  the  fermentation  of  dough,  and  honey  as  from  its  excessive 
lusciousness  naturally  tending  to  sourness"  (Fairbairn's  Bible 
Diet.) — were  allowed  to  be  burned  upon  God's  altar ;  though  leav 
ened  bread,  simply  as  an  article  of  food,  was  given  along  with  the 
other  offerings  in  the  case  of  an  offering  of  thanksgiving  (Lev. 
7:13),  and  was  prescribed  for  the  offering  of  firstfruits  (Lev. 
23 : 17).  Salt  was  always  to  be  added.  Frankincense  is  also  pre 
scribed  in  several  cases.  The  priest  was  to  burn  a  "memorial" 
of  the  oblation  with  all  the  frankincense,  and  the  rest  fell  to 
Aaron  and  his  sons  as  then-  portion.  The  unbloody  offerings  were 
not  expiatory ;  but  rather  expressions  of  love,  gratitude,  and  de 
votion  to  God  on  the  part  of  the  giver.  Only  in  the  case  of  the 
poor  man  who  was  not  able  to  bring  so  much  as  "  two  turtle 
doves  or  two  young  pigeons,"  was  "the  tenth  part  of  an  ephah 
of  fine  flour,"  without  either  oil  or  frankincense,  accepted  for  a 
sin-offering  (Lev.  5 : 11) ;  and  this  upon  the  principle  that  God 
"will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice." 


582  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Thoro  wore  other  sacrifices  of  a  special  character — the  paschal  lamb, 
those  connected  with  the  cleansing  of  the  leper,  the  sacrifice  of  the  red 
heifer  for  the  ashes  of  purification,  the  sacrifice  in  the  case  of  an  unknown 
murder,  etc. — which  will  be  noticed  each  in  its  place. 

19.  Of  the  typical  transactions  connoted  with  the  sacrifices 
and  oblations,  the  following  are  worthy  of  notice. 

(1.)  In  all  cases  the  offerer  laid  his  hands  on  the  head  of 
the  victim.  The  meaning  of  this  transaction  is  given  in  the  words 
of  inspiration :  "  And  he  shall  put  his  hands  upon  the  head  of 
the  burnt-offering ;  and  it  shall  be  accepted  for  him  to  make 
atonement  for  him."  Lev.  1 : 4.  It  was,  then,  a  solemn  presen 
tation  to  Jehovah  of  the  victim  to  make  atonement  for  his  soul;- 
but  not  a  formal  transfer  of  his  sins  to  the  victim,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  scapegoat.  See  below. 

(2.)  The  waving  and  heaving  of  offerings  by  the  priest  were 
also  acts  of  presentation  and  dedication  to  God.  For  the  form, 
according  to  rabbinic  tradition,  see  Companion  to  the  Bible, 
Chap.  37,  No.  15. 

(3.)  The  sprinkling  of  tJie  victim's  blood,  and  the  application  of 
it  to  the  horns  of  the  altar  or  to  the  persons  of  men,  was  em 
phatically  the  symbol  of  expiation.  It  belonged,  therefore,  to 
the  priest  alone,  who  was  the  mediator  between  God  and  the 
offerer.  Hence  the  New  Testament  speaks  of  the  sprinkling  of 
the  blood  of  Christ,  the  great  Antitype  of  the  Levitical  sacrifices. 
Heb.  9  : 13,  14:  10  : 22;  12  :  24;  1  Pet.  1 :  2. 

(4.)  The  burning  of  the  offering,  or  of  specified  parts  of  it, 
upon  the  altar,  whereby  its  odor  ascended  up  to  heaven,  was  a 
natural  expression  of  dedication  to  God.  See  above,  Chap.  28, 
No.  20,  and  compare  Gen.  8 :  21 ;  Lev.  1 : 9,  etc. 

(5.)  These  typical  transactions  had  their  culmination  on  the 
great  day  of  atonement.  Lev.,  chap.  10.  When  the  high  priest 
had  first  offered  a  bullock  as  a  sin-offering  for  himself,  and 
sprinkled  its  blood  in  the  inner  sanctuary  upon  and  before  the 
mercy-seat  seven  times,  he  brought  two  goats  as  a  sin-offering 
for  the  people.  The  two  goats  constituted,  as  we  shall  see,  one 
offering,  the  office  of  each  being  determined  by  lot.  The  one 


PKIEbTHOOD,  SACRIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS.  f>8,'J 

was  slain,  and  its  blood  carried  by  the  high  priest  into  the 
inner  sanctuary  ?nd  sprinkled  there  upon  the  mercy-seat  and 
before  the  mercy-seat  seven  times,  as  an  expiation  for  the  sins 
of  the  people  (vers.  15,  16);  and  when  he  came  out  of  the 
sanctuary  he  put  some  of  the  blood  of  both  the  bullock  and 
the  goat  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  round  about,  and  sprin 
kled  of  the  blood  upon  the  altar  with  his  finger  seven  times,  to 
"cleanse  it  and  hallow  it  from  the  uncleanness  of  the  chil 
dren  of  Israel"  (vers.  18,  19).  Then  the  live  goat  was  pre 
sented  before  the  Lord  with  the  following  direction :  "  Aaron 
shall  lay  both  his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  live  goat,  and  con 
fess  over  him  ah1  the  iniquities  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  all 
their  transgressions  in  all  their  sins,  putting  them  upon  the  head 
of  the  goat,  and  shall  send  him  away  by  the  hand  of  a  fit  man" 
(or,  a  man  ready  at  hand)  "  into  the  wilderness ;  and  the  goat 
shall  bear  upon  him"  (take  upon  himself  and  bear  away)  "all 
their  iniquities  unto  a  land  not  inhabited ;  and  he  sjiall  let  go 
the  goat  into  the  wilderness"  vers.  20-22).  Thus  the  goat,  by 
taking  upon  Inmsclf  the  sins  of  the  people,  took  them  away.  The 
inadequacy  of  the  type  made  it  necessary  that  two  goats  should 
be  employed  in  this  one  service — the  first  to  represent  expiation, 
the  second  the  taking  away  of  sin.  So  Christ,  the  lamb  of  God, 
takes  away  the  sin  of  the  world  by  expiating  it  with  his  own  blood. 
John  1 :  29 ;  1  Pet.  1 : 19 ;  2  :  24  The  bullock  and  the  goat  for 
the  sin-offering,  of  which  the  blood  was  earned  into  the  sanc 
tuary,  were  burned  without  the  camp  according  to  law  (Lev. 
6  :  30) ;  and  being  typically  laden  with  the  curse  of  sin,  they  de 
filed  the  man  who  earned  them  out  and  burned  them.  For  the 
same  reason  the  scapegoat,  laden  as  it  was  with  the  sins  of  the 
people,  defiled  him  who  conducted  it  from  the  camp  into  the 
wilderness.  Hence  the  direction  for  both  was  that  they  should 
wash  their  clothes  and  bathe  their  flesh  in  water  before  entering 
the  camp.  Lev.  16  :  26,  28. 

The  interpretation  of  the  Hebrew  word  rendered  ill  our  version  for  a 
scapegoat  (la-azazel)  we  leave  to  the  commentators.  However  the  word  may 
be  interpreted,  the  typical  import  of  the  transaction  is  clear. 


584  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

20.  In  the  Mosaic  ritual  God  kept  himself,  as  we  have  seeu, 
at  a  distance  from  the  congregation  of  Israel.     The  people  A\ vu> 
not  allowed  to  approach  him  directly  with  their  sacrifices  and 
oblations.     They  could  only  come  to  him  through  the  mediation 
of  the  priests,  and  that  not  without  blood.    None  but  the  priests 
were  permitted  to  enter  the  sanctuary ;  and  the  high  priest  alone 
went  into  the  holy  of  holies  once  a  year,  carrying  always  in  his 
hand  the  blood  of  expiation,  "the  Holy  Ghost  this  signifying, 
that  the  way  into  the  holiest  of  all  was  not  yet  made  manifest." 
Heb.  9 :  8.      But  when  the  Lord  of  glory  offered  his  own  blood 
on  Calvary,  "  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain  from  the 
top  to  the  bottom"  (Matt,  27 :  51 ;  Mark  15  :  38),  to  signify  that 
the  way  into  God's  presence  was  now  opened  to  all  believers, 
through  the  blood  of  Christ.     From  that  day  to  the  end  of  the 
world,  Christ's  disciples  constitute  "  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer 
up  spiritual  sacrifices  acceptable  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ" 
(1  Peter  2^5;  Rom.  12 : 1 ;  Heb.  13  : 15);  and  he  who  presumes 
to  thrust  himself  in  between  God  and  the  sinner,  as  a  mediating 
priest,  treats  with  contempt  the  blood  of  Calvary,  as  if  it  wore 
not  a  sufficient  expiation  for  sin ;  nay,  more,  he  affronts  the  great 
Intercessor  himself,  who  ever  stands  at  God's  right  hand  in  be 
half  of  his  people. 

III.  THE  PKIESTS  AND  LEVITES  AS  CLASSES. 

21.  We  have  seen  (No.  2  above)  that  God  took  Aaron  and 
his  sons  for  the  priestly  office,  giving  them  the  tribe  of  Levi  for 
their  attendants.     Thus  an  entire  tribe  was  set  apart  for  God's 
service ;  the  Levites  holding  a  nearer  relation  to  God  than  the 
other  tribes,  the  priests  than  the  Levites,  and  the  high  priest 
than  the  subordinate  priests.     The  Levites  alone  could  minister 
to  the  priests,  but  were  themselves  forbidden  to  exercise  any 
priestly  function.     None  but  the  priests  could  enter  the  sanctu 
ary,  and  the  high  priest  alone  had  access  to  the  holy  of  holies. 

22.  The  sacredness  of  the  priestly  office  was  indicated  by  the 
regulations  pertaining  to  it.     The  priests  manifestly  ministered 
without  shoes  (compare  Exod  3:5;  Josh.  5  : 15),  and  before  en- 


PRIESTHOOD,  SACRIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS.  585 

taring  the  sanctuary  they  were  required  to  wash  their  hands  and 
feet.  Exod.  30  : 17-21.  During  the  time  of  their  ministrations 
they  were  forbidden  to  drink  wine  or  strong  drink.  Lev.  10  :  9. 
The  common  priests  were  not  allowed  to  defile  themselves  by 
contact  with  a  dead  body,  except  in  the  case  of  near  relatives, 
or  to  disfigure  their  persons  by  any  signs  of  mourning.  Lev. 
21 : 1-6.  The  high  priest  was  prohibited  absolutely  from  defiling 
himself,  even  for  his  father  or  mother ;  and  if  the  daughter  of 
a  priest  played  the  harlot  she  was  to  be  burned  with  fire.  Lev. 
21 : 9—12.  The  common  priests  were  forbidden  to  many  a  harlot 
or  a  divorced  woman,  and  the  high  priest  even  a  widow.  Lev. 
21 :  7,  13-15.  The  priests,  moreover,  who  came  nigh  to  offer  the 
offerings  of  the  Lord  made  by  fire  were  to  be  without  personal 
blemish.  Lev.  21 : 17-23. 

The  reader  may  see  a  good  summary  of  the  duties  of  the  common  priests 
in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  Art. ,  Priests.  They  watched  over  the  fire  on  the 
altar  of  burnt-offering,  fed  and  trimmed  the  golden  lamp,  attended  to  the 
showbread,  offered  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifices  and  oblations,  and 
did  the  priest's  office  for  any  private  worshipper.  The  ordeal  in  the  case 
of  a  woman  suspected  of  adultery  was  in  their  hands  (Numb.,  chap.  5); 
lepers  submitted  themselves  to  their  inspection,  and  they  offered  the  gifts 
for  their  purification  (Lev. ,  chaps.  13,  14) ;  and,  in  general,  all  cases  of  un- 
cleanness  that  required  legal  purification  came  under  their  office.  Their  spe 
cial  duties  during  the  journeys  of  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness  have 
already  been  considered.  Chap.  28,  No.  16.  They  were  charged,  moreover, 
to  instruct  the  people  in  the  ordinances  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  thus  to 
maintain  the  worship  of  God  in  its  purity.  Lev.  10 ;  11 ;  Deut.  2-4:8; 
Mai.  2  : 7. 

David  distributed  the  priests  into  twenty-four  courses,  who  did  service 
in  regular  order  at  the  sanctuary.  1  Chron. ,  chap.  24. 

23.  The  duties  of  the  Lcvite-s  in  the  wilderness  were  minutely 
specified.  See  above,  Chap.  28,  No.  15,  seq.  Then*  service  re 
quired  the  full  vigor  of  manhood;  hence  the  direction  (Numb. 
4 : 23) :  "  From  thirty  years  old  and  upward  until  fifty  years  old 
shalt  thou  number  them"  (for  active  service) ;  "all  that  enter  in 
to  perform  the  service,  to  do  the  work  of  the  tent  of  the  congre 
gation."  In  Numb.  8  : 24,  twenty  and  five  years  is  specified  as 
the  tune  of  their  entering  upon  active  service.  The  explanation 

25* 


586  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

given  by  Keil  (on  Numb.  8  :  24)  is  the  following :  The  rule  for 
twenty-five  years  and  upward  to  fifty  years  was  general  and 
valid  for  all  time ;  that  from  thirty  years  to  fifty  had  reference 
to  the  transportation  of  the  tabernacle  and  its  furniture,  a  ser 
vice  which  required  the  full  strength  of  a  man.  After  fifty  years 
they  were  discharged  from  active  service,  but  ministered  to  their 
brethren  in  the  tent  of  the  tabernacle  to  keep  the  charge  (Numb. 
8 :  26) ;  that  is,  they  had  a  general  superintendence  there.  The 
result  of  the  numbering  of  the  Levites  in  the  wilderness  (Numb., 
chap.  4)  gave  for  the  Kohathites  from  thirty  years  old  to  fifty, 
2,750  persons;  for  the  Gershonites,  2,630;  for  the  Merarites, 
3,200. 

After  the  settlement  of  the  Israelites  in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
the  notices  of  the  place  occupied  by  the  Levites,  and  the  services 
performed  by  them  during  the  time  of  the  Judges  are  very  scanty. 
We  only  learn  from  the  irregular  transaction  recorded  in  the 
seventeenth  chapter  of  the  book  of  Judges,  that  a  special  sanc 
tity  attached  to  their  persons  in  the  eyes  of  the  common  people ; 
for  when  Micah  has  consecrated  a  Itevite  as  his  priest,  he  says : 
"  Now  I  know  that  the  Lord  will  do  me  good,  seeing  I  have  a 
Levite  to  my  priest."  But  under  David  a  complete  reorganiza 
tion  of  the  Levites  was  made.  He  numbered  them  (according  to 
1  Chron.  23  : 3,  "from  the  age  of  thirty  years  and  upward,"  accord 
ing  to  ver.  27  of  the  same  chapter,  "from  twenty  years  old  and 
above"),  divided  them  into  courses,  and  assigned  to  them  their 
offices,  according  to  the  original  idea  of  the  Mosaic  constitution. 

The  offices  of  the  Levites  are,  under  this  organization,  clearly  given  in 
two  passages.  The  first  is  1  Chron.  23  : 4,  5,  where  we  are  told  that  of  the 
38,000  Levites,  24,000  were  to  preside  over  the  work  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  6,000  were  judges  and  officers,  4,000  porters,  and  4,000  singers  and 
players  on  instruments.  The  office  of  judging  fell  very  naturally  to  the 
Levites,  and  the  example  of  David  was  imitated  by  his  successors  on 
the  throne.  2  Chron.  19  : 8.  The  other  passage  is  1  Chron.  23  :  28-32, 
where  the  various  services  connected  with  the  sanctuary  are  specified  in 
detail — the  service  of  the  Lord's  house  in  the  courts  and  in  the  chambers, 
the  purifying  of  all  holy  things,  the  preparation  of  the  flour  for  the 
various  oblations,  the  keeping  of  the  holy  measures  of  all  kinds,  the  morn- 


PllIESTHOOD,  SACKIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS.  587 

ing  and  evening  service  of  song  in  the  sanctuary,  all  the  offering  of  bumt- 
offeiings  for  the  stated  seasons,  etc.  The  Levites  did  not  usurp  the  func 
tions  of  the  priests  in  offering  sacrifices ;  but  they  waited  upon  them,  pro 
cured  the  victims  for  the  public  sacrifices,. slew  them,  flayed  them,  and 
rendered  whatever  other  services  the  officiating  priests  needed. 

From  the  nature  of  their  office  it  devolved  upon  the  Levites  to  see  that 
the  Mosaic  institutions  were  maintained  in  their  purity ;  but  we  do  not 
find  them  acting  as  formal  teachers  of  the  people  till  a  later  period.  Je- 
hoshaphat  sent  with  his  princes  Levites  to  instruct  the  people  in  the  law  ; 
' '  And  they  taught  in  Judah,  and  had  the  book  of  the  law  of  the  Lord  with 
them,  and  went  about  through  all  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  taught  the  peo 
ple."  2  Chroii.  17  :9.  We  see  them  performing  the  same  spiritual  work 
under  Hezekiah  (2  Chron.  30  :  22)  and  Josiah  (2  Chron.  35  :  3).  They  as 
sisted  Jehoiada  the  high  priest  in  dethroning  Athaliah  (2  Chron.,  chap.  23), 
and  were  also  employed,  in  connection  with  the  priests,  to  cleanse  the 
sanctuary  which  Ahaz  had  polluted  (2  Chron.  29  : 15,  16),  and  repeated 
mention  is  made  of  their  service  as  singers  and  players  on  instruments 
(2  Chron.  29  :  25-30 ;  35  : 15 ;  Neh.  9:5). 

24.  The  tribe  of  Levi  received  no  inheritance  with  the  other 
tribes  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  It  was  necessary,  therefore,  that 
an  adequate  provision  should  be  made  for  their  maintenance. 
This  was  included  hi  the  declaration :  "  Levi  hath  no  part  nor 
inheritance  with  his  brethren ;  the  Lord  is  his  inheritance,  ac 
cording  as  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  promised  him"  (Deut.  10  :  9), 
which  is  several  times  repeated  for  substance  (Numb.  18 :  20,  24 ; 
Deut.  18  : 1,  2  ;  Ezek.  44 :  28) ;  for  when  God  gives  an  inheritance 
to  his  servants,  it  meets  all  their  wants,  temporal  as  well  as  spir 
itual.  Accordingly,  God  ordained  that  the  other  tribes  should 
give  the  tenth  part  or  tithe  of  all  the  increase  of  their  fields  and  of 
then-  flocks  and  herds :  "  Behold,  I  have  given  the  children  of 
Levi  all  the  tenth  in  Israel  for  an  inheritance,  for  their  sendee 
which  they  serve,  even  the  service  of  the  tent  of  the  congrega 
tion."  Numb.  18  : 21.  The  Levites,  in  turn,  were  commanded 
to  give  a  tenth  of  this -tenth  for  the  maintenance  of  the  priests 
(vers.  26-32).  The  priests  had,  moreover,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
skin  of  the  burnt-offerings,  a  portion  of  the  sin-offerings  (except 
in  certain  prescribed  cases),  and  of  the  peace-offerings,  and  all 
the  unbloody  oblations  of  the  people,  after  a  memorial  of  them, 
with  all  the  frankincense,  had  been  burned  upon  the  altar. 


588  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

All  the  titlios  of  the  land  might  be  redeemed  l>y  adding  a  fifth  part  of 
their  value.  Lev.  27  : 30,  31.  The  tithes  of  the  flocks  and  herds  could 
neither  be  redeemed  nor  exchanged.  Whoever  attempted  an  exchange 
lost  both  the  animals.  Lev*  27:32,€33.  Animals  were  tithed  by  In -ing 
passed  under  the  rod  ;  that  is,  they  passed  out  of  an  enclosure,  one  by  one, 
and  every  tenth  animal  was  designated — according  to  the  rabbins,  marked 
with  a  rod  dipped  in  vermilion. 

25.  The  tithes  that  have  been  considered,  commonly  called 
first  tithes,  were  given  for  the  maintenance  of  the  priests  and  Le- 
vites.     Besides  these  there  was  a  second  tithe,  applied  to  festal 
purposes.     For  two  successive  years  this  tithe  was  to  be  carried 
to  the  sanctuary  (or  its  value  in  money),  like  the  other  conse 
crated  offerings,  with  the  direction :  "  thou  must  eat  them  "  (the 
tithes,  firstlings  of  the  herd  and  flock,  votive  and  free-will  offer 
ings)- "before  the  Lord  thy  God,  in  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy 
God  shall  choose,  thou,  and  thy  son,  and  thy  daughter,  and  thy 
man-servant,  and  thy  maid-seryant,  and  the  Levite  that  is  within 
thy  gates."     Deut.  12  : 18.     Every  third  year  this  same  second 
tithe  (not  probably  a  third  tithe,  as  some  have  supposed)  was 
to  be  eaten  at  home  within  the  gates  of  the  several  cities  and 
towns;  "and  the  Levite,"  it  is  added,  "because  he  hath  no  part 
nor  inheritance  with  thee,  and  the  stranger,  and  the  fatherless, 
and  the  widow,  which  are  within  thy  gates,  shall  come,  and  shaU 
eat,  and  be  satisfied ;  that  the  Lord  thy  God  may  bless  thee 
in  all  the  work  of  thy  hand  which  thou  doest."    Deut.  14 :  28,  29. 
It  is  probable  that  the  seventh  Sabbatical  year,  in  which  ag 
riculture  was  intermitted,  was  left  out  of  the  account  in  this 
arrangement  for  the  second  tithes. 

The  practice  of  giving  tithes  was  veiy  ancient  (Gen.  14 : 20 ;  28 : 22), 
and  existed  among  other  nations  as  weh1  as  the  Hebrews.  See  the  refer 
ences  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet. ,  Art. ,  Tithe.  The  spirit  of  the  Mosaic  law  is 
recognized  in  the  New  Testament  (1  Cor. ,  chap.  4)) ;  and  its  form  also  will 
be  found  good,  in  all  ordinary  cases,  as  a  freewill  offering. 

26.  Besides  the  tithes  that  have  been  considered,  there  were 
other  sources  of  maintenance.    All  thejirstfyrn  of  men  and  ani 
mals  were  consecrated  to  God.     The  firstborn  of  man  was  to  be 


PRIESTHOOD,  SACRIFICES,  AND  OBLATIONS.  589 

redeemed,  according  to  the  estimation  of  the  priest,  for  a  sum 
not  exceeding  five  shekels,  the  avails  going  to  the  priests.  Exod. 
13:13;  Numb.  18:14^16.  The  firstborn  of  unclean  animals 
migM  also  be  redeemed  by  the  substitution  of  a  lamb  in  their 
stead,  or  by  the  payment  of  their  value  as  estimated  by  the 
priest,  in  which  case  a  fifth  part  was  to  be  added  to  it.  If  not 
redeemed,  they  were  to  be  destroyed.  The  firstbotn  of  clean 
animals  were  offered  in  sacrifice  ;  and  the  designated  parts  hav 
ing  been  burnt,  the  remainder  went  to  the  priests.  Lev.  27 :  26 ; 
Numb.  18 :  17,  18.  Devoted  things  will  be  considered  in  the 
chapter  on  vows  and  devoted  things. 

27.  An  offering  of  firstfruits  was  also  required  by  tne  law. 
The  public  offerings  of  firstfruits  will  be  noticed  in  connection 
with  the  feasts  to  which  they  belonged.     Individuals  were  also 
bound  to  offer  to  the  Lord  the  firstfruits  of  their  land.     The 
first  of  ripe  fruits  and  liquors,  and  a  cake  of  the  first  dough 
made  from  the  new  harvest  are  specified.     Exod.  22  :  29 ;  23  : 19 ; 
34 :  26 ;  Lev.  2  : 14 ;  Numb.  18  : 11-13  ;  Deut.  26  : 1-11.     The  law 
included  the  firstfruits  of  fruit-trees,  of  the  vine,  of  grain,  oil, 
honey,  wool,  etc.     These  also  were  given  to  the  priests. 

For  a  summary  of  the  revenues  of  the  priests  and  Levites  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  the  book  of  Numbers  ;  and  for  the 
solemn  profession  which  the  Hebrew  was  required  to  make  of  his  obedience 
to  the  law  in  connection  with  the  presentation  of  the  tithes,  to  the  twenty- 
sixth  chapter  of  the  book  of  Deuteronomy. 

28.  As  the  Levites  had  no  territorial  possessions,  forty-eight 
cities  were  assigned  to  them  by  lot  out  of  the  inheritance  of  the 
other  tribes,  with  ample  suburbs  for  their  cattle.     Numb.,  chap. 
35 ;  Josh.,  chap.  21.     Of  the  above-named  forty-eight  cities,  the 
priestly  order  had  thirteen,  ah1  in  the  tribes  of  Judah,  Simeon, 
and  Benjamin ;  and  six  of  them  were  also  cities  of  refuge,  three 
on  either  side  of  the  Jordan.     By  this  arrangement  the  Levites 
were  distributed  throughout  the  whole  Hebrew  commonwealth, 
and  thus  enabled,  if  faithful  to  their  ofiice,  to  exert  the  widest 
influence  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Mosaic  institutions  in  their 
purity. 


590  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTEE    XXX. 

THE  DISTINCTIONS  OF  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN. 

1.  THE  distinctions  of  dean  and  undean  entered  very  deeply  into 
the  life  of  the  Hebrews,  continually  meeting  them  in  their  public 
as  well  as  in  their  private  and  social  relations.  The  ultimate  end 
of  these  distinctions  was  moral  and  religious.  By  teaching  the 
covenant  people  to  "put  difference  between  holy  and  unholy, 
and  between  unclean  and  clean "  (Lev.  10 :  10)  in  the  lower 
sf)licre  of  physical  life,  God  prepared  the  way  for  transferring 
the  idea  of  "holy  and  unholy,"  "unclean  and  clean,"  to  the 
higher  sphere  of  spiritual  life.  Between  the  outward  and  the 
inward  there  is  a  natural  and  close  connection,  a  constant  action 
and  reaction.  All  the  terms  for  expressing  inward  moral  purity 
or  defilement  are  drawn  from  the  outward  material  world. 
"  Purge  me  with  hyssop,"  says  the  psalmist,  "  and  I  shall  be 
clean ;  wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow ;"  "  create  in 
me  a  clean  heart,  O  God ;  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me." 
"  Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,"  says  God  by  the 
prophet, "  and  ye  shall  be  clean ;  from  ah1  your  filthiness,  and 
from  all  your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you."  The  philosophy  of  the 
relation  is  given  in  a  very  striking  way  by  Moffat  (Southern  Af 
rica,  chap.  29):  "It  would  appear  a  strange  anomaly  to  see  a 
Christian  professor  lying  at  full  length  on  the  ground,  covered 
with  filth  and  dirt,  and  in  a  state  of  comparative  nudity,  talking 
about  Christian  diligence,  circumspection,  purification  and  white 
robes."  It  is  true  that  the  culture  of  physical  purity,  like  every 
other  good  thing,  may  be  perverted,  as  in  the  case  of  the  ancient 
Pharisees,  who  strained  their  liquor  to  avoid  the  contamination 
of  an  unclean  insect,  but  could  swaUow  a  camel  in  the  shape  of 
"extortion  and  excess."  The  same  perversion  is  strikingly  niani-. 
fested  in  the  Hindu  distinctions  of  caste.  Nevertheless,  it  re- 


DISTINCTIONS  OF  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN.      591 

mains  true  that  thPnatural  tendency  of  inward  purity  is  to  out 
ward  cleanliness,  and  that  the  reverse  also  holds  good. 

•  I.     DISTINCTIONS  OF  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN  IN 
RESPECT  TO  FOOD. 

2.  These  are  given,  with  many  specifications,  in  the  eleventh 
chapter  of  Leviticus  and  the  fourteenth  of  Deuteronomy.  For 
the  larger  animals  the  rule  was  very  simple :  "  Whatsoever  part- 
eth  the  hoof  and  is  cloven-footed"  (that  is,  as  explained  in  Deut. 
14 :  6,  "  cleaveth  the  cleft  into  two  parts"),  "and  cheweth  the  cud 
among  the  cattle,  that  shall  ye  eat."  Here  belong  all  animals  of 
the  ox  kind,  sheep,  goats,  deer,  and  antelopes — all  of  them  exclu 
sively  herbivorous. 

For  the  fishes  (using  the  term  hi  a  comprehensive  sense)  the 
rule  was :  "  Whatsoever  hath  fins  and  scales  in  the  waters,  in  the 
seas,  and  in  the  rivers,  them  shall  ye  eat."  "  Whatsoever  hath 
no  fins  nor  scales  in  the  waters,  that  shall  be  an  abomination 
unto  you." 

The  unclean  birds  are  enumerated.  Some  of  the  Hebrew 
names  are  of  difficult  determination ;  but  most,  if  not  all  of  them, 
are  birds  of  prey  or  such  as  feed  on  carrion,  or  they  are  marsh- 
fowls  that  obtain  their  food  from  the  mud  and  slime.  To  this 
list  the  bat,  as  one  of  the  mongrel  "  fowls  that  creep,  going  upon 
all  fours,"  is  added. 

Of  the  insects,  they  were  allowed  to  eat  the  different  species 
of  locusts  and  grasshoppers,  "  which  have  legs  above  their  feet, 
to  leap  withal  upon  the  earth." 

Of  "  the  creeping  things  that  creep  upon  the  earth " — small 
animals  moving  with  a  low  creeping  motion — a  list  of  unclean 
animals  is  added  (Lev.  11 :  29,  30),  including,  among  others,  wea 
sels,  mice,  and  various  species  of  lizards.  It  is  afterwards  added 
(vers.  41,  42):  "Every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the 
earth  shall  be  an  abomination ;  it  shall  not  be  eaten.  Whatso 
ever  goeth  upon  the  belly,  and  whatsoever  goeth  upon  all  four  " 
(creeps  upon  all  four)  "or  whatsoever  hath  more  feet  among  ail 
creeping  things  that  creep  upon  the  earth,  them  ye  shall  not  eat, 


592  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

for  they  are  an  abomination."  Hence  we  leiihi  that  all  "creep 
ing  things  that  creep  upon  the  earth,"  of  which  examples  had 
been  given  before  (vers.  29,  30),  were  unclean,  as  also  serpents 
that  go  upon  the  belly. 

3.  The  question  now  arises :  Upon  what  principle  were  these 
distinctions  made  ?  According  to  some  they  were  dietetic,  look 
ing  simply  to  the  health  of  the  covenant  people.  Thus  much 
must  be  admitted,  that  all  the  species  allowed  as  clean  furnished 
wholesome  food,  and  that  by  these  distinctions  of  the  Mosaic 
law  they  were  guarded  against  every  hurtful  article  of  animal 
diet.  But  we  are  not,  for  this  reason,  warranted  to  affirm  that 
the  principle  of  admission  or  exclusion  was  purely  dietetic,  or 
that  the  flesh  of  all  the  species  forbidden  as  unclean,  that  of  the 
camel,  for  example,  is  unwholesome.  The  abolition  of  the  Mo 
saic  distinctions  upon  the  introduction  of  the  Christian  dispen 
sation  seems  to  imply  that  they  rested  rather  on  typical  grounds — 
typical,  but  not  necessarily  arbitrary ;  for  the  wisdom  of  God 
might  avail  itself  of  the  natural  instincts  and  antipathies  of  the 
human  family  in  respect  to  the  animal  kingdom,  as  well  as  of  he 
reditary  aversions  having  their  foundation  in  education,  to  shadow 
forth  what  is  unclean  and  abominable  in  the  spiritual  world ;  and 
this  seems  to  have  been  the  actual  principle  of  procedure.  The 
ruminant  and  cloven-footed  animals  allowed  are  all  exclusively 
herbivorous,  while  the  animals  that  feed  on  living  prey  or  on 
carrion,  to  the  flesh  of  which  we  have  a  natural  aversion,  are 
excluded;  also  animals  that  are  both  carnivorous  and  herbiv 
orous,  like  the  swine,  so  gross  and  filthy  in  its  habits.  The 
distinction  among  birds  rests  on  the  same  general  foundation. 
Among  fishes  (in  the  comprehensive  Hebrew  sense  of  the  word, 
all  that  move  in  the  ivaters)  the  species  that  have  not  fins  and 
scales  are  snake-like  or  reptilian  in  then*  character,  and  to  such 
animals  we  have  a  natural  antipathy,  as  also  to  mice,  lizards,  and 
the  like ;  though  it  is  an  antipathy  that  can  be  overcome  by  edu 
cation/  Finally,  the  prohibition  may  have  rested,  in  some  cases, 
on  an  aversion  arising  from  ancestral  usage  and  training.  Noth 
ing  that  was  to  the  Hebrew  mind  unclean  was  to  be  eaten.  They 


DISTINCTIONS  OF  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN.      593 

were  to  keep  themselves  holy  in  respect  to  tl^ir  food:  "Ye  shall 
not  make  yourselves  abominable  with  any  creeping  tiling  that 
creepeth ;  and  ye  shall  not  defile  yourselves  with  them,  so  as  to 
be  made  unclean  by  them.  For  I  am  Jehovah  your  God :  ye 
shall,  therefore,  sanctify  yourselves  and  be  holy ;  for  I  am  holy." 
And  this  holiness  in  the  sphere  of  food  typified  the  holiness  of 
heart  and  life  that  Jehovah  required"  of  them. 

The  dead  bodies  of  unclean  animals  defiled  everything  which  came  in 
contact  with  them. — not  only  the  persons  of  men,  but  vessels,  raiment, 
skins,  sacks,  food,  and  drink,  making  necessary  either  their  purification  or 
their  destruction,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter. 


II.     UNCiiBANNESS  FROM  CONDITIONS  OF  THE 

BODY. 

4.  The  scriptural  view  of  disease,  and  all  the  weaknesses  inci 
dent  to  man's  mortal  state,  is  deep  and  fundamental.     It  traces 
them  all  to  sin  as  their  ultimate  source.     Not  all  maladies,  how 
ever,  produced  ceremonial  uncleanness.     Here,  also,  as  in  the 
distinctions  of  food,  men's  natural  instincts  were  followed.     All 
diseases  that  produced  conniption  in  the  body,  or  running  sores, 
or  a  flow  of  blood,  made  the  sufferer  unclean ;  and  the  culmina 
tion  of  uncleanness  was  in  death. 

5.  Leprosy,  as  a  conniption  of  the  living  body  manifesting 
itself  on  its  surface  and  tending  towards  death  (Chap.  20,  No.  21), 
is  an  image  of  the  conniption  and  death  which  sin  brings  to  the 
soul ;  and  is  regarded  in  Scripture  as  emphatically  the  unclean 
disease.     The  priests  were  the  judges  concerning  both  the  pres 
ence  and  the  removal  of  leprosy.      The  prescription  of  the  law 
concerning  him  who  has  been  pronounced  a  leper  is :  "  And  the 
leper  in  whom  the  plague  is,  his  clothes  shall  be  rent,  and  his 
head  shall  be  bare,  and  he  shall  cover  his  upper  lip"  (as  a  sign 
of  mourning,  Micah  3:7;  Ezek.  24 : 17,  22),  "and  shall  cry"  (to 
passers  by,  that  they  may  avoid  defilement  by  touching  him), 
"  Unclean,  unclean !    All  the  days  wherein  the  plague  shall  be  in 
him  he  shall  be  unclean :  he  is  unclean ;  he  shall  dwell  by  him- 


594  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

self;  without  the  gamp  shall  his  habitation  be."     These  rules 
mark  him  as  an  unclean  person  under  the  frown  of  God. 

The  so-called  leprosy  in  houses  and  garments  (Lev.  13  : 47-59;  14  :  33-53) 
was  a  species  of  decay,  which  made  them  unclean  in  the  view  of  the  Mosaic 
law,  and  necessitated  their  purification  whenever  the  plague  could  ho 
arrested,  and  their  destruction  in  all  other  cases. 

Other  sources  of  uncleanness,  from  issues,  the  flow  of  blood, 
etc.,  are  mentioned  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Leviticus.  These 
defiled  not  only  the  persons  in  whose  bodies  they  had  their  seat, 
but  every  person  or  thing  with  which  they  came  in  contact.  Un 
cleanness  from  childbirth  had  two  stages,  both  of  which,  with  the 
requisite  purifications,  are  specified  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of 
Leviticus. 

6.  The  culmination  of  uncleanness  was  in  death — the  curse 
denounced  upon  man  for  sin,  and  the  emblem  chosen  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  represent  the  state  of  perdition  into  which  sin 
brings  the  soul.     The  flesh  of  clean  animals  slain  for  food  re 
mained  clean  as  long  as  it  was  in  a  sound  condition;  but  natural 
death  made  the  carcasses  of  clean  beasts,  as  well  as  of  unclean, 
impure  and  abominable.    Lev.  11 : 39,  40.    For  the  same  reason 
the  human  corpse  was  unclean,  and  defiled  all  who  touched  it. 
Numb.  19  : 11,  seq. 

III.     PURIFICATONS  FKOM  UNCLEANNESS. 

7.  The  rites  of  purification  varied  in  different  cases,  accord 
ing  to  the  nature  of  the  defilement.    In  the  less  important  cases — 
uncleanness  arising  from  contact  with  the  carcass  of  a  dead  ani 
mal  (Lev.  11 : 24,  25,  28,  31,  39),  from  eating  of  the  flesh  of  a 
clean  animal  that  had  died  a  natural  death  (Lev.  11 : 40),  from 
entering  an  infected  house  (Lev.  14 : 46,  47),  from  touching  the 
bed  of  an  unclean  person  (Lev.  15 : 5,  seq.),  and  from  various 
other  causes  that  need  not  be  specified — the  defiled  person  was 
required  to  wash  himself  and  his  clothes,  and  was  unclean  until 
the  evening.    Raiment,  skins,  and  sacks  defiled  in  the  same  way 
must  be  washed,  and  remain*  unclean  until  the  evening.     So  also 


DISTINCTIONS  OF  CLEAN  AND   UNCLEAN.      595 


of  household  furniture,  unless  they  were  made  of  earth; 
in  which  case  they  were  to  be  broken.     Lev.  11  :  32,  seq. 

8.  For  purification,  after  childbirth  (Lev.  12  :  6-8)  the  mother 
brought  a  lamb  of  the  first  year  for  a  burnt-offering,  and  a  turtle 
dove  or  a  young  pigeon  for  a  sin-offering  :  or,  in  the  case  of  pov 
erty,'  "a  paii-  of  turtle  doves  or  two  young  pigeons"  (the  very 
offering  presented  after  the  Saviour's  birth,  Luke  2  :  24).     The 
latter  offering  was  also  prescribed  in  another  case.     Lev.  15  :  28, 
seq. 

9.  For  uncleanness  arising  from  the  touch  of  a  human  coi-j-*-, 
or  a  bone  of  a  man,  or  a  grave,  purification  was  made  by  the 
water  of  uncleanness  (Eng.  version,  water  of  separation),  for  the 
preparation  of  which  directions  are  given  in  the  nineteenth  chap 
ter  of  the  book  of  Numbers.     A  red  heifer  without  blemish,  and 
that  had  never  borne  the  yoke,  was  to  be  taken  by  the  high  priest 
without  the  camp,  slain,  and  her  blood  sprinkled  seven  times 
towards  the  front  of  the  tabernacle.     Then  her  entire  body  was 
to  be  burned,  along  with  cedar  wood,  hyssop,  and  scarlet,  and 
the  ashes  gathered  and  laid  up  without  the  camp  for  future  use. 
As  the  ashes  were  typically  laden  with  the  uncleanness  arising 
from  the  touch  of  dead  persons  or  their  bones  or  graves  (in  the 
sense  that  the  uncleanness  was  to  be  transferred  to  them),  the 
priest,  the  man  who  burned  the  heifer,  and  he  who  gathered  up 
the  ashes,  were  all  rendered  ceremonially  unclean;  and  were 
required  each  to  wash  his  clothes,  and  to  be  unclean  until  the 
evening.     "  It  might  seem  strange,"  says  Bush  (on  Numb.  19  :  7), 
"  that  the  same  thing  should  pollute  those  that  were  clean,  and 
yet  purify  those  that  were  unclean.    But  in  fact  all  the  sacrifices 
that  were  offered  for  sin  were  looked  upon  as  unclean,  for  the 
reason  that  the  sins  of  men  were  putatively  laid  upon  them,  as 
our  sins  were  upon  Christ,  who  is  therefore  said  to  be  'made  sin 
for  us.'  "     In  confirmation  of  this  view  we  refer  to  the  fact  that 
both  the  man  who,  on  the  great  day  of  atonement,  conducted 
the  scapegoat  into  the  wilderness,  typically  laden  with  the  sins 
of  the  congregation,  and  he  who  burned  the  sin-offerings  without 
the  camp,  were  required  to  wash  their  clothes,  bathe  their  flesh 


596  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

• 

in  water,  and  afterwards  come  into  the  camp.  Lev.  16  :  26,  27. 
For  purification  with  the  abovementioned  ashes  a  clean  person 
took  some  of  them,  mingled  them  with  living  water,  and  sprink 
led  with  a  bunch  of  hyssop  the  denied  person,  tent,  or  vessel  on 
the  first,  third,  and  seventh  days.  On  the  seventh  day  the  de 
filed  person  washed  his  clothes  and  his  person,  and  was  clean 
when  the  evening  arrived. 

10.  The  rites  of  purification  in  the  case  of  a  person  recovered 
from  the  plague  of  leprosy  were  the  most  numerous.  No  direc 
tions  are  given  for  the  use  of  remedies  to  remove  this  malady. 
It  is  regarded  as  a  visitation  from  God,  incurable  by  human 
means.  Numb.  12 : 10,  seq. ;  2  Kings  5  :  27 ;  15  :  5 ;  2  Chron. 
26 : 19-21.  At  the  same  time  it  is  assumed  that  it  may  be  re 
moved  ;  and  in  this  case  minute  directions  are  given  (Lev.,  chap. 
14)  for  the  purification  of  the  man  whose  leprosy  has  been 
healed. 

The  ceremonies  connected  with  the  cleansing  of  the  leper  were  unique, 
and  had  two  distinct  stages  ;  the  first  removing  his  uncleanness  and  resto 
ring  him  to  the  camp,  but  without  permission  to  leave  liis  tent,  the  second 
conferring  upon  him  all  the  privileges  of  other  Israelites.  The  transac 
tions  of  the  first  stage  were  of  necessity  without  the  camp.  The  priest 
took  two  living  birds,  with  cedar  wood,  scarlet,  and  hyssop  ;  slew  one  bird 
over  an  earthen  vessel  containing  living  water — water  from  a  fountain  or 
running  stream — thus  producing  a  mixture  of  blood  and  water ;  dipped  the 
living  bird  with  the  other  articles  in  this  mixture  ;  sprinkled  the  late  leper 
with  the  blood  and  water  seven  times  ;  pronounced  him  clean,  and  let  the 
living  bird  loose  into  the  open  field.  The  man  then  returned  to  his  tent, 
after  washing  his  garments  and  his  body,  and  shaving  off  all  his  hair,  that 
he  might  thus  remove  all  vestiges  of  his  late  defilement.  Expositors  differ 
as  to  the  meaning  of  these  very  peculiar  rites.  But  beyond  doubt  the 
blood  and  water  denote  expiation  and  purification.  With  these  the  late 
leper  is  cleansed  by  a  seven-fold  sprinkling.  The  living  bird,  first  dipped 
in  the  mixture  of  blood  and  water,  and  then  set  free,  is  probably  a  sym 
bolic  representation  of  the  leper  himself,  cleansed  by  blood  and  water,  and 
thus  released  alike  from  defilement  and  constraint. 

After  a  week's  interval  the  second  stage  of  purification  began.  The 
ceremony  of  washing  the  clothes  and  body  and  shaving  off  every  particle 
of  hair  was  repeated.  The  man  who  had  been  hoalcd  then  brought  two 
he-lambs,  the  one  for  a  trespass-offering,  the  other  for  a  sin-offering,  and 
also  one  ewe-lamb  for  a  burnt-offering,  with  an  accompanying  oblation  of 


DISTINCTIONS  OF  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN.      5(J7 

fine  flour  and  oil,  each  of  which  was  sacrificed  in  order.  The  blood  of  the 
trespass-offering,  which  was  first  slain,  was  applied  by  the  priest  to  the  right 
ear  of  the  man  to  be  cleansed,  to  the  thumb  of  his  right  hand,  and  to  the 
great  toe  of  his  right  foot.  See  above,  Chap.  29,  No.  12.  He  then  poured 
some  of  the  oil  into  the  palm  of  his  left  hand,  sprinkled  of  it  seven  times 
before  the  Lord,  and  then  applied  it  to  the  extremities  of  the  late  lep<  r.  as 
he  had  done  the  blood.  This  signified  that  with  purification  from  the 
defilement  of  leprosy  ne  received  afresh  the  gift  of  Divine  grace,  of  which 
oil  was  the  symbol.  The  poor  man  was  allowed  to  bring  one  lamb  for  a 
trespass-offering,  and  two  turtle  doves  or  two  young  pigeons.  The  nature 
and  multiplicity  of  these  rites  shadowed  forth  the  depth  and  universality 
of  the  defilement  of  leprosy — the  best  type  which  the  physical  world  fur 
nishes  of  sin  with  its  all-pervading  and  corrupting  power,  of  which  the 
subject  can  truly  say  : 

"No  outward  forms  can  make  me  clean  ; 
The  leprosy  lies  deep  within. 

"No  bleeding  bird,  nor  bleeding  beast, 
Nor  hyssop  branch,  nor  sprinkling  priest, 
Nor  running  brook,  nor  flood,  nor  sea, 
Can  wash  the  dismal  stain  away. 

"Jesus,  my  God,  thy  blood  alone 
Hath  power  sufficient  to  atone : 
Thy  blood  can  make  me  white  as  snow  ; 
No  Jewish  types  can  cleanse  me  so." 

11.  We  bring  this  subject  to  a  close  by  a  brief  reference  to 
the  expiation  required  in  the  case  of  a  murder  by  an  unknown 
person.  Deut.  21 : 1-9.  When  a  man  was  found  slain  in  the 
field,  and  the  murderer  was  not  known,  it  was  directed  that  the 
elders  and  judges  should  measure  from  the  body  to  the  neigh 
boring  cities ;  and  the  nearest  city  was  required  to  clear  itself 
before  God  of  the  guilt  of  shedding  blood.  The  elders  of  that 
city  were  to  take  a  heifer  that  had  never  borne  the  yoke,  bring 
her  down  to  a  valley  of  flowing  water  (where  water  constantly 
runs,  as  the  original  if  ebrew  signifies),  which  was  neither  tilled 
nor  sown,  to  break  her  neck  there  in  the  valley,  and  wash  their 
hands  over  her  with  a  solemn  appeal  to  God  of  their  innocence 
and  ignorance  of  the  guilty  person,  and  a  prayer  that  God  would 
not  lay  to  then-  charge  innocent  blood. 


598  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTEK  XXXI. 

J$EASONS   OF   THE   HEBREWS. 

I.     SABBATHS,  SABBATICAL  YEA&S,  AND  NEW 
MOONS. 

1.  THE  words  of  Moses  concerning  the  institution  of  the  Sab 
bath  are  these :  "  And  God  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sancti 
fied  it ;  because  that  in  it  he  had  rested  from  all  his  work  which 
God  created  to  make."     Gen.  2  :  3.     The  ground  for  the  institu 
tion  of  the  Sabbath  existed  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  and 
the  fair  interpretation  of  the  passage  teaches  us  that  the  institu 
tion  itself  was  given  from  the  beginning — given  in  its  essential 
form  as  a  day  of  holy  rest,  the  appointment  of  one  day  in  seven 
having  reference  to  the  manner  of  creation.     This  view  is  con 
firmed  by  the   occurrence  of  the  period  of  seven  days  .in  the 
very  concise  history  of  the  world  before  Moses.     Gen.  7  : 4,  10 ; 
8  : 10,  12.     Such  a  period  must,  indeed,  have  existed  to  give  rise 
to  the  term  week.     Gen.  29  :  27,  28.     It  is  further  confirmed  by 
the  manner  in  which  the  Sabbath-day  is  mentioned  in  the  deca 
logue  :  "Bemember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy,"  which 
assumes  that  the  Israelites  are  already  familiar  with  its  existence 
as  a  day  holy  to  the  Lord. 

2.  In  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath  God  claimed  all  time  as 
his  own.    As  the  sovereign  Lord  of  time  he  gave  to  men  six  days 
to  labor  and  do  all  their  work,  reserving  the  seventh  day  as  holy 
to  himself,  making  it,  at  the  same  time,  commemorative  of  the 
work  of  creation.     So  long  as  we  keep  this  idea  of  the  Sabbath, 
that  it  is  a  day  of  holy  rest  from  our  worldly  employments,  that 
we  may  give  ourselves  more  immediately  to  God's  service,  we 
have  a  time  Sabbath.     But  when  we  substitute  for  this  the  idea 
of  a  day  of  merely  secular  rest,  the  Sabbath  perishes  in  its  very 
essence,  and  with  it  the  hold  of  the  institutions  of  religion  upon 
the  masses  of  the  people. 


SACKED  SEASONS  OF  THE  HEBREWS.  599 

3.  "We  are  to  distinguish  between  the  Sabbath  itself  in  its 
essence,  as  it  existed  from  the  beginning,  and  the  ordinances  en 
grafted  upon  it  by  the  Mosaic  law — the* sacrifice  of  two  lambs 
every  Sabbath  morning  and  evening  instead  of  one,  the  prohi 
bition  to  kindle  a  fire  (Exod.  35  :  3),  etc.     These  laws  were  local 
and  temporary.    The  spirit  of  them  alone  remains,  that  we  should 
esteem  the  Lord's  Sabbath  as  honorable,  and  devote  it,  as  far  as 
practicable,  to  spiritual  duties.     We  are  also  to  distinguish  be 
tween  the  essence  of  the  Sabbath — one  day  of  holy  rest  in  sev 
en — and  the  change  of  the  day  from  the  seventh  to  the  first,  to 
commemorate  our  Lord's  resurrection,  which  completed  the  work 
of  redemption,  a  change  which  can  be  shown  to  have  been  made 
in  apostolic  times. 

4.  The  Mosaic  law  prescribed  also  a  Sabbath  of  year^  one 
year  in  seven  during  which  no  debts  could  be  exacted,  and  the 
husbandman  was  required  to  rest  from  the  labor  of  tilling  the 
soil,  while  its  spontaneous  products  belonged  to  the  poor.    Exod. 
23  : 10,  JL!  ;  Lev.  25 : 1-7 ;  Dent.  15  : 1,  2.    In  this  institution  God 
claimed  not  only  all  time  as  his  own,  but  ah1  the  labor  of  man 
with  its  products;  allowing  the  covenant  people  through  the 
period  of  six  years  to  appropriate  to  themselves,  under  the  re 
strictions  of  the  law,  the  produce  of  the  soil,  but  giving  it  the 
seventh  year  to  the  indigent  as  a  common  possession.     See  fur 
ther  in  Chap.  14,  No.  2. 

5.  Then  foUowed  the  great  Sabbath  of  sabbatical  years,  called 
the  year  of  jubilee,  when  God  further  asserted  his  sovereign  do 
minion  over  the  soil  itself  and  all  the  relations  of  life ;  restoring 
to  every  poor  Hebrew  his  possessions,  and  letting  servants  go 
free.     The  particular  enactments  connected  with  the  sabbatical 
year  and  the  year  of  jubilee  have  been   already  considered. 
Chap.  14,  No.  2.    They  are  noticed  here  simply  in  their  religious 
aspect.  *"The  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fulness  thereof;  the 
world,  and  they  that  dwell  therein" — this  is  the  lesson  which 
they  practically  inculcated  upon  the  covenant  people,  and  through 
them  upon  us. 


GOO  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

The  word  Sabbath  (Heb.,  shatfbath]  signifies  rest,  day  of  rest.  Hence  it 
is  sometimes  used  in  a  more  general  sense  of  days  or  periods  of  time  when 
the  covenant  people  were  required  to  rest  from  labor.  Thus  it  is  applied 
to  the  great  day  of  atonement ;  ' '  from  even  unto  even  shall  ye  "celebrate 
your  Sabbath "  (Lev.  23  : 32) ;  and  the  sabbatical  year  is  called  "a  Sabbath 
to  Jehovah"  (Lev.  25:2,  4);  "the  Sabbath  of  the  land"  (ver.  6),  and  a 
"Sabbath  of  years  "  (ver.  8).  The  Hebrew  word  shabbatlton,  rest,  day  of  rest, 
never  signifies  of  itself  the  Sabbath-day ;  but  is  used  in  connection  with 
the  word  sabbath  for  the  Sabbath-day  (Exod.  16  :  23  ;  31 : 15  ;  35  :  2  ;  Lev. 
23  :  3),  for  the  sabbatical  year  (Lev.  25  : 4),  and  for  the  great  day  of  atone 
ment  (Lev.  1G  :  31). 

6.  It  was  commanded  that  on  the  new  moons,  in  addition  to 
the  daily  sacrifices,  two  bullocks,  a  ram,  and  seven  sheep  of  a 
year  old  should  be  offered  to  God  as  a  burnt-offering,  along  with 
a  meal-offering  and  libation ;  also  one  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin- 
offering.     Numb.  28 : 11-14.     Thus  God  claimed  a  proprietor 
ship  in  the  months,  as  well  as  in  the  days  and  years. 

The  blowing  with  trumpets  on  the  days  of  the  new  moon,  to  which  the 
psalmist  alludes  (Psa.  81 : 3),  was  not  peculiar  to  these  occasions,  as  we 
learn  from  the  words  of  the  law  (Numb.  10  : 1-10) ;  where,  in  addition  to 
the  use  of  the  silver  trumpets  for  convening  the  congregation,  the  priests 
are  directed  to  blow  with  the  trumpets  when  the  people  encounter  the 
enemy  in  war,  in  the  days  of  their  festivals  and  new  moons,  and  over  their 
burnt-offerings  and  peace-offerings — in  all  these  special  cases  as  a  memo 
rial  to  bring  themselves  into  remembrance  before  God,  that  whether  in 
prosperity  or  adversity  they  may  have  his  presence  and  blessing. 

II.     THE  OKIGINAL  NATIONAL  FESTIVALS. 

7.  The  original  national  festivals  established  by  the  Mosaic 
law  were  three  in  number :  "  Three  times  in  the  year  all  thy 
males  shall  appear  before  the  Lord  thy  God  in  the  place  which 
he  shall  choose;  in  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  and  in  the 
feast  of  weeks,  and  in  the  feast  of  tabernacles :  and  they  shall 
not  appear  before  the  Lord  empty ;  every  man  shall  gfcre  as  he 
is  able,  according  to  the  blessing  of  the  Lord -thy  God  which  he 
hath  given  thee."     Dent.  16  : 10,  17.     The  same  three  festivals 
are   elsewhere   prescribed.      Exod.  23:14-17;   34:18,  22,  23; 
Lev.,  chap.  23.     Other  festivals  were  added  in  later  times.     Tho 


SACRED  SEASONS  OF   THE  HBBKEWS.  001 

salutary  influence  of  these  feasts  in  fostering  the  spirit  of  national 
unity  has  already  been  considered.  Chap.  22,  No.  13.  We  now 
look  at  them  in  their  religious  character. 

8.  The  first  of  the  great  national  festivals  was  the  passover 
(Hebrew,  pesah,  of  which  the  Greek  form  is  pascha),  so  called 
because  when  the  Lord  smote  the  firstborn  of  Egypt  he  passed 
ever  the  houses  of  the  Israelites,  on  whose  door-posts  and  lintels 
the  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb  had  been  sprinkled,  and  did  not 
destroy  their  firstborn.      Exod.  12 : 13,  23-27.     With  this  was 
connected  &  feast  of  unleavened  bread  of  seven  days'  continuance. 
Exod.  12  : 15 ;  13  :  6,  7  ;  23  : 15 ;  etc.     Hence  the  passover  itself 
is  included  in  the  term,  feast  of  unleavened  bread.     Exod.  23  : 15 ; 
3.4:18;  Deut.  16:16;  etc. 

9.  The  festival  of  the  passover  was  established  in  immediate 
connection  with  the  deliverance  of  the  Israelites  from  the  bond 
age  of  Egypt,  and  was  a  commemoration  of  that  great  event. 
The  ordinances  for  its  first  celebration  are  given  at  length  in  the 
twelfth  chapter  of  the  book  of  Exodus.     On  th*e  tenth  day  of 
the  month  Nisan,  the  first  month  of  the  year,  each  household  (or 
two  neighboring  households  when  small)  took  a  male  lamb  or 
goat  of  the  first  year  without  blemish,  and  kept  it  till  the  four 
teenth  day  of  the  same  month  at  evening ;  when  they  were  direct 
ed  to  slay  it,  sprinkle  its  blood  on  the  two  side-posts  and  lintel 
of  their  doors.     It  was  then  to  be  eaten  roasted  whole  with  fire, 
with  unleavened  bread  and  bitter  herbs,  and  a  bone  of  it  was  not 
to  be  broken.     The  further  direction  was :  "  Ye  shall  let  nothing 
remain  of  it  until  the  morning :  and  that  which  remaineth  of  it 
until  the  morning  ye  slrnll  burn  with  fire.    And  thus  shall  ye  eat 
it:  with  your  loins  girded,  your  shoes  on  your  feet,  and  your 
staff  in  your  hand :  and  ye  shall  eat  it  in  haste :  it  is  the  Lord's 
passover"  (vers.  10,  11)»     In  future  years  several  modifications 
wi'iv  made  in  the  manner  of  celebration.     The  directions  in  ver. 
11  related  obviously  to  that  particular  occasion  alone.     After 
the  erection  of  the  tabernacle  the  paschal  lamb  was  slain  at  the 
sanctuary  (Deut.  16  :  6),  and  its  blood,  which  at  the  institution  of 
the  festival  was  sprinkled  on  the  side-posts  and  lintel  of  the 

Gt-os.  A  Antiq.  26 


602  BCBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

doors  to  defend  them  against  the  entrance  of  the  destroying  an 
gel,  was  sprinkled  by  the  priests  at  the  altar  (2  Chron.  30 : 1C ; 
35  : 11).  The  other  ordinances — the  roasting  with  fire,  the  eat 
ing  with  unleavened  bread  and  bitter  herbs,  the  injunctions  to 
break  no  bone,  and  leave  none  of  the  flesh  till  the  morning — 
remained  valid  for  all  time. 

Ah1  circumcised  males,  if  clean,  were  allowed  to  eat  the  pass- 
over  ;  but  not  foreigners  or  hired  servants.  Exod.  12  : 43-45.  If 
ceremonial  defilement  prevented  any  circumcised  persons  from 
observing  the  festival  at  the  regular  time,  they  were  required 
to  celebrate  it  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  second  month. 
Numb.  9  : 6,  seq.  The  irregularity  of  Hezekiah's  passover  con 
sisted  in  the  fact  that  some  ate  who  were  not  ceremonially  pure. 
2  Chron.  30 : 17-20.  According  to  the  Rabbins  women  were 
allowed  but  not  required  to  eat  the  passover ;  and  that  they  did 
partake  of  it  is  implied  in  the  words  of  Josephus.  Jewish  War, 
6.  9.  3,  end. 

10.  The  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  which  included  in  itself  the 
paschal  sacrifice,  lasted  seven  days;  the  first  and  seventh,  of 
these  being  days  of  holy,  convocation,  in  which  no  manner  of 
servile  work  was  allowed.      On  each  of  these  seven  days,  more 
over,  the  priests  offered,  in  addition  to  the  daily  burnt-offerings, 
two  young  bullocks,  one  ram,  and  seven  lambs,  for  a  burnt-offer 
ing,  with  an  accompanying  oblation  of  flour  mingled  with  oil; 
and  one  goat  for   a  sin-offering.     Exod.  12 : 15-20 ;  13:6,  7 ; 
23  : 15 ;  34  : 18 ;  Lev.  23  :  5-8 ;  Numb.  28 : 16-25  ;  Deut.  16  :  3-8. 
That  it  was  customary  to  connect  voluntary  peace-offerings  with 
the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  may  be  inferred  from  2  Chron. 
35  : 13,  where  the  holy  offerings,  sod  in  pots,  caldrons,  and  pans, 
and  divided  among  the  people,  must  be  understood  to  have  been 
peace-offerings.  » 

11.  The  sacrificial  character  of  the  passover  appears  in  the 
original  sprinkling  of  the  blood  on  the  door-posts  and  lintels, 
and  in  the  subsequent  requirement  that  it  should  be  slain  at  the 
sanctuary,  -and  its  blood  sprinkled  at  the  altar.     In  this  respect 
it  approached  very  nearly  to  the  character  of  a  peace-offering. 


SACRED  SEASONS  OF  THE  HEBREWS.  603 

The  feast  was  both  commemorative  and  typical.  It  "was  a  joyous 
festival  commemorative  of  the  deliverance  of  the  Israelites  from 
lvj;\  })tian  bondage.  But  this  deliverance  typified  the  higher  re 
demption  of  God's  people  from  the  bondage  of  sin ;  and  thus  the 
paschal  lamb  typified  Christ,  through  whose  blood  that  redemp 
tion  is  effected.  As  the  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb  protected  those 
on  whose  doors  it  was  sprinkled  froim  the  destroyer  of  the  first 
born,  so  does  the  blood  of  Christ  protect  all  who  through  faith 
receive  its  expiatory  power  from  the  wrath  to  come.  As  the 
Israelites  feasted  joyfully  on  the  paschal  lamb,  so  does  the  church 
of  God  feed  by  faith  on  "the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world."  The  New  Testament  distinctly  recognizes  the 
typical  character  of  the  passover.  In  noticing  the  fact  that  our 
Saviour's  legs  were  not  broken,  the  evangelist  John  adds  the 
remark :  "  These  things  were  done  that  the  Scripture  should  be 
fulfilled,  A  bone  of  him  shall  not  be  broken  "  (John  19  :  36) ;  and 
the  apostle  Paul  says :  "  Christ  our  passover  is  sacrificed  for  us : 
therefore  let  us  keep  the  feast,  not  with  old  leaven,  neither  with 
the  leaven  of  malice  and  wickedness ;  but  with  the  unleavened 
bread  of  sincerity  and  truth"  (1  Cor.  5  :  7,  8). 

The  use  of  unleavened  bread  in  the  feast  of  the  passover  had  beyond 
doubt  the  significance  ascribed  to  it  by  the  apostle.  1  Cor.  5:8.  It 
represented  the  sincerity  and  truth  required  by  the  new  relation  into 
•which  the  people  now  entered  with  God,  of  which  the  passover  festivtd 
•was  a  sign  and  a  seal,  leaven  being  in  the  natural  world  the  principle  of 
corruption,  and  thus  the  symbol  of  sin  in  the  moral  world.  Some  have 
supposed  that  the  peculiar  prominence  given  to  the  requirement  in  this 
particular  case  was  commemorative  of  the  haste  with  which  the  Israelites 
left  the  land  of  their  bondage,  which  prevented  the  regular  preparation  of 
bread  (Exod.  12  :  39)  ;  but  this  is  doubtful.  The  bitler  herbs  (which  abound 
in  Egypt)  seem  to  have  been  commemorative  of  the  hard  bondage  to  which 
they  had  been  subjected.  Rousting  with  fire  seems  to  have  been  enjoined 
as  the  purest,  and,  therefore,  the  most  appropriate  mode  of  preparing  the 
paschal  lamb  for  food  ;  since  thus  it  was  preserved  from  all  waste  and  all 
admixture  with  a  foreign  substance.  The  direction  that  no  bone  should 
be  broken  represented  the  unity  of  God's  people,  which  has  its  centre  in 
Christ's  person.  His  natural  body  represented  mystically  his  spiritual 
person,  which  includes  in  itself  all  believers  as  members.  John  15  : 1-7 ; 


604  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

17  :  23 ;    1  John   3  :  24 ;   Rom.   12  :  5 ;   1  Cor.  12  : 12,  soq.     It  might  be 
pierced,  but  not  mangled  by  the  breaking  of  its  bones. 

12.  On  the  second  day  of  the  passover  a  sheaf  of  the  first- 
fruits  of  the  harvest  was  presented  before  the  Lord,  with  a 
lamb  for  a  burnt-offering,  and  an  accompanying  meal-offering 
and  drink-offering.     Lev.  23  : 9-14.     This  was  the  legal  intro 
duction  to  the  harvest  of  that  year,  and  before  its  presentation 
the  people  were  not  allowed  to  eat  of  anything  pertaining  to  it. 
The  sheaf  was  of  barley,  as  being  the  grain  first  ripe  (Josephus, 
Antiq.,  3.  10.  5) ;  and  by  this  rite  alone  was  the  passover  spe 
cially  connected  with  the  season  of  the  year. 

13.  The  Jews  of  later  times  observed  the  festival  of  the  pass- 
over  with  great  scrupulosity ;  carefully  searching  every  corner  of 
their  houses  for  any  fragment  of  leavened  bread  the  evening  be 
fore  the  fourteenth  of  Nisan ;  roasting  the  lamb  whole  in  an  oven 
made  of  earthenware,  so  arranged  on  a  spit  that  it  should  not 
touch  the  oven  at  any  point ;  eating  it  with  bitter  herbs ;  etc. 
They  used  a  sauce  into  which  they  dipped  the  flesh,  bread,  and 
bitter  herbs ;  and  this  is  the  sop  of  which  the  evangelist  John 
speaks.     Chap.  13 : 26.     The  rabbins  also  enjoined  that  there 
should  never  be  less  than  four  cups  of  wine.    All  these  and  many 
more  particulars  are  given  in  the  treatise  of  the  Talmud  called 
Pcsahim.    The  reader  will  find  them  stated  at  length  in  the  Bible 
dictionaries  of  Smith  and  Kitto. 

14.  The  passover  was,  as  we  have  seen  (No.  11,  above),  pre 
eminently  a  type  of  Christ  and  his  redemption,  received  by  feed 
ing  upon  him  through  faith.     He,  therefore,  connected  immedi 
ately  with  it  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  supper  ;  using  the  un 
leavened  bread  of  the  passover  to  represent  his  flesh,  and  one  of 
the  cups  of  wine  to  represent  his  blood — both  given  for  the  life 
of  the  world.     Thus  the  passover,  which  had  for  so  many  ages 
foreshadoiced  his  sacrifice  for  the  sin  of  the  world,  gave  place  to 
the  Christian  ordinance  which  commemorates  that  great  event. 

15.  The  second  of  the  great  national  festivals  was  that  known 
to  us  by  the  name  of  the  feast  of  Pentecost.    In  the  law  of  Moses 


SACRED  SEASONS  OF  THE  HEBREWS.  605 

it  is  called  "the  feast  of  the  harvest,  the  first-fruits  of  thy  labors" 
(Exod.  23  : 16),  for  a. reason  that  will  presently  appear;  also  the 
feast  of  iceeks ;  that  is,  the  feast  celebrated  the  day  after  the 
completion  of  seven  weeks  from  the  second  day  of  the  passover, 
when  the  sheaf  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  harvest  was  presented 
before  the  Lord  (Lev.  23 : 15,  seq.) ;  in  other  words,  the  feast 
occurring  fifty  days  after  the  second  day  of  the  passover.  Hence 
its  later  Hebrew  name,  day  of  Jiffy,  which  becomes  in  Greek,  */</// 
of  the  Pentecost  (Greek,  pentecoste,  fifty).  See  Exod.  23  : 16;  Lev. 
23  : 15-21 ;  Numb.  28 :  26-31 ;  Deut,  16  :  9-12. 

16.  The  day  of  Pentecost  was  properly  the  celebration  of  the 
close  of  the  harvest  of  wheat  and  barley.     As  a  sheaf  of  the 
ripening  harvest  had  been  presented  at  the  sanctuaiy  on  the 
second  day  of  the  passover,  as  an  acknowledgment  that  it  was 
God's  gift,  and  as  such  belonged  to  him,  so  now  two  wave-loaves 
of  fine  flour,  made  from  the  gathered  harvest  and  baken  with 
leaven,  were  presented  before  Jehovah.     This  was  the  distin 
guishing  rite  of  the  feast.      The  loaves  were  made  with  leaven 
because  they  were  not  intended  for  the  altar,  but  were  a  thanks 
giving  offering  for  God's  bounty  in  furnishing  food  for  his  peo 
ple.     At  the  "same  time  the  priests  were  commanded  to  offer 
seven  lambs  of  the  first  year,  one  bullock,  and  two  rams,  as  a 
burnt-offering,  with  the  customary7  meat  and  drink  offerings ;  also 
one  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering,  and  two  lambs  of  the  first 
year  as  a  peace-offering.     On  the  same  day  was  a  holy  convo 
cation,  and  all  servile  labor  was  forbidden.'    Lev.  23  : 15-21.     It 
was  a  joyous  festival  to  the  Lord,  every  one  being  enjoined  to 
bring  with  him  a  freewill  offering,  according  as  God  had  blessed 
him,  and  to  eat  it  at  the  sanctuary  with  his  children,  his  servants, 
the  Levite,  the  stranger,  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow.     Deut. 
16:9-12. 

17.  The  day  of  Pentecost  coincided,  according  to  later  Jew 
ish  tradition,  with  the  giving  of  the  law  on  Sinai ;  but  it  must  be 
acknowledged  that  this  cannot  be  clearly  made  out  from  the 
sacred  record  (Exod.  19 : 1,  seq.),  nor  is  there  any  reference  to 
such  coincidence  in  the  Old  Testament.    God,  however,  honored 


006  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

the  day  in  a  preeminent  manner  by  choosing  it  as  the  time  for 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  plenary  influences,  and  thus  for 
the  inauguration  of  the  Christian  dispensation. 

18.  The  third  great  national  festival  of  the  Hebrews  began 
on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  seventh  month  (Tishri,  reckoned 
from  the  new  moon  of  October),  and  lasted  seven  days,  with  a 
solemn  assembly  and  sacrifices  on  the  eighth  day.     See  Exod. 
23:16;  Lev.  23:34-43;  Deut.  16:13-15;  Neh.  8:14-17;  and 
especially  Numb.,  chap.  29.     This  was  at  the  close  of  the  agri 
cultural  labors  of  the  year,  when  not  only  the 'harvest  of  wheat 
and  barley,  but  also  the  produce  of  the  fruit-trees,  vineyards, 
and  olive-yards,  had  been  gathered  in — in  the  language  of  Scrip 
ture  :  "  When  thou  hast  gathered  in  thy  labors  out  of  the  field." 
Exod.  23  : 16.     As  a  joyful  recognition  of  God's  bounty  to  the 
husbandman  it  was  called  ihe  feast  of  ingathering.    As  an  histor 
ical  commemoration  of  the  sojourning  of  the  Israelites  in  booths 
on  then-  journey  from  Egypt  to  Canaan.it  was  called  ike  feast  of 
tabernacles,  and  in  both  these  aspects  it  was  a  peculiarly  joyous 
festival.     Josephus,  Antiq.,  8.  4.  1 ;  11.  5.  5. 

19.  The  points  to  be  noticed  in  the  feast  of  tabernacles  are 
the    dwelling   in   booths,   the   numerous    sacrifices  with  their 
meat-offerings   and   drink-offerings,  and  the   solemn  convoca 
tions. 

(1.)  The  directions  in  respect  to  the  booths  are  as  follows 
(Lev.  23  : 40-43) :  "  And  ye  shall  take  to  yourselves  on  the  first 
day  the  fruit  of  goodly  trees"  (see  below),  "branches  of  palm- 
trees,  and  the  boughs  of  thick  trees,  and  willows  of  the  valley, 
and  rejoice  before  Jehovah  your  God  seven  days.  And  ye  shall 
celebrate  it  as  a  feast  to  Jehovah  seven  days  in  the  year:  it  shall 
be  a  statute  for  ever  for  your  generations ;  in  the  seventh  month 
shall  ye  celebrate  it.  Ye  shall  dwell  in  booths  seven  days;  all 
that  are  Israelites  born  shall  dwell  in  booths :  that  your  genera 
tions  may  know  that  I  made  the  children  of  Israel  to  dwell  in 
booths  when  I  brought  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt:  I  am 
Jehovah  your  God." 


SACRED  SEASONS  OF  THE  HEBREWS.  607 

The  Rabbinists  of  Inter  times  interpreted  the  fortieth  verse  to  mean 
that  they  should  take  literally  the  fruit  of  goodly  trees  (they  understood 
citrons],  aiid  should  make  of  the  branches  of  the  trees  specified  a  sort  of 
thyrsus  called  lulab,  to  be  borne  about  in  their  hands  with  the  fruit.  See 
Josephus,  Antiq. ,  3.  10.  4  ;  13.  13.  5 ;  and  the  references  in  Keil  on  Lev. 
23  : 40,  seq. ,  and  in  Balir,  Syrnbolik,  4.  3.  3.  But  the  Karaite  Jews  held 
correctly  that  the  boughs  here  specified  were  to  be  used  in  the  construc 
tion  of  booths ;  for  such  was  the  interpretation  of  the  words  by  Nehemiah 
and  his  associates  (chap.  8  : 15),  who  could  not  have  been  mistaken  as  t<» 
the  usage  of  their  forefathers.  "The  fruit  of  goodly  trees"  may  mean 
literally  fruit  for  the  embellishment  of  the  booths ;  or,  the  word  ' '  fruit " 
may  be  used  in  the  general  sense  of  growth,  that  is  branches,  as  in  our  ver 
sion  ;  the  fruit  of  goodly  trees  being  a  general  statement  put  in  apposition 
with  what  follows.  So  Keil  and  others. 

(2.)  The  sacrifices  and  oblations,  which  were  on  a  very  mag 
nificent  scale,  are  all  specified  in  order  in  the  twenty-ninth  chap 
ter  of  the  book  of  Numbers.  In  addition  to  the  daily  sacrifices 
and  oblations,  there  were  to  be  offered  on  the  first  day,  as  a 
burnt-offering,  thirteen  young  bullocks,  two  rams,  and  fourteen 
lambs,  with  the  accompanying  meal-offering  and  drink-offering ; 
also  one  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering.  The  same  offerings 
were  prescribed  for  the  six  foUowing  days,  except  that  the  num 
ber  of  bullocks  was  to  be  diminished  by  one  each  day.  On  the 
eighth  day,  after  the  termination  of  the  proper  feast  of  taberna 
cles,  they  offered,  as  a  burnt-offering,  one  bullock,  one  ram,  and 
seven  lambs,  with  the  accompanying  meal-offering  and  drink- 
offering,  and  one  goat  for  a  sin-offering. 

(3.)  The  first  and  eighth  days  were  observed  as  holy  convo 
cations,  in  which  no  servile  work  was  to  be  performed  by  Jewrs 
or  any  in  their  households. 

There  were  some  rites  observed  by  the  later  Jews  which  are  not  pre 
scribed  in  the  Pentateuch.  Among  these  was  the  drawing  of  water  evi'iy 
morning  by  the  priests  during  the  continuance  of  the  feast  (whether  on  the 
eighth  day  is  doubtful),  and  pouring  it  out  on  the  altar  together  with  wine, 
while  the  Hallel  (Psa.  113-118)  was  sung.  It  is  commonly  supposed  that 
our  Saviour  alluded  to  this  rite  when  he  stood  and  cried  "in  the  last  day, 
that  great  day  of  the  feast,"  which  was  certainly  the  eighth  day  :  "If  any 
man  thirst  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink." 


<ii)o  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

20.  Thus  the  year  of  agricultural  labor  ended  (they  began 
their  ploughing  and  sowing  for  the  ensuing  year  after  the  fall  of 
the  aiitumnal  rains,  Chap.  7,  Nos.  2-4)  with  a  double  recognition 
of  God's  wonderful  dealings  in  the  past,  and  his  bounty  in  the 
present. 

The  seventh  month  was  preeminently  the  month  of  solemn  convoca 
tions.  On  the  first  day  was  a  holy  convocation  with  the  blowing  of  trum 
pets,  and  the  prescribed  burnt-offerings  and  sin-offering  :  on  the  tenth  was 
the  great  day  of  atonement  (Chap.  29,  No.  19.  5) :  and  two  such  days  were 
connected  with  the  feast  of  tabernacles — each  of  them  a  sabbatical  day  (see 
above,  No.  5)  on  which  no  servile  labor  might  be  performed. 

III.    LATER  JEWISH  FESTIVALS. 

21.  The  feast  of  Purim  (that  is,  lots,  Esther  9  : 24,  26)  AV;IS 
ordained  by  Mordecai  to  be  kept  on  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
days  of  the  twelfth  month,  called  Adar,  in  commemoration  of  the 
deliverance  of  thp  Jews  from  the  machinations  of  Hainan.     For 
the  account  of  its  establishment  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
ninth  chapter  of  the  book  of  Esther.     It  became  with  the  Jews 
of  later  ages  a  favorite  festival,  and  so  it  continues  to  the  pres 
ent  time.     The  roll  of  the  book  of  Esther  is  read  over  in  the 
synagogue,  and  as  often  as  the  name  of  Haman  occurs,  the  con 
gregation  make  noisy  demonstrations  of  abhorrence  by  stamping, 
clapping  the  hands,  etc.     When  the  synagogue  services  are  over 
they  give  themselves  up  very  freely  to  festivities. 

22.  The  feast  of  dedication  was  held  in  commemoration  of  the 
purification  of  the  temple  after  it  had  been  profaned  by  Anti- 
ochus  Epiphanes.      The  profanation  took  place  107,  and  the 
purification  164  years  before  Christ.     The  festival  commenced 
on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  called  Kislev,  and 
lasted  eight  days,  accompanied  by  many  sacrifices.    See  1  Mace. 
4 :  52-59 ;  2  Mace.  10  : 1-8 ;  Joseplms,  Antiq.,  12.  7.  6  and  7. 

The  month  Kislev  began  with  the  new  moon  of  December.  Hence  the 
feast  of  dedication  fell  in  the  depths  of  winter,  as  intimated  by  the  evan 
gelist  (John  10  :  22,  23):  "And  it  was  the  feast  of  dedication  at  Jerusalem, 
and  it  was  winter.  And  Jesus  walked  in  the  temple,  in  Solomon's  porch." 
He  walked  there  in  a  sheltered  place  because  of  the  wintry  \veather. 


SACRED  SEASONS  OF  THE  HEBREWS.  609 

23.  Besides  the  days  of  fasting  connected  with  the  Mosaic 
ritual  (Lev.  16:29,  31;  23:  27,  29,  32;  Numb.  29:7),  the  Jews 
during  and  after  the  captivity  had  certain  anniversary  fasts, 
which  are  enumerated  in  the  book  of  Zechariah. 

We  give  these  according  to  John.  Archaeology,  §  358.  They  were 
(1)  the  17th  day  of  the  fourth  month,  in  memory  of  the  capture  of  Jerusa 
lem  (Jer.  52  : 6,  7 ;  Zech.  8  : 19) ;  (2)  the  9th  day  of  the  fifth  month,  in 
memory  of  the  burning  of  the  temple  (Zech.  7:3;  8 : 19  compared  with 
Jer.  52  : 12,  13)  ;  (3)  the  3d  day  of  the  seventh  month,  in  memory  of  the 
murder  of  Gedaliah  (Jer.  41 : 2,  3 ;  Zech.  7:5;  8  : 19);  (4)  the  10th  day 
of  the  tenth  month,  in  memory  of  the  commencement  of  the  attack  on 
Jerusalem  (Jer.  52  :  4  ;  Zech.  8  : 19). 


26" 


610  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTEK  XXXII. 

Vows   AND    PEYOTED   THINGS. 

1.  THE  devotion  of  persons  or  things  as  accursed  and  doomed 
to  destruction  was  not  allowed  according  to  the  arbitrary  will  of 
individuals  or  communities.     The  Canaanites  were  thus  devoted 
by  God  himself.     Numb.  33  :  50-56;  Deut.  20: 16-18.     Special 
cases,  in  which  both  the  accursed  persons  and  all  the  possessions 
belonging  to  them  were,  by  God's  immediate  direction,  to  be 
destroyed,  or  devoted  to  the  uses  of  the  sanctuary,  are  the  case 
of  Jericho  (Josh.  6 : 17-19) ;  of  Achan  (Josh.  7  :  24-26) ;  of  the 
Amalekites  (Exod.  17  : 14 ;  1  Sam.  15  :  2,  3).     Here  belongs  also 
the  case  recorded  in  Numb.  21 : 1-3,  for  king  Arad  and  his  peo 
ple,  as  Canaanites,  were  included  within  the  general  curse  (Heb., 
her  em).     In  other  cases  the  devotion  to  destruction  was  for  the 
sin  of  idolatry,  and  took  place  after  regular  investigation.    Deut., 
chap.  13.     Jephthah's  devotion  of  his  daughter  to  death  as  a 
burnt-offering,  in  accordance  with  his  interpretation  of  a  previ 
ous  vow  (if  that  be  the  true  meaning  of  the  passage)  was  an  act 
of  blind  superstition,  not  warranted  by  either  the  letter  or  the 
spirit  of  the  Mosaic  law. 

2.  Affirmative  voivs  were  a  very  ancient  usage.     The  earliest 
example  is  recorded  in  the  book  of  Genesis  (chap.  28 : 20-22), 
where  Jacob  solemnly  engaged,  upon  specified  conditions,  to 
give  the  tenth  of  all  his  substance  to  the  Lord.     Of  the  same 
character  were  the  votive  sacrifices.    They  were  saQfifices  offered 
to  God  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow  made  in  time  of  trouble.    To  these 
there  is  frequent  allusion  in  the  Old  Testament :  "  I  will  go  into 
thy  house  with  burnt-offerings :  I  will  pay  thee  my  vows,  which 
my  lips  have  uttered,  and  my  mouth  hath  spoken,  when  I  was  in 
trouble"  (Psa.  66:13,  14);  "Thy  vows  are  upon  me,  O  God;  I 
•will  render  praises  unto  thee ;  for  thou  hast  delivered  my  soul 
from  death"  (Psa.  56  : 12, 18). 


VOWS  AND  DEVOTED  THINGS.  Gil 

Besides  sacrifices,  the  Hebrews  might  devote  to  God  bv  ,i 
solemn  vow  anything  of  which  the  right  of  possession  was  vested 
in  themselves — their  own  persons  or  the  persons  of  their  chil 
dren  and  bond-servants,  their  beasts  clean  and  unclean,  their 
houses  and  fields,  etc.  See  Lev.,  chap.  27,  wrhere  by  making  "  a 
singular  vow"  (as  our  version  renders)  is  meant  separating  some- 
tiling  as  consecrated  to  God  by  a  vow.  All  persons  thus  devo 
ted  were  to  be  redeemed  according  to  a  prescribed  law  of  valua 
tion  (vers.  3-8) ;  clean  beasts  thus  devoted  were  to  be  offered  in 
sacrifice  (vers.  9,  10).  Unclean  beasts  might  be  redeemed  by 
adding  a  fifth  part  to  their  estimated  value  (vers.  11—13).  The 
same  law  prevailed  for  houses  and  lands,  the  worth  of  the  latter 
being  determined  by  reference  to  the  nearness  or  remoteness  of 
the  year  of  jubilee  (vers.  14^25).  Nothing  that  already  belonged 
to  Jehovah,  as  for  example  the  firstlings  of  beasts  and  tithes, 
could  be  devoted  to  him  by  such  a  vow,  nor  any  base  gain. 
Deut.  23  : 18.  No  devoted  thing  (Heb.,  herem,  the  same  word  that 
is  rendered  accursed  thing,  Josh.  6:18;  7:1,  11)  could  be  re 
deemed  or  sold,  but,  if  it  were  a  living  thing,  must  be  put  to 
death  (vers.  28,  29).  Here  we  are  undoubtedly  to  understand 
things  devoted  as  accursed,  like  the  persons  and  spoils  pf  an 
idolatrous  city.  No.  1,  above.  We  may  not  for  a  moment 
assume  that  the  Israelites  had  the  right  thus  to  devote  to  death 
persons  over  whom  they  had  control,  as  children  or  bond-ser 
vants,  by  their  own  arbitrary  will.  The  cases  were  prescribed 
by  the  Mosaic  law,  and  they  were  required  to  proceed  in  an 
orderly  way  upon  satisfactory  evidence. 

3.  The  persons  or  things  thus  devoted  to  God  are  the  corban 
(offering,  gift  to  God)  of  the  New  Testament.  In  their  original 
unperverted  form,  such  affirmative  vows  were  expressions  of  love 
and  devotion  to  God.  Although  no  man  could  give  to  God  more 
than  He  required  in  the  form  of  inward  love,  the  command  being : 
"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,"  he  could 
make  /VeeznYZ  offerings  of  outward  possessions  over  and  above 
those  required  by  the  Mosaic  statutes ;  and  these,  if  given  in  the 
spirit  of  humility  and  faith,  were  acceptable  to  God.  But  when 


612  BIBLICAL   ANTIQUITIES. 

they  degenerated  into  acts  of  self-righteousness,  and  wore  made 
at  the  expense  of  the  duties  which  men  owed  to  their  parents 
and  other  persons  dependent  upon  them,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Pharisees  (Mark  7 : 9-13),  they  became  an  abomination  in  the 
sight  of  God. 

4.  The  Mosaic  law  neither  enjoined  nor  encouraged  vows,  but 
it  rer/Hhtfcd  them  with  great  exactness.     They  were  transactions 
with  God,  in  which  no  levity  or  unfaithfulness  was  allowable. 
The  cases  in  which  vows  were  disallowed  or  permitted  to  stand 
as  valid  are  fully  described  in  the  thirtieth  chapter  of  the  book 
of  Numbers.    When  valid  they  must  be  faithfully  kept.    "When 
thou  shalt  vow  a  vow  unto  the  Lord. thy  God,  thou  slialt  not 
delay  to  pay  it :  for  the  Lord  thy  God  will  surely  require  it  of 
thee ;  and  it  would  be  sin  in  thee.     But  if  thou  shalt  forbear  to 
vow,  it  shall  be  no  sin  in  thee.     That  which  is  gone  out  of  thy 
lips  thou  slialt  keep  and  perform  according  as  thou  hast  vowed 
unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  as  a  freewill  offering  which  thou  hast 
spoken  with  thy  lips.     Deut.  23  :  21-23.     See  also  Eccl.  5  : 4-6. 

5.  Of  negative  voivs,  vows  of  abstinence,  the  most  important 
class,  for  which  alone  rules  were  prescribed  by  the  Mosaic  law, 
was  that  of  Nazarite  vows.     Samson  (Judg.  13 : 2-7)  and  John 
the  Baptist  (Luke  1 : 15)  were  Nazarites  from  their  birth  by  God's 
appointment.      So  also  apparently  Samuel  by  the  vow  of  his 
mother.    1  Sam.  1 : 11.    But  the  rules  of  the  Mosaic  law  (Numb., 
chap.  6)  have  respect  to  the  vow  by  which  men  or  women  made 
themselves  Nazarites  unto  the  Lord  for  a  temporary  period. 
During  the  continuance  of  this  period  the  observance  of  three 
rules  was  strictly  enjoined  upon  them:  (1)  They  were  to  drink 
no  wine  or  strong  drink,  and  to  abstain  from  every  product  of 
the  vine  in  whatever  form  (vers.  3,  4) ;  (2)  they  were  to  leave 
their  hair  unshorn  (ver.  5) ;  (3)  they  were  not  to  defile  themselves 
by  the  touch  of  any  dead  body,  though  it  were  one  of  their 
nearest  kin.     In  case  of  an  accidental  defilement,  all  the  past 
days  of  their  separation  as  Nazarites  were  counted  as  nothing 
They  were  to  shave  their  head,  undergo  a  prescribed  purification 
of  eight  days,   and   begin   the   days  of  their  separation  anew. 


VOWS  AND  DEVOTED  THI^dS.  i]\:\ 

Wl u>ii  the  days  of  liis  vow  were  fulfilled,  thr  Nazarite  offered  a 
he-lamb  of  the  first  year  as  a  burnt-offering,  a  ewe-lamb  of  the 
first  year  as  a  sin-offering,  and  a  ram  as  a  peace-offering,  with 
prescribed  unbloody  oblations.  An  additional  peculiar  rite  was 
that  he  should  shave  the  hair  of  his  head,  "  and  put  it  in  the  fire 
which  is  under  the  sacrifice  of  peace-offerings,"  thus  consecra 
ting  it  to  God  (vers.  13-21). 

That  there  were  other  particular  vows  of  abstinence  appears  from  the 
thirtieth  chapter  of  the  book  of  Numbers,  where  the  vow  (tiedher)  is  affirm 
ative,  and  the  bond  (issar)  is  negative;  namely,  "an  oath  of  a  bond  to 
afflict  the  soul"  (ver.  13),  probably  by  fasting  and  other  forms  of  absti 
nence.  But  the  Mosaic  law  gives  no  special  rules  respecting  them.  A 
notable  example  of  the  perversion  of  the  principle  contained  in  such  vows 
occurs  in  the  history  of  the  apostle  Paul.  On  one  occasion  more  than  forty 
Jews  bound  themselves  with  an  oath  that  they  would  neither  eat  nor  drink 
till  they  had  slain  Paul,  and  they  were  willing  to  employ  falsehood  and 
hypocrisy  for  the  accomplishment  of  their  oath.  Acts  23  :  12,  seq. 

6.  The  underlying  idea  of  the  Nazarite  vow  was  the  special 
devotion  of  one's  self  to  God  in  the  way  of  purity  and  abstinence 
from  things  in  themselves  lawful.  It  had  its  ground  in  the  deep 
consciousness  of  bondage  to  the  flesh  and  the  contamination  of 
the  soul  by  worldly  intercourse.  It  was  thus  an  attempt  to  ex 
press  the  desire  of  coming  into  a  nearer  relation  to  God,  with 
that  self-abnegation,  purity,  and  entire  consecration  required  by 
such  a  relation.  The  requirement  of  abstinence  from  wine, 
strong  drink,  and  every  product  of  the  vine,  even  fresh  grapes 
and  raisins,  is  to  be  understood  in  a  representative  way.  It  sig 
nified  the  abstaining  from  all  the  delights  of  flesh  and  sense  that 
war  against  the  spiritual  man.  The  prohibition  against  defile 
ment  by  the  touch  of  a  dead  body  (in  which  respect  the  Nazarite 
was  placed  on  a  level  with  the  high  priest  himself,  Lev.  21 : 11), 
represented  the  purity  required  of  those  who  come  near  to  God. 
The  prohibition  to  shave  the  hair  of  the  head  had,  of  course,  a 
symbolic  meaning;  but  what  the  meaning  was  is  a  question  that 
has  been  variously  answered.  The  clue  to  the  true  significance 
of  the  Nazarite's  unshorn  hair  is,  as  it  seems  to  us,  found  in  the 
fact  that,  upon  the  expiration  of  the  period  of  his  consecration, 


614  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

he  was  required  to  shave  it  off  and  devote  it  to  the  Lord  by 
burning  it  on  the  altar  (ver.  18).  Abstinence  from  the  use  of  the 
razor  during  the  days  of  his  consecration  was,  then,  a  sign  of 
the  entireness  of  his  consecration.  His  person  was  wholly  devo 
ted  to  the  Lord,  and  was  to  be  abridged  of  nothing  that  belonged 
to  it. 

The  term  Nazarite  (Heb..  nazlr]  signifies  separated,  set  apart  by  separa 
tion.  It  is  applied  figuratively  to  the  undressed  vine  of  the  sabbatical 
year.  Lev.  25  :  5,  11.  According  to  some  it  has  in  certain  passages  (Gen. 
49  :  26  ;  Deut.  33  : 16  ;  Lam.  4  :  7)  the  sense  of  separated  as  a  prince. 

Among  the  Jews  of  later  times  it  was  esteemed  an  act  of  piety  to  pay 
the  expenses  which  poor  Nazarites  incurred  upon  the  fulfilment  of  their 
time  of  consecration.  Upon  this  usage  wras  founded,  apparently,  the  sug 
gestion  made  to  the  apostle  Paul  (Acts  21 : 23,  24):  "We  have  four  men 
among  us  who  have  a  vow  on  them  ;  them  take,  and  purify  thyself  Avith 
them  "  (by  entering  into  the  vow  with  them),  "and  be  at  charges  for  them, 
that  they  may  shave  their  heads. " 

7.  The  common  formula  of  swearing :  "  God  do  so  to  me  and 
more  also,  if,"  etc.,  is  not  a  vow  but  an  imprecation  upon  one's 
own  person  of  the  evil  in  question,  if  he  do  not  fulfil  what  his 
oath  engages  him  to  do.  See  Ruth  1 : 17 ;  2  Sam.  3:9,  35 ; 
1  Kings  2  :  23 ;  2  Kings  6  :  31. 


THE  FIRST  AND  SECOND  TEMPLE.  G15 


CHAPTEK  XXXIII. 

THE   FIRST   AND    J$ECOND    TEMPLE. 

1.  THERE  is  much  arclnl<rtn,-<il  interest  connected  with  the 
two  Jewish  temples,  especially  with  the  second  as  renewed,  or 
rather  rebuilt,  by  Herod.     But  in  religious  interest  neither  of 
them  can  compare  with  the  tabernacle.     The  plan  of  that,  with 
all  its  appointments,  was  received  from  God ;  and  the  two  tem 
ples  wrere  modelled  after  it,  with  only  those  modifications  that 
were  appropriate  to  the  altered  circumstances  of  the  Israelites. 
They  were  now  settled  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  no  longer 
needed  a  movable  sanctuary.     In  Solomon's  time  they  had  be 
come  rich  and  strong,  and  it  was  proper  that  the  Lord's  house 
should  have  an  outward  magnificence  corresponding  with  the 
material  prosperity  which  he  had  bestowed  upon  them.      Such 
was  the  view  taken  by  David  when  he  suggested  to  Nathan,  for 
the  first  time,  the  idea  of  building  a  temple.      "  See  now,"  said 
he,  "I  dwell  in  a  house  of  cedar,  but  the  ark  of  God  dwelleth 
within  curtains."     2  Sam.  7 : 2.     And,  again,  he  says  of  the  prep 
arations  which  he  and  the  princes  of  Israel  had  made  :  "  O  Lord 
our  God,  all  this  store  that  we  have  prepared  to  build  thee  a 
house  for  thy  holy  name  cometh  of  thy  hand,  and  is  all  thine 
own."     1  Chron.  29 : 16.     The  brevity  of  the  present  work  ex 
cludes  elaborate  discussions  respecting  the  architecture  of  the 
Jewish  temples.     We  shall  restrict  ourselves  mainly  to  an  eluci 
dation  of  those  points  winch  had  more  ^mediate  reference  to 
their  religious  uses. 

I.     THE   TEMPLE  OF  SOLOMON. 

2.  The  temple  of  Solomon  was  built  on  Moriah,  a  rocky  emi 
nence  in  the,  southeastern  part  of  Jerusalem.    In  order  to  obtain 
a  sufficient  area,  the  summit  was  levelled,  immense  walls  were 
built  up  OH  the  four  sides,  and  the  intervening  space  between 


616  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

them  and  tlie  levelled  top  was  filled  in  with  earth,  or  built  up  in 
vaults.  See  above,  Chap.  2,  No.  32,  seq.  For  a  description  of 
the  temple  itself  see  1  Kings,  chap.  6;  2  Chron.,  chap.  3;  and 
for  the  furniture  and  adornments,  1  Kings,  chap.  7;  2  Chron., 
chap.  4.  The  walls  of  the  temple  were  built  of  white  marble, 
taken  apparently  from  a  quarry  near  the  Damascus  gate  (Bar 
clay,  pp.  459-469),  the  stones  being  all  prepared  beforehand,  "so 
that  there  was  neither  hammer  nor  axe,  nor  any  tool  of  iron 
heard  in  the  house  while  it  was  in  building."  1  Kings  6 : 7. 
Within,  the  walls  and  ceiling  overhead  were  lined  with  cedar,  on 
which  were  carved  knops  (or  egg-shaped  gourds),  opening  flow 
ers,  figures  of  cherubim,  and  palm-trees.  1  Kings  6 : 18,  29. 
The  floor  was  made  of  planks  of  fir  (or  cypress) ;  and  the  floor, 
walls,  and  ceiling  were  overlaid  with  gold. 

3.  The  interior  arrangements  of  the  temple  were  modelled 
after  those  of  the  tabernacle,  but  were  of  double  dimensions. 
Thus,  the  length  of  the  house  was  sixty  cubits,  and  its  breadth 
twenty  cubits.    It  was  divided,  like  the  tabernacle,  into  the  inner 
and  the  outer  sanctuary.     The  inner  sanctuary  (called  in  the 
description  the  oracle,  Heb.,  <Iclltirj  was  an  exact  cube  twenty 
cubits  in  length,  breadth,  and  height.     The  outer  sanctuary  was 
forty  cubits  long  by  twenty  in  width.      Its  height  is  not  stated. 
Since  the  height  of  the  temple  as  a  whole  was  thirty  cubits 
(1  Kings  6  :  2)  there  must  have  been  a  space  over  the  inner  sanc 
tuary,  occupied  apparently  by  the  "upper  chambers"  mentioned 
in  2  Chron.  3:9.    If  the  outer  sanctuary  was  of  the  same  height 
as  the  inner,  then  there  were  chambers  over  that  also. 

4.  The  oracle,  that  is,  the  inner  sanctuary,  was  separated  from 
the  outer  by  a  partitiqp,  in  which — evidently  at  an  equal  distance 
from  the  two  sides — was  a  r/oo/v/v///,  occupying  with  the  frame  in 
which  it  was  set  a  fifth  part  of  the  wall,  that  is,  four  cubits.    This 
was  its  width.     The  height  must  have  been  proportional.     The 
two  leaves  of  the  door  were  single,  and  made  of  olive-wood  carved 
with  cherubim,  palm-trees,  and  opening  flowers,  the  whole  over 
laid  with  gold.     The  inner  sanctuary  had  also  a  veil  of  blue,  and 
purple,  and  crimson,  and  fine  linen,  with  figures  of  cherubim  in- 


THE   FIIIST   AND  SECOND   TEMPLE. 

wrought.  2  Cliron.  3  : 14.  "  The  doors,"  says  Keil  (on  1  Kings 
6  :  32),  "  did  not  make  the  veil  mentioned  in  2  Cliron.  3  : 14  unne 
cessary,  as  many  suppose.  It  may  well  have  hung  within  the 
doors ;  so  that  even  when  their  folds  were  opened  without,  the 
veil  furnished  a  second  covering,  in  order  that  thus  every  glimpse 
into  the  most  holy  place  might  be  cut  off  from  the  priests  who 
ministered  in  the  outer  sanctuary  and  court."  The  doorway  of 
the  outer  sanctuary  occupied  a  fourth  part  of  the  wall,  that  is, 
five  cubits ;  and  it  had  two  double  leaves  made  of  cypress  wood, 
ornamented  like  the  leaves  of  the  inner  door,  and  overlaid  with 
gold.  Both  the  inner  and  outer  doors  turned  on  hinges  of  gold. 
1  Kings  7 : 50. 

5.  In  respect  to  the  furniture  of  the  temple,  we  notice  some 
additions  to  that  of  the  tabernacle.  (1.)  The  addition  in  the 
oracle  or  inner  sanctuary  of  two  cliemlim  made  of  olive-wood, 
each  ten  cubits  high.  These  stood  against  the  western  or  hinder 
wall  of  the  sanctuary,  with  their  faces  directed  inward  (2  Chron. 
3: 13),  and  their  wings  outspread,  "so  that  the  wing  of  the  one 
touched  the  one  wall,  and  the  wing  of  the  other  cherub  touched 
the  other  wall ;  and  their  wings"  (their  inner  wings)  "touched 
one  another  in  the  midst  of  the  house."  1  Kings  6  :  27.  Their 
symbolism  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  cherubim  upon  the  mercy- 
seat.  (2.)  The  introduction  into  the  outer  sanctuary  of  ten  can 
dlesticks  of  gold,  and  ten  tables  also,  instead  of  the  one  candlestick 
and  the  one  table  of  showbread  that  belonged  to  the  taberna 
cle.  2  Chron:  4 :  7,  8.  The  ten  candlesticks  were  made  "  accord 
ing  to  their  manner,"  that  is,  according  to  the  pattern  of  the 
golden  candlestick  of  the  tabernacle;  and  the  tables  were  for 
the  showbread.  2  Cliron.  4 :  7,  19,  20.  Of  these  candlesticks 
and  tables  five  were  set  on  the  right  side  of  the  outer  sanctuary, 
and  five  on  the  left.  In  1  Kings  7  : 48  only -one  table  is  men 
tioned  ;  that,  namely,  on  which  the  twelve  loaves  were  placed ; 
for  the  loaves  were  certainly  not  divided  among  the  tables. 
(3.)  The  addition  to  the  temple  of  icindows  of  closed  lattice-U'ork 
(the  true  rendering  of  1  Kings  6:4);  that  is,  lattice-work  that 
could  not  be  opened  and  closed  at  pleasure,  and  which  served 


618  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

for  ventilation.  These  windows  seem  to  liave  been  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  wall  above  the  three  stories  of  chambers  that  were 
built  around  the  temple.  See  below,  No.  7. 

6.  In  front  of  the  temple  was  a  porch  extending  across  its 
whole  width,  twenty  cubits,  and  ten  cubits  deep.     The  height  of 
this  porch  is  not  given  in  the  first  book  of  Kings,  but  in  the  sec 
ond  book  of  Chronicles  (3  : 4)  it  is  said  to  have  been  one  hundred 
and  twenty  cubits  high,  a  measure  which  is  "  so  entirely  out  of 
proportion  to  the  other  dimensions  of  the  porch  and  the  general 
height  of  the  building,  that  it  is  commonly  supposed  there  is 
some  error  in  the  text."     Imperial  Bible  Diet.,  Art.,  Temple.     In 
the  porch  in  front  of  the  temple  (1  Kings  7  :  21 ;  2  Chron.  3  : 17) 
were  placed  two  pillars  of  brass  "  eighteen  cubits  high  apiece, 
and  a  line  of  twelve  cubits  did  compass  either  of  them  about." 
The  ornamental  work  on  these  pillars  is  described  at  length. 
1  Kings  7  : 15-22.     The  name  of  the  pillar  on  the  right  side  was 
Jachin,  he  establishes ;  that  of  the  pillar  on  the  left  side,  Boaz,  in 
him  is  strength.     The  temple  was  the  dwelling-place  of  Jehovah ; 
and  these  pillars  were  symbols  of  the  great  truth  that  he  estab 
lishes  his  people,  and  that  their  strength  is  in  him. 

7.  Around  the  temple  on  three  sides — the  north  and  south 
sides  and  the  west  end — were  built  three  stories  of  chambers  one 
above  another,  each  story  being  five  cubits  in  height  (1  Kings 
6  : 10) ;  making,  with  an  allowance  for  the  thickness  of  the  floors, 
some  eighteen  cubits  of  elevation,  above  which  the  temple  itself 
rose  to  the  height  of  thirty  cubits  from  its  foundation.     The 
cedar  beams  on  which  the  successive  stories  rested  were  not  let 
into  the  wall  of  the  temple  (which  would  have  made  them  seem 
to  constitute  a  part  of  it,  and  would  have  been  derogatory  to  its 
sacred  character) ;  but  they  rested  on  offsets  produced  by  suc 
cessive  diminutions  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall.     Hence  it  hap 
pened  that  the  breadth  of  the  lower  story  of  chambers  was  five 
cubits ;  that  of  the  middle  story,  six  cubits ;  and  that  of  the  up 
per  -story,  seven  cubits.     That  they  were  let  into  the  wall  which 
supported  them  on  the  outside,  we  may  infer  from  the  descrip 
tion  of  the  temple  seen  in  vision  by  Ezekiel,  where  this  is  express- 


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PLAN   OF   THE   TEMPLE  IN  THIO  TIME   OF  CHRIST. 


A.  The  Holy  of  Holies. 

B.  The  Holy  Place. 

C.  The  Altar  of  Burnt-offerings. 

D.  The  brazen  Laver. 

E.  The  court  of  the  Priests. 

F.  The  court  of  Israel. 

G.  The  gate  Nicanor. 

H.  TLe  court  of  the  Wocie:  . 


I.  The  gato  Beautiful. 

J.  The  court  of  the  Gentiles. 

K.  The  Eastern  or  Shushan  gate. 

L.  Solomon's  Porch,  or  colonnade. 

M.  The  Royal  Porch. 

N.  The  Outer  Wall. 

O.  Apartments  for  various  usec. 


slJLJL* 


xart_nj\.*xjLJi_fi-jij  LTU-IJI 


SIDE  VIEW  OF  THE  TEMPL'.:,   FROM  THE   SOUTH  ;    IN   PART  AFTKK  DR.   BARCLAY. 


THE  FIRST  AND  SECOND  TEMPLE.  619 

ly  stated.  Ezek.  41 :  G.  The  ascent  to  the  chambers*  was  by 
winding  stairs  from  the  lower  story  to  the  middle,  and  from  that 
to  the  upper  story.  1  Kings  6  :  8. 

Josephus  (Antiq. ,  8.  3.  2)  says  that  the  chambers  were  thirty  in  number; 
that  is,  thirty  for  each  story,  and  that  the  mode  of  entrance  was  from  one 
into  another.  He  further  says  that  the  chambers  of  the  lower  story  were 
five  cubits  in  length,  and  the  same  in  breadth,  and  twenty  cubits  high, 
which  last  dimension  is  manifestly  incorrect,  as  are  some  other  of  his  meas 
ures.  These  chambers  were  for  'the  use  of  the  priests,  the  officers  who  had 
the  supervision  of  the  temple,  etc. 

8.  The  temple  had  two  courts  ;  the  inner  (1  Kings  6  : 36)  called 
also  the  court  of  the  2^'iests  (2  Chron.  4:9),  and  the  upper  court 
(Jer.  36  : 10),  as  being  elevated  above  the  other ;  and  the  outer 
or  f/real  court  (2  Chron.  4  :  9).     The  walls  of  the  inner  court  were 
built  with  three  rows  of  hewn  stone,  and  a  row  of  cedar  beams, 
and  both  courts  were  furnished  with  doors  overlaid  with  brass. 
"With  the  courts  were  connected  chambers  or  cells  for  the  use  of 
the  porters  and  other  attendants,  and  for  storerooms  in  which 
were  kept  the  treasures  of  the  temple,  and  everything  necessary 
for  its  service.     2  Kings  23  : 11 ;  1  Chron.  9  :  26 ;  28  : 12 ;  2  Chron. 
31:5,11;  Jer.  36  : 10;' etc. 

9.  In  the  furniture  of  il«j  iiuicr  court  we  notice  changes  cor 
responding  to  those  made  in  the  sanctuary.     The  brazen  altar 
of  the  tabernacle,  five  cubits  square  and  three  in  height,  was 
superseded    by   an   altar  of   brass   twenty   cubits   square   and 
ten  cubits  in  height  (2  Chron.  4:1),  the  ascent  to  which  must 
have  been  by  an  inclined  plane  (Exod.  20  : 26).     In  place  of  the 
laver  belonging  to  the  tabernacle,  Solomon  made  a  molten  sea 
of  "  ten  cubits  from  one  brim  to  the  other,  round  all  about,  with 
a  height  of  five  cubits,  and  a  line  of  thirty  cubits  did  compass  it 
about,"     1  Kings  7:23;  2  Chron.  4:2.     The  capacity  of  this 
sea  was,  according  to  1  Kings  7:26;  two  thousand  baths  (ac 
cording  to  2  Chron.  4 : 5,  three  thousand  baths,  which  is  appa 
rently  an  error  in  the  text) ;  that  is,  reckoning  the  bath  as  does 
Robinson,  at  8|  gallons,  17,750  gallons;  or,  according  to  the  old 


620  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

reckoning  of  7.\  gallons,  to  a  bath,  15,000  gallons.  It  was  orna 
mented  around  the  brim  with  knops  (gourd  like  figures)  and  flow 
ers  of  lilies ;  and  it  stood  on  twelve  brazen  oxen  with  their  faces 
turned  outward,  looking  three  in  a  group  towards  each  of  the 
four  quarters  of  the  earth.  Solomon  also  made,  in  correspond 
ence  with  the  ten  candlesticks  and  ten  tables  of  the  sanctuary, 
ten  bases  or  stands  of  brass  four  cubits  square  with  a  height  of 
three  cubits,  on  each  of  which  he  placed  a  laver  containing  forty 
baths.  The  bases  were  ornamented- with  figures  of  lions,  oxen, 
and  cherubim,  and  had  each  four  wheels,  for  the  convenience  of 
moving  them  from  place  to  place.  They  were  arranged  in  the 
court  five  on  the  right  side  of  the  house  and  five  on  the  left.  See 
1  Kings  7  :  27-39. 

For  the  service  of  the  sanctuary  a  great  quantity  of  water  was  required. 
The  use  of  the  layers,  as  distinguished  from  that  of  the  sea,  is  thus  given 
(2  Chron.  4:6):  "He  made  also  ten  layers,  and  put  five  on  the  right  hand 
and  five  on  the  left,  to  wash  in  them  ;  such  things  as  they  offered  for  the 
burnt-offering  they  washed  in  them  ;  but  the  sea  was  for  the  priests  to 
wash  in."  At  the  time  of  the  captivity,  this  sea,  with  the  bases  and  bra/en 
pillars,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Chaldeans,  when  they  were  broken  in 
pieces,  and  the  brass  of  them  carried  to  Babylon.  The  movable  furniture 
of  the  temple  was  transported  without  injury.  2  Kings,  chap.  25 ;  Ezra 
L  :  7-11. 

II.    THE   TEMPLE  OF  ZERUBBABEL. 

10.  The  temple  of  Solomon  stood,  according  to  the  com 
monly  received  chronology,  about  417  years  from  the  time  of  its 
completion  to  that  of  its  destruction  by  the  Chaldeans,  B.  c.  588 
years.  The  foundation  of  the  second  temple  was  laid  by  Zerub- 
babel  and  his  associates  B.  c.  535  years,  and,  after  a  long 
interruption,  was  finished  B.  c.  515  years,  or  seventy-three  years 
after  the  destruction  of  Solomon's  temple.  Concerning  the 
plan  of  this  temple  we  have  but  little  information.  The  de 
cree  of  Darius  (Ezra  6 :  3)  directs  that  it  shah1  be  sixty  cubits 
high  and  sixty  in  breadth.  Both  these  dimensions  are  reckoned 
externally.  The  inner  and  outer  sanctuary  did  not  certainly  ex 
ceed  twenty  cubits  in  their  interior  width;  for  this  was  their 


THE  FIKST  AND  SECOND  TEMPLE.  621 

width  in  Solomon's  temple,  and  in  the  temple  as  renewed  by 
Herod.  The  width  of  sixty  cubits  was  made  up  according  to 
Keil  (on  Ezra  6:3)  as  follows :  twenty  cubits  for  the  interior 
width  of  the  sanctuary ;  five  cubits  on  each  side  for  the  width  of 
the  temple  walls  at  their  foundation ;  ten  cubits  on  each  side  for 
the  width  of  the  chambers  built  around  the  tenrple ;  five  cubits 
on  each  side  for  the  width  Qf  the  outer  walls  of  the  chambers ; 
that  is :  5  + 10  +  5 + 20  +  5  + 10  -f  5  cubits  =  60  cnbits.  How  much 
of  the  height  of  sixty  cubits  was  occupied  by  the  sanctuary 
proper  we  have  no  means  of  deciding.  According  to  Josephus, 
(Jewish  "War,  5.  5.  5)  the  height  of  the  two  sanctuaries,  as 
renewed  by  Herod,  was  sixty  cubits;  but  this  may  have  had 
its  ground  in  the  Jewish  interpretation  of  this  very  passage  in 
Ezra. 

11.  When  the  foundation  of  this  temple  was  laid  by  Zerub- 
babel,  "all  the  people  shouted  with  a  great  shout  when  they 
praised  the  Lord,  because  the  foundation  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord  was  laid."  But  the  old  men  who  had  seen  the  first  house 
in  its  glory,  "wept  with  a  loud  voice."  To  this  scene  the  prophet 
Haggai  refers  (chap.  2:3):  "  Who  is  left  among  you  that  saw 
this  house  in  her  first  glory?  And  how  do  ye  see  it  now  ?  Is  it 
not  in  your  eyes  in  comparison  of  it  as  nothing?"  But  God's 
promise  was  (ver.  9):  "The  glory  of  this  latter  house  shall  be 
greater  than  of  the  former,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  and  in  this 
place  will  I  give  peace,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts" — a  promise  that 
was  fulfilled  in  the  lower  sense  when  Herod  renewed  Zerubba- 
bel's  temple  with  a  magnificence  surpassing  that  of  Solomon's 
temple  ;  and  in  the  higher  sense  when  this  temple  was  honored 
by  the  presence  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  great  Peacemaker  be 
tween  God  and  man. 

The  second  temple  wanted  the  ark  of  the  covenant  and  the  Uriin  and 
Thtunmini.  Of  the  cloud  which  was  a  token  of  God's  presence  when  the 
first  temple  was  dedicated  (1  Kings  8  : 10,  11),  we  have  no  notice  in  the 
history  of  the  second  temple.  It  had  but  one  candlestick  and  table  of 
showbread  (1  Mace.  4:49),  according  to  the  primitive  order  of  the  taber 
nacle.  According  to  Jewish  authorities  (Joma,  5.  2},  a  stone  was  set  in  the 


622  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

inner  sanctuary  in  place  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  and  on  this  the  blood 
of  the  sin-offerings  was  sprinkled.  This  accords  with  the  report  of  Poin- 
pey's  visit  to  the  sanctuary  (B.  c.  63):  "A  sanctuary  with  no  image  of  the 
gods,  and  empty  shrines"  (Tacitus,  Hist.,  5.  9). 

III.    THE  TEMPLE  OF  HEROD. 

12.  Herod  was  not  satisfied  with  the  quality  of  the  second 
temple,  and,  in  an  oration  addressed  to  the  Jews  (Josephus,  An- 
fciq.,  15.  11.  1),  he  proposed  to  replace  it  by  one  of  surpassing 
magnificence;  "thinking,"  says  Josephus,  "that  the  accomplish 
ment  of  this  would  be,  as  it  was,  the  most  famous  of  all  the  works 
undertaken  by  him,  and  would  serve  for  an  everlasting  memorial 
of  him."    The  Jewrs  very  naturally  regarded  his  proposal  with 
coldness  and  distrust ;  being  apprehensive  that  if  he  should  pull 
down  the  existing  temple,  he  would  not  find  means  to  accomplish 
his  plan  for  the  erection  of  a  new  house  on  a  scale  so  vast  as 
that  proposed  by  him.    To  allay  their  f oars  Herod  promised  that 
he  would  not  take  down  their  temple  till  he  had  pivpaivd  nil 
things  necessary  for  rebuilding  it.     This  promise  he  faithfully 
kept,  replacing  the  several  parts  of  the  temple  in  succession,  so 
that  its  identity  was  not  destroyed,  but  it  continued  to  be  called, 
as  it  really  was,  the  second  temple,  though  renewed  in  a  form 
more  magnificent  than  that  of  even  Solomon's  temple,  and  with 
grander  dimensions. 

13.  We  add  a  brief  account  of  Herod's  temple  as  it  appeared 
to  a  visitor  entering  its  several  parts  from  without.     The  entire 
enclosure  of  the  temple  occupied,  according  to  Josephus,  a  sta 
dium  square ;    according  to  the  Talmud,  five  hundred  cubits 
square,  its  successive  courts  lying  in  the  form  of  terraces,  one 
above  another,  and  the  temple  proper  occupying  the  highest 
place.     The  outermost  enclosure,  called  the  conrf'<>/'  f//c  Gentiles, 
was-  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  a  high  wall.     It  had  on  three 
sides  a  double  line  of  porches,  and  on  the  fourth,  or  south  side, 
a  triple  line.     These  porches  were  of  surpassing  magnificence. 
Their  roofs  were  of  cedar,  adorned  with x  cawed  work.     Each 
double  porch  rested  on  a  triple  row  of  columns,  and  the  triple 


THE  FIRST  AND  SECOND  TEMPLE. 

porch  on  a  quadruple  row.  The  columns  were  of  the  Corinthian 
order  of  architectuiv,  and  consisted  each  of  a  single  piece  of 
white  marble  twenty-five  cubits  in  height ;  an  altitude  which  was 
doubled  by  the  addition  of  pedestal,  capital,  cornice,  and  roof. 
Thus  the  entire  height  of  the  porches  was  fifty  cubits,  with  a 
breadth  of  thirty  cubits.  From  these  measures  is  to  be  excepted 
the  middle  porch  on  the  south  side,  which  was  forty-five  cubits 
broad  and  a  hundred  high.  All  the  porches  were  paved  with 
marble  of  various  colors.  The  outer  porch  on  the  eastern  side 
was  called  Solomons  pcrrch. 

It  was  in  the  court  of  the  Gentiles  that  the  money-changers  were  found, 
and  those  who  sold  animals  and  doves  for  sacrifice.  Matt.  21 : 12,  13 ; 
Mark  11 : 15-17  ;  Luke  19  :45,  46  ;*Jolm  2  : 13-17.  "In  this  court,"  says 
Jahii  (Archaeology,  $343),  "appear  to  have  been  repositories,  of  which  wo 
a  iv  informed  by  Josephus  (Jewish  War;  6.  5.  2),  in  which  the  treasures, 
utensils,  supplies,  etc.,  of  the  temple  were  kept.  But  these  repositories 
are  to  be  distinguished  from  the  treasury  mentioned  in  Mark  12  : 41,  into 
which  the  gifts  of  the  temple  were  cast."  *  The  latter  was,  according  to  the 
Talmudists,  in  the  court,  of  the  women. 

<! 

14.  Passing  through  the  court  of  the  Gentiles,  the  visitor 
came  to  the  inner  court,  which  was  encompassed  by  a  double  en 
closure.  First,  there  was  an  elegant  stone  wall,  three  cubits  in 
height,  on  all  four  sides.  On  this  stood  at  equal  distances  pillars 
with  inscriptions  in  Greek  and  Latin,  forbidding  to  strangers 
any  further  approach  under  penalty  of  death.  Passing  through 
this,  one  came,  by  an  ascent  of  fourteen  steps,  to  a  level  plat 
form,  ten  cubits  broad;  and  then,  by  an  ascent  of  five  more 
steps,  to  the  proper  gate  and  wrall  of  the  inner  court.  This  wall, 
which  encompassed  it  on  all  sides,  was  forty  cubits  high  without, 
but  within  only  twenty-live  cubits  high,  the  whole  interior  plat 
form  being  elevated  fifteen  cubits.  The  inner  court  was  further 
subdivided  by  a  low  wall  into  the  cunrt  of  the  women  on  the  east 
side,  and  the  court  of  the  Israelites,  which  was  four-square,  sur 
rounding  the  temple  on  all  sides.  Between  the  gates  of  tliis 
court  were  single  porches,  which,  says  Josephus,  were  no  way 
inferior  to  the  porches  of  the  lower  court,  except  in  size.  Pass- 


024:  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

ing  through  the  court  of  the  Israelites,  one  came  to  the  inner 
most  area,  called  the  court  of  the  priests,  surrounded  by  a  low 
wall,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  temple  itself  was  placed.  None7 
but  the  priests  were  permitted  to  enter  this  court,  not  even  Herod 
himself  (Pompey's  visit  to  the  sanctuary  was  simply  in'  the  exer 
cise  of  his  military  power  as  a  conqueror) ;  but,  according  to  the 
express  statement  of  Josephus  (Antiq.,  15.  11.  6),  the  temple 
proper  was  rebuilt  by  the  priests  in  a  year  and  six  months, 
while  Herod  superintended  the  construction  of  the  porches  and 
the  outward  enclosures,  a  work  which  occupied  his  time  for  eight 
years. 

15.  The  gates  of  the  courts  leading  up  to  the  sanctuary  cprre- 
sponded  in  magnificence  with  the  general  splendor  of  the  temple. 
The  outer  wall  of  the  temple  area  had  on  the  west  side  four  gates 
(Josephus,  Antiq.,  15.  11.  5),  the  southernmost  leading  over  the 
bridge  that  connected  the  temple  with  Zion  (Robinson's  Bib.  Ees., 
1,  pp.  287,  288).  On  the  north  side  there  was  no  proper  gate,  but 
a  secret  subterranean  passage  communicating  with  the  fortress 
Antonia  (Chap.  2,  No.  34),  designed  for  the  use  of  Herod  and 
his  officers,  that  he  might  at  all  times  have  command  of  the 
temple.  According  to  Josephus  (Antiq.,  15.  11.  5),  the  south  side 
"had  gates  about  the  middle."  At  the  present  day,  about  thirty 
feet  in  front  of  the  Mosk-el-Aksa  (Chap.  2,  No.  36),  a  passage 
leads  down  by  steps  under  the  mosk  to  a  noble  ancient  gateway, 
described  by  Catherwood  as  forty-two  feet  in  breadth  by  fifty  or 
sixty  feet  in  length  from  south  to  north.  It  is  a  double  gateway, 
with  a  middle  row  of  columns  extending  through  the  whole  pas 
sage,  and  it  served  for  access  to  the  subterranean  vaults  of  the 
temple  area,  and  thus  to  the  temple  itself ;  but  it  was  no  gate 
way  for  common  use.  The  celebrated  golden  gate  on  the  eastern 
side,  which  is  similar  in  its  structure,  is  referred  by  Kobinson 
(Bib.  Ees.,  vol.  1,  p.  296)  to  a  later  age.  Both  this  and  the  gate 
way  on  the  south  side  are  now  closed  up. 

The  inner  enclosure  about  the  court  of  the  Israelites  and  that 
of  the  women  had  nine  gates,  four  on  the  north  side,  four  on  the 
south,  and  one  in  front  on  the  east.  Of  the  side  gates  the 


THE  FIRST  AND  SECOND  TEMPLE.  G25 

tw6  easternmost  led  into  the  court  of  the  women,  and  the  re 
maining  six  into  the  court  of  the  Israelites.  These  gates  were 
all  adorned  with  gold  and  silver,  but  the  eastern  gate,  called  the 
gate  of  Nicanor,  surpassed  all  the  rest  in  splendor.  It  was  of 
Corinthian  brass,  fifty  cubits  in  height,  with  folds  of  forty  cubits, 
profusely  adorned  with  thick  plates  of  silver  and  gold.  This  is 
, supposed  to  have  been  "the  gate  called  Beautiful."  Acts  3:2. 
Ah1  the  gates  had  large  spaces  within,  with  side  rooms  built  like 
towers.  See  Josephus,  Jewish  War,  5.  5.  3. 

16.  To -the  temple  proper  there  was  an  ascent  from  the  court 
of  the  priests  of  twelve  steps.     The  porch  in  front  of  the  sanc 
tuary  was,  according  to  Josephus  (Jewish  War,  5.  5.  4),  one  hun 
dred  cubits  high  and  as  many  broad,  having  shoulders  which 
projected  on  each  side  twenty  cubits  beyond  the  breadth  of  the 
house.     It  was  entered  by  an  open  gateway,  destitute  of  folds, 
that  was  seventy  cubits  high  and  twenty-five  broad.     Passing 
through  the  porch,  one  arrived  at  the  entrance  which  opened 
into  the  outer  sanctuary  fifty-five  cubits  high  and  and  sixteen 
broad.     The  gate,  as  well  as  its  adjacent  wall,  was  all  covered 
with  gold.    "  It  had  also  above  golden  vines,  from  which  clusters 
of  grapes  hung  of  the  length  of  a  man."    The  inner  sanctuary 
was  separated  from  the  outer  by  a  gateway,  with  golden  doors  of 
the  same  dimensions  as  those  of  the  gateway  belonging  to  the 
outer  sanctuary.     Before  each  hung  a  richly  embroidered  veil  of 
equal  size  with  the  doors.     The  size  of  both  the  inner  and  outer 
sanctuaries  remained  the  same  as  in  Solomon's  temple;  but  the 
chambers  built  around  gave  to  the  temple  an  entire  width  of 
sixty  cubits,  with  an  exterior  extent  of  one  hundred  cubits  from 
east  to  west,  the  porch  and  walls  included. 

17.  According  to  Josephus  (Jewish  War,  5.  5.  6),  the  altar  of 
burnt-offering  that  stood  in  the  court  of  the  priests  was  fifty  cu 
bits  square  with  a  height  of  fifteen  cubits,  the  ascent  to  it  being 
by  an  inclined  plane.     The  Talmud  reduces  its  dimensions  to 
thirty-two  cubits.     Middoth,  3.  1. 

For  the  magnificent  appearance  of  the  temple  as  seen  from  a  distance, 
and  for  the  size  of  the  foundation-stones  of  the  temple  area,  see  Chap. 

Oeofc-.  4  Auliq.  '27 


f>26  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

2,  Nos.  32,  33.  The  material  splendor  of  the  temple  was  valuable  only  as 
a  symbol  of  the  spiritual  excellence  and  glory  which  belonged  to  the  Lord 
of  the  temple  and  to  his  service.  When  He  who  gave  to  it  all  its  true  glory 
was  rejected  and  crucified,  it  became  only  an  abomination  in  God's  sight, 
v.-hicb.  he  speedily  put  out  of  the  way  for  ever  "with  tumult,  with  shouting, 
and  with  the  sound  of  a  trumpet." 


THE  JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE.  627 


CHAPTEK   XXXIV. 

THE    JEWISH     SYNAGOGUE. 

1.  THE  desolation  of  Judaea  by  the  Chaldeans,  the  burning  of 
the  city  and  temple,  and  the  captivity  of  the  people  had  a  gloomy 
aspect.  But  these,  like  all  God's  judgments  upon  his  cove 
nant  people,  had  a  purifying,  not  a  destroying  efficacy.  They 
learned,  by  bitter  experience,  what  they  might  have  known  from 
the  testimony  of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  that  idolatry,  with  the 
profligacy  in  public  and  private  life  that  it  brought  in  its  train, 
would  end  in  national  ruin.  The  pious  remnant  of  Jews,  upon 
their  return  to  Palestine,  were  anxious  above  all  things  that  the 
masses  of  the  people  should  be  thoroughly  instructed  in  the  law 
of  Moses;  and  out  of  this  feeling  came  the  institution  of  the  Jew 
ish  synagogue.  But  it  grew  up  in  such  a  silent  way  that  it  is  im 
possible  to  give  an  exact  account  of  its  origin.  The  germ  of  the 
institution  was  probably  brought  by  the  returning  exiles  from 
the  land  of  their  captivity.  But  the  synagogue,  in  its  mature 
form,  is  of  later  date  than  the  restoration.  It  was  the  conflict 
of  the  Maccabees  with  Antiochus,  who  aimed  at  the  destruction 
of  the  Mosaic  institutions,  that  gave  to  the  Jewish  synagogue, 
not  indeed  its  existence,  but  its  high  position  in  the  national  rsti- 
matiou.  Before  this  eventful  crisis  it  seems  to  have  held  but  a 
subordinate  place.  See  Keil,  Archiiologie,  1.  §  30;  and  Leyivr, 
in  Herzog,  Encyclopiidie. 

Before  the  captivity  it  was  the  custom  of  pious  Israelites  to  resort  to 
the  prophets  for  instruction  at  stated  seasons  (2  Kings  4  :  23) ;  but  there 
was  no  established  system  for  the  weekly  instruction  of  the  whole  people  in 
their  several  cities  and  villages.  "The  special  mission  of  the  priests  uml 
Levites  under  Jehoshaphat  (2  Chron.  17 : 7-9)  shows  that  there  was  no 
regular  provision  for  reading  '  the  book  of  the  law  of  the  Lord '  to  the 
people,  and  makes  it  probable  that  even  the  rule  which  prescribed  that  it 
should  be  read  once  every  seven  years  at  the  feast  of  tabernacles  (Deut. 


628  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

31  : 10)  had  fallen  into  disuse."  Smith's  Bible  Diet. ,  Art.,  Synagogue.  The 
attempt  of  the  Jews  to  trace  this  institution  back  to  the  days  of  the  early 
patriarchs  wants  even  the  shadow  of  evidence. 

2.  The  term  synagogue  is  applied  both  to  the  entire  refit /ions 
system  and  to  the  building  in  which  the  worshippers  assembled. 
The  building,  however,  was  not  essential  to  the  system.     Un 
doubtedly  the  people  assembled  originally  in  private  houses,  or 
in  the  open  air,  just  as  was  the  case  with  the  primitive  Christians. 
But  when  the  system  was  once  established,  the  erection  of  build 
ings  for  the  accommodation  of  the  people  followed  as  a  matter 
of  course.     We  find  them,  in  our  Saviour's  day,  in  every  city,  of 
Palestine,  and  in  all  the  villages  except  the  very  smallest;  also, 
out  of  Palestine,  wherever  the  Jews  were  found  in  any  consider 
able  number. 

Ten  men,  at  least,  were  required  to  constitute  a  legitimate  congregation 
for  the  performance  of  public  worship ;  and  such  a  number  might,  if  able, 
have  a  synagogue-building. 

There  is  no  mention  made  of  synagogue-buildings  in  the  Hebrew  of  the 
Old  Testament.  Whatever  maybe  the  meaning  of  the  Psalmist's  words 
(Psa.  74  :  8) :  "They  have  burned  up  all  the  assemblies  of  God "  (places  of 
assembly  for  the  worship  of  God)  "in  the  land,"  it  is  generally  agreed 
that  the  reference  is  not  to  synagogues  in  the  later  sense  of  the  word. 
See,  on  this  passage,  the  commentators. 

3.  The  structure  of  the  synagogue  was  in  general  modelled 
after  that  of  the  sanctuary.     The  site  was  chosen,  if  possible, 
on  the  highest  ground  in  the  place,  in  order  that  no  house  might 
overlook  it.  Where  this  was  not  practicable,  a  tall  pole  was  raised 
from  the  roof,  to  make  it  a  conspicuous  object.     According  to 
Vitiinga  (de  Synag.,  pp.  178,  457),  the  direction  of  the  synagogue 
was  such  that  the  worshippers  upon  entering  always  looked  tow 
ards  Jerusalem.     At  the  wall  opposite  the  entrance — that  is,  at 
the  end  towards  Jerusalem — stood  the  chest  containing  the  sa 
cred  scrolls.     It  was  placed  on  an  elevated  base,  to  which  there 
was  an  ascent  by  several  steps,  and  had,  in  imitation  of  the  sanc 
tuary,  a  veil  hanging  before  it.     In  many  synagogues  there  is  an 
additional  chest  for  the  rolls  of  the  Haphtaroth,  or  selections 
from  the  prophetical  books.    In  front  of  tin's  chest  was  the  eight- 


THE  JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE. 

branched  lamp,  lighted  only  on  great  festivals,  and  also  a  pend 
ent  lamp  kept  ever  burning.  Other  lamps,  brought  by  the  wor 
shippers,  were  lighted  at  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbath ;  that  is, 
on  Friday  evening. 

Farther  towards  the  middle  of  the  building  was  a  raised 
platform  capable  of  containing  several  persons,  and  in  the  mid 
dle  of  this  a  pulpit,  on  which  the  holy  books  were  laid,  and 
where  the  reader  stood.  For  teaching  a  sitting  posture  was 
taken.  Luke  4 :  20 ;  John  8:2;  Matt.  5:1;  26  :  55.  The  lower 
part,  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  occupied  by  the  congregation,  was 
originally  divided  into  right  and  left  by  a  low  partition,  the  men 
occupying  one  side  and  the  women  the  other;  but  in  modern 
usage  the  women  are  placed  in  low  side-galleries  with  screens  of 
lattice-work.  Almsboxes  were  placed  near  the  door,  after  the 
pattern  of  the  temple.  There  was  also  a  chest  for  the  trumpets 
and  other  musical  instruments  used  on  festival  days.  The  sacred 
books  are  always  hi  the  form  of  rolls,  the  rollers  being  elabo 
rately  decorated,  with  embroidered  or  enamelled  cases. 

The  chief  seats  in  the  synagogue  (Matt.  23  :  6)  were  those  near  the  pul 
pit,  on  the  raised  platform  noticed  above.  They  were  occupied  by  the 
elders  of  the  synagogue,  and  other  persons  of  distinction. 

The  oratories  (Greek,  proseuchai]  were  not  altogether  identical  with  the 
synagogues,  though  they  might  be  sometimes  used  as  such.  They  were 
places  for  social  prayer  and  devotion,  mostly  without  the  walls  of  cities, 
and  generally  by  the  side  of  rivers,  or  on  the  seashore,  for  the  convenience  of 
ablution.  "  But  often  the  oratory"  (says  Kobinson,  Lex.  New  Test.)  "ap 
pears  not  to  have  been  a  building,  and  was  probably  some  retired  place  in 
the  open  air  or  in  a  grove."  The  oratory  at  Tiberias,  which  Josephus  de 
scribes  as  "a  very  large  building,  able  to  contain  a  great  multitude  "  (Life, 
chap.  54),  is  generally  thought  to  have  been  a  true  synagogue.  In  Acts 
16  : 13  is  a  reference  to  one  of  these  oratories.  Perhaps  also  in  Luke  6  : 12. 

4.  The  ancient,  like  the  modern  synagogue,  had  a  regular  or 
ganization. 

First  of  all  there  was  the  college  of  elders,  who  constituted 
the  local  council,  and  managed  the  affairs  of  the  synagogue  in 
subordination  to  the  sanhedrim,  or  grand  council  of  the  nation. 
There  were  the  rulers  of  the  synagogue  (Acts  13  : 15),  called  also 


630  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

pastors  and  rulers,  terms  that  naturally  passed  over  to  the  Chris 
tian  congregations.  Their  presiding  officer  was  called  by  way  of 
eminence,  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue.  Mark  5 : 35 ;  Luke  8 : 49 ;  etc. 

The  elders  had  the  right  of  excommunication.  John  9  :  22  ;  12  :  42  ; 
16 :  2.  That  scourging  in  the  synagogues  was  customary  is  put  beyond 
doubt  by  the  Scriptural  notices  in  Matt.  10  : 17  ;  23  :  34  j  Mark  13  :  9  ;  Acts 
22  : 19  ;  26  :  11. 

The  legate  of  tlie  congregation  was,  as  a  rule,  the  leader  of  the 
people  in  divine  worship.  He  recited  the  prayers  in  then.'  name, 
proclaimed  the  festivals,  and  performed  various  other  services 
pertaining  to  the  order  of  divine  service.  It  was  required  that 
he  should  be  a  ready  man,  of  blameless  life,  versed  in  the  Scrip 
tures,  practised  in  prayer,  of  ripe  years,  of  pleasant  voice,  not 
wealthy,  the  father  of  a  numerous  family.  Compare  the  qualifi 
cations  for  the  office  of  a  bishop  enumerated  by  the  apostle, 
1  Tim.  3:1-7;  Titus  1:6-9. 

The  angels  of  the  apocalyptic  churches  are  by  many  supposed  to  be  their 
presiding  officers,  so-called  in  allusion  to  the  legate  of  the  congnyatinn  in 
the  Jewish  synagogue,  whose  office  we  have  been  considering.  Others  un 
derstand  the  term  of  their  guardian  angels  in  accordance  with  the  system 
of  angelic  powers  that  prevails  in  the  book  of  Eevclation. 

When,  soon  after  the  captivity,  the  Hebrew  had  ceased  to  be 
the  vernacular  of  the  people,  it  became  necessary  to  have  an  in 
terpreter,  who  stood  by  the  side  of  the  reader,  and  rendered  into 
the  vernacular  of  the  country,  a  verse  at  a  time,  the  lesson  of  the 
day  It  does  not  appear  that  this  office  was  permanently  in 
vested  in  any  one  person.  Any  member  of  the  synagogue,  who 
had  the  requisite  qualifications,  could  act  as  interpreter. 

A  lower  office  was  that  of  the  minister  or  servant  (hazzan),  who 
who  had  the  charge  of  opening  and  shutting  the  synagogue, 
cleansing  it,  lighting  the  lamps,  handing  the  sacred  rolls  to  tho 
reader  and  replacing  them,  etc.  This  is  the  person  referred  to 
in  the  account  of  our  Lord's  visit  to  Nazareth  (Luke  4 : 20):  "And 
he  closed  the  book  and  gave  it  again  to  the  minister."  In  prog 
ress  of  time  the  minister  had  also  the  office  of  schoolmaster,  and 
thus  his  position  became  one  of  much  influence. 


THE  JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE.  631 

There  were  also  teii  men  colled  Italian  i»i,  wit  of  leisure,  \\lmsr  exact  po 
sition  has  been  of  matter  of  controversy.  "By  some  (Lightfoot,  Hoi'.  U<'1>., 
in  Matt.  4 :  23;  and,  in  part,  Vitringa,  p.  532)  they  have  been  identified 
with  the  above  officials,  with  the  addition  of  the  alms  collectors.  lUini- 
ferd,  however  (Ugolini,  Thes.,  vol.  21),  sees  in  them  simply  a  body  of  men 
permanently  on  duty,  making  up  a  congregation  (ten  being  the  minimum 
number),  so  that  there  might  be  no  delay  in  beginning  the  service  at  the 
proper  hours,  and  that  no  single  worshipper  might  go  away  disappointed. " 
Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  Art.,  Synagogues. 

5.  Whatever  freedom  there  may  have  been  in  the  synagogue- 
services  at  the  beginning,  they  soon  settled  into  a  fixed  order, 
consisting  of  devotional  exercises,  the  reading  of  Scripture,  and 
oral  instruction.  The  devotional  exercises  were  embodied  in  an 
elaborate  liturgy.  This  comprised  anciently  the  chanting  of  cer 
tain  psalms;  the  recitation  of  the  so-called  site  ma,  consisting  of 
Deut.  6:4^-9;  11 : 13-21 ;  Numb.  15  :  37-41 ;  with  benedictions 
and  prayers,  among  which  is  the  collection  called  sltcmoneli  esreh, 
that  is,  eighteen,  because  it  consists  of  eighteen  so-called  bless 
ings.  It  is  to  be  understood  that  the  devotional  services  were 
varied,  in  part,  according  to  the  various  occasions  on  which  they 
were  used. 

"The  congregation,  having  previously  washed  their  hands  outside  the 
synagogue,  and,  being  properly  assembled,  delegated  one  of  their  number 
to  go  before  the  ark  and  conduct  public  worship.  This  legate  of  the  congre 
gation,  who,  like  the  rest  of  the  congregation,  was  arrayed  in  his  fringed 
garment,  and  with  the  phylacteries  on  his  head  and  left  arm,  began  with 
reciting  the  prayer  called  kaddish,  lidy,  the  people  responding  to  certain 
parts."  Kitto's  Bible  Diet.,  Art.,  Synagogue,  where  see  a  full  account  of 
this  and  other  prayers. 

After  the  prayers  were  ended  came  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures. 
The  minister  of  the  synagogue  brought  from  the  chest  the  scroll 
of  the  Law,  and  a  section  of  it  was  read  to  the  congregation. 
It  is  said  that  originally  the  books  of  Moses  were  read  through 
in  the  synagogue  once  in  three  years.  But  afterwards  the  ar 
rangement  which  now  prevails  was  made,  namely,  the  division 
of  the  Pentateuch  into  fifty-four  sections  (allowance  being  made 
for  intercalary  months),  so  that  it  could  be  read  through  once 


G32  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

every  year.     Selections  from  the  writings   of   the   prophetical 
books  were  then  read  as  a  second  lesson. 

The  sections  of  the  law  which  are  all  indicated  in  the  common  edi 
tions  of  the  Hebrew  bible,  are  called  Parsldyoth;  the  sections  of  the 
Prophets,  HaplJiarotli.  See  Companion  to  the  Bible,  Chap.  13,  No.  6.  The 
custom  of  reading  selections  from  the  prophets  is  said  to  have  had  its  ori 
gin  during  the  persecution  of  the  Jews  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  when  the 
Jews  were  forbidden  to  read  the  books  of  Moses.  But  this  is  an  uncertain 
tradition.  "The  transition  from  the  reading  of  the  law  to  that  of  the 
prophets  is  made  by  benedictions  and  responsive  doxologies. "  Leyrer. 

With  the  reading  of  the  prophetical  sections  the  oral  dis 
course  which  followed  was  naturally  connected,  as  we  see  in  our 
Saviour's  case.  Luke  4 :  20,  seq.  In  this  department  of  the  syn 
agogue  service  much  freedom  seems  to  have  been  allowed.  Any 
priest,  elder,  or  other  person  skilful  in  the  law,  had.  liberty  to 
speak,  and  strangers  of  distinction  were  also  invited  to  address 
the  congregation.  Matt.  4 :  23 ;  9  :  35 ;  Mark  1 : 39 ;  Luke  4 :  20, 
seq.;  John  6:59;  18:20;  Acts  13:5,  and  especially  ver.  15; 
14:1;  17:10;  18:19. 

The  services  were  closed  by  a  benediction  pronounced  by  the 
priest,  or,  in  his  absence,  by  the  reader,  with,  uplifted  hands,  to 
which  the  congregation  added  their  amen. 

The  great  work  of  Vitringa  on  the  ancient  Jewish  Synagogue  is  a  store 
house  of  information.  Besides  this  there  are  many  copious  treatises  by 
German  authors,  among  whom  may  be  named  Zunz,  Herzfeld,  and  Jost. 
A  very  carefully  prepared  summary  from  the  pen  of  Leyrer,  with  full  ref 
erences  to  authorities,  may  be  found  in  Herzog's  Encyclopadie.  There 
are  also  valuable  articles  in  all  the  large  Bible  Dictionaries. 

6.  The  influence  of  the  Jewish  synagogue  on  the  religious 
character  and  history  of  the  Jews  was  immense.  To  the  sys 
tematic  instruction  in  Moses  and  the  prophets  which  it  provided 
for  the  masses  of  the  people  must  be  ascribed,  under  God,  their 
steadfast  adherence  to  the  Mosaic  institutions  amidst  all  the"  se 
ductive  influences  on  the  one  hand,  and  bloody  persecutions  on 
the  other,  to  which  they  were  exposed.  If  this  steadfastness  de 
generated,  as  we  know  it  did,  into  bigotry  and  formalism,  this  was 
the  fault  of  fallen  human  nature,  not  of  the  system  itself.  Under 


THE  JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE.  633 

the  training  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  so  powerfully  supplemented 

by  the  synagogue  services,  a  whole  nation  was  at  length  purged 
from  every  vestige  of  idolatry,  so  far  as  its  outward  form  is  con 
cerned,  and  immovably  fixed  in  its  adhesion  to  the  fundamental 
principle  of  the  Mosaic  law:  "Hear,  O  Israel!  the  Lord  our 
God  is  one  Lord;"  and  thus,  as  well  as  by  the  education  which 
the  types  of  the  Old  Testament  furnished,  the  way  was  prepared 
for  the  advent  of  the  Son  of  God. 

7.  The  influence  of  the  Jewish  synagogue  was  not  confined  to 
the  covenant  people.     It  passed  over  to  the  Christian  Cht'i'ch, 
the  true  heir  of  all  the  promises  made  to  the  Jews.     It  was  not, 
like  the  tabernacle,  and  afterwards  the  temple,  a  single  centre 
for  the  whole  nation,  with  rites  that  could  be  observed  nowhere 
else ;  but  was  distributed,  like  our  Christian  sanctuaries,  through 
the  whole  land,  each  city  and  village  having  its  own  particular 
synagogue.    It  agreed,  also,  with  our  Christian  sanctuaries  in  the 
simplicity  of  its  forms  of  worship,  and  in  the  prominence  which 
it  gave  to  the  spiritual  services  of  prayer,  praise,  and  instruction. 
From  the  nature  of  the  case,  it  had  neither  altar  nor  priesthood ; 
and  thus,  in  God's  providence,  the  way  was  prepared  for  the 
Christian  system  of  worship,  which  can  have  no  altar,  because 
the  one  offering  of  Christ,  the  Lamb  of  God,  has  expiated  the 
sins  of  the  world  once  for  all ;  nor  any  earthly  priesthood,  be 
cause  Christ,  the  great  High-priest  of  the  new  dispensation,  is  in 
heaven  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  making  intercession  there  for 
the  sins  of  his  people.   Finally,  each  synagogue  had  its  regularly 
organized  congregation,  with  duly  appointed  officers,  and  a  regu 
lar  order  of  divine  service.     In  this  respect  it  served  as  a  model 
to  the  primitive  Christian  congregations — a  model  to  be  followed 
not  superstitiously  but  intelligently,  in  accordance  with  the  free 
spirit  of  the  gospel. 

8.  But  the  worship  of  the  Christian   church  contains  more 
than  either  the  ritual  of  the  tabernacle,  or  the  order  of  the  syna 
gogue  ;  more  than  either  of  them  separately,  or  both  combined. 
It  has  the  substance  of  all  that  the  types  of  the  tabernacle  ser- 


f>34  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

vice  foreshadowed ;  and  it  adds,  to  the  instructions  of  Moses  and 
the  prophets,  which  the  synagogues  enjoyed,  the  teachings  of 
Christ  and  his  aj>osto.  Thus,  the  Christian  sanctuary,  with  its 
congregation  of  believers,  is  the  heir  to  both  the  ancient  taber 
nacle  and  the  Jewish  synagogue;  having  the  whole  worship  of 
God,  and  in  it  all  that  is  needful  for  the  believer's  edification 
here,  and  his  preparation  for  glory,  honor,  and  immortality  here 
after. 

9.  We  add  a  brief  notice  of  the  so-called  great  synagogue. 

This  wa§,  according  to  rabbinic  tradition,  a  grand  council  of  120  men, 
appointed  to  reorganize  the  religious  life  of  the  people.  To  it  is  ascrib 
ed  the  revision  of  the  sacred  text,  and  the  completion  of  the  canon  of 
the  Old  Testament.  Of  this  body  Ezra  is  said  to  have  been  the  first 
president.  According  to  Leyrer  (in  Herzog),  "the  rabbinic  tradition 
has  for  an  historic  foundation  so  much  truth,  at  least,  as  this:  that  in  the 
time  between  the  cessation  of  prophecy  and  the  Greek  period,  there  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  people,  especially  in  reference  to  their  religious  life, 
which  had  its  centre  in  Jerusalem,  a  body  of  men  by  whom  the  traditions 
were  handed  down ;  and  permanent  ordinances  were  established,  for  the 
purpose  not  only  of  preserving  the  law  in  an  incorrupt  form  and  restoring 
the  knowledge  of  it  among  the  people,  but  also  of  introducing  it  into  all 
parts  of  the  national  life."  Neither  the  Old  Testament,  the  Apocrypha, 
Joseplms,  nor  Philo  makes  mention  of  this  body,  nor  any  rabbinic  writing 
earlier  than  Pirke  avoth  (a  division  of  the  Talmud)  about  the  second  cen 
tury  after  Christ. 


THE  JEWISH  SECTS  OF  LATER  TIMES.         635 


CHAPTEE  XXXV. 

THE  JEWISH  J$ECTS  OF  J..ATER  JIMES. 

1.  THE  sources  of  information  respecting  the  Jewish  parties 
and  sects,  noticed  in  the  New  Testament,  are  chiefly  the  three 
following :  the  New  Testament  itself,  the  writings  of  Josephus, 
and  the  Talmud.     The  Talmud,  being  the  work  of  Pharisees, 
may  be  taken  as  a  full  delineation  of  their  religious  system,  but 
it  does  not  inform  us  concerning  their  position  and  influence  as 
a  political  party  in  the  Jewish  commonwealth.     For  this  we  are 
dependent  on  Josephus,  who  also  gives,  in  several  passages,  the 
outlines  of  their  system.     It  is  remarkable  that  no  writings  have 
come  down  to  us  from  any  one  of  the  Sadducees.     Aside  from 
the  New  Testament,  we  are  dependent  upon  the  statements  of 
Pharisees  for  our  knowledge  of  their  principles  and  practices. 
The  New  Testament  has  to  do  more  immediately  with  the  reli 
gious  and  moral  character  of  the  two  systems  and  their  advo 
cates,  and  here  its  judgment  is  infallible.     The  Essenes,  of  whom 
Josephus  gives  an  extended  account,  are  not  noticed  in  the  New 
Testament. 

I.     THE  PHARISEES. 

2.  A  writer  hi  Herzog's  Encyclopaedia  objects  to  the  term 
sect  as  applied  to  the  Pharisees,  regarding  them  rather  as  a  party 
than  as  a  sect.     But,  as  will  presently  appear,  they  were  both  a 
party,  always  the  leading  party  in  the  state,  and  a  sect  in  reli 
gion.     Their  power,  moreover,  as   a  party,  rested  upon  their 
religious  tenets  as  a  sect.   Their  name,  according  to  the  received 
derivation  (perislnn,  the  separated),  denoted  originally  a  body  of 
men  separated  in  a  religious,  not  in  a  political  respect.     They 
were  the  men  who  separated  themselves  from  all  Levitical  impu 
rity,  and  devoted  themselves  with  peculiar  strictness  to  the  ob 
servance  of  the  Mosaic  law.     It  is  thought,  with  good  reason. 


G36  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

that  the  gerin  of  this  party  is  to  be  found  in  the  j  l*iif<r<ins  (that  is, 
the  godly),  who  appear  in  the  books  of  the  Maccabees  as  the 
followers  of  Judas  Maccabseus,  and  zealous  for  the  law  (1  Mace. 
2 : 42 ;  7:13;  2  Mace.  14  :  6) ;  but  its  full  development  was  after 
that  period,  and  undoubtedly  by  a  slow  process.  In  considering 
the  character  and  position  of  the  Pharisees,  it  is  important  to 
distinguish  between  what  was  essential  to  them  as  a  party,  and 
what  was  only  secondary. 

3.  The  essential  character  of  Pharisaism  was  zeal  for  the  insti 
tutions  of  the  fathers,  religious  and  political — zeal  for  the  law  of 
Moses  in  ah1   its  strictness,  and  zeal  for  the  independence  and 
glory  of  the  Jewish  nation.     Their  zeal,  whether  religious  or  po 
litical,  had  one  end,  the  restoration  of   the  Hebrew  common 
wealth  in.  its  ancient  glory  and  with  its  ancient  institutions  un 
impaired.     Hence  they  were  the  popular  party,  always  exerting 
a  predominating  influence  among  their  countrymen  in  the  sphere 
of  religious  instruction,  as  well  as  of  political  life.     They  were 
the  acknowledged  religious  teachers,  "being  esteemed,"  says  Jo- 
seplms  (Jewish  War,  2.  8.  14 j,  "the  accurate  expounders  of  the 
law,"  words  which  are  in  harmony  with  our  Saviour's  declaration 
(Matt.  23 : 2) :    "  The  scribes  and  the  Pharisees  sit  in  Moses' 
seat."  In  respect  to  their  political  influence,  Josephus  says  (An- 
tiq.  13.  10. 5) :  "  They  possess  such  power  with  the  multitude  that 
if  they  utter  anything  against  a  king  or  a  high-priest  they  are  at 
once  believed."     Of  this  he  gives  many  examples  in  his  writings. 
As  leaders  of  the  people  it  was  necessary  that  they  should  have 
influence  not  only  with  the  multitude,  but  also  at  the  courts  of 
the  rulers  whom  the  Eomans  imposed  upon  them.     Hence  they 
were  versed  in  all  the  intrigues  and  artifices  of  political  life,  and 
knew  well  how  to  change  their  line  of  policy  to  suit  circum 
stances. 

4.  It  may  appear  strangely  inconsistent  that  a  body  of  men 
who  affected  such  extraordinary  zeal  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Mosaic  institutions  in  their  purity,  should  have  overlaid  them 
with  a  mass  of  traditions  for  which  no  authority  could  be  found 
in  the  written  word.     But  when  the  religion  of  a  body  of  men 


THE  JEWISH  SECTS  OF  LATER  TIMES.         <>:J7 

Las  taken  the  direction  of  ritualism,  as  it  did  in  the  case  of  the 
Pharisees,  they  are  urged  forward  by  a  strong  impulse  to  multi 
ply  rites  and  ceremonies;  for  in  the  observance  of  these  their 
religious  life  consists,  and  the  more  they  multiply  outward  forms, 
the  more  devout  do  they  seem  in  their  own  eyes.  The  result  is 
the  bringing  in,  one  by  one,  of  rites  for  which  no  warrant  can 
be  found  in  God's  word.  Some  ground  for  the  justification  of 
these  must  be  found,  and  the  readiest  that  offers  itself  is  the 
alleged  "tradition  of  the  elders."  In  the  case  of  the  Pharisees, 
a  plausible  pretext  was  at  hand  in  the  fact  that  some  acknowl 
edged  duties,  daily  prayer  for  example,  are  not  insisted  on  in  the 
Pentateuch.  Moses,  they  might  argue,  could  not  have  omitted 
these ;  but  he  gave  them  to  the  primitive  body  of  elders  in  an 
unwritten  form,  and  from  them  they  were  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation. 

The  declarations  of  the  New  Testament  concerning  the  traditions  of  the 
elders  (Matt.  15  :  2  ;  Mark  7  :  3,  seq.)  are  fully  sustained  by  the  testimony 
of  Josephus  (Antiq.,  13.  10.  6):  "The  Pharisees  have  delivered  to  the  peo 
ple  from  the  tradition  of  the  fathers  many  observances  which  are  not  writ 
ten  in  the  law  ;"  and  the  Talmud  is  a  perpetual  illustration  of  them.  They 
made  them  of  equal  authority  with  the  written  word.  Thus  their  own 
attention  and  that  of  the  people  was  fatally  diverted  from  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  law  to  these  frivolities,  and  the  result  was  a  sham-sanctity 
consistent  with  extreme  worldliness,  falsehood,  and  the  indulgence  of  the 
vilest  passions.  Matt.,  chap.  23. 

5.  Although  the  essence  of  Pharisaism  did  not  lie  in  the 
theological  and  philosophical  tenets  of  the  party,  it  is  yet  interest 
ing  to  notice  the  harmony  of  these  with  the  general  spirit  by 
which  it  was  animated.  It  was  natural  that  the  men  who  were 
so  strenuous  for  the  letter  of  the  law  and  the  prophets  should 
receive  and  interpret  the  scriptural  notices  of  angelic  beings  good 
and  bad  historically,  and  not  allegorically  or  symbolically ;  and 
it  is  highly  creditable  to  the  early  leaders  of  the  sect  that  they 
were  able  to  develop  so  fully  and  correctly  the  doctrine  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  and  of  a  future  resurrection,  from  the 
germs  of  these  great  truths  contained  in  the  Old  Testament. 


638  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

"The  Sadducees  say  tluit  there  is  no  resurrection,  neither  angel  nor 
spirit ;  but  the  Pharisees  confess  both."  Acts  23  :  8.  In  accordance  with 
this  distinction  the  apostle  Paul  declared  before  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim, 
which  consisted  partly  of  Pharisees  and  partly  of  Saddncecs :  "I  am  a 
Pharisee,  the  son.  of  a  Pharisee  ;  concerning  the  hope  and  resurrection  of 
the  dead  am  I  arraigned"  (Acts  23:6);  and  again  he  said  before  Felix 
(Acts  24:15):  "I  have  hope  towards  God  which  they  themselves"  (the 
Pharisees)  "also  allow,  that  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the  dead,  both 
of  the  just  and  unjust."  These  words  certainly  affirm,  by  implication,  a 
substantial  agreement  with  the  Pharisees  in  respect  to  this  article  of  their 
religious  faith  ;  nor  does  the  Saviour  anywhere  intimate  that  they  held  it 
in  a  perverted  form.  The  representation  of  Josephus  (Jewish  War,  2.  8. 
14)  is  this  :  "  They  say  that  every  soul  is  imperishable,  but  that  the  soul  of 
the  good  alone  passes  into  another  body,  while  the  soul  of  the  wicked  is 
subjected  to  eternal  punishment."  And  again,  Avhen  urged  by  his  associ 
ates  to  commit  suicide,  he  says,  speaking  as  a  Pharisee,  of  the  souls  of 
those  who  die  in  a  lawful  way  (Jewish  War,  3.  8.  5):  "The  souls  remain 
pure  and  obedient,  having  obtained  the  most  holy  place  of  heaven,  whence, 
after  the  revolution  of  ages,  they  again  make  their  abode  in  pure  bodies ; 
but  the  darker  .abode  of  Hades  receives  those  wrho  have  perished  by  their 
own  hands."  Either  Josephus  means  by  "another  body"  the  new  resur 
rection  body ;  or,  as  seems  probable,  he  glosses  over  the  true  doctrine  of 
his  countrymen,  that  he  may  assimilate  it  to  the  heathen  doctrine  of  the 
transmigration  of  souls.  The  question  of  the  disciples  to  our  Lord  (John 
9:2):  "  Who  did  sin,  this  man  or  his  parents,  that  he  was  bom  blind  ?" 
has  been  thought  by  some  to  imply  the  idea  of  such  a  transmigration. 
But  more  probably  the  supposition  was  that  he  might  have  sinned  before 
birth.  See  Lightf  oot  on  John  9  : 2. 

The  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  future  retribution  is 
contained  in  a  germinal  way  in  such  passages  of  the  Old  Testament  as  the 
following:  "In  thy  presence  is  fulness  of  joy;  at  thy  right  hand  are 

pleasures  for  evermore"  (Psa.  16  : 11);  "Deliver  my  soul from  the 

men  of  the  world  who  have  their  portion  in  this  b'fe As  for  me 

I  shall  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness  :  I  shall  be  satisfied,  upon  awa 
king,  with  thy  likeness"  (Psa.  17:15).  "Thou  shalt  guide  me  with  thy 
counsel,  and  afterwards  take  me  to  glory"  (Psa.  73  :24);  "The  wicked  is 
driven  away  in  his  wickedness,  but  the  righteous  hath  hope  in  his  death  " 
(Prov.  14  :  32) ;  to  which  might  be  added  many  more  of  like  import.  It  is 
stated  more  explicitly,  along  with  that  of  the  resurrection,  in  the  well- 
known  words  of  the  angel  to  Daniel :  "Many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the 
dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake ;  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame 
and  everlasting  contempt." 

It  is  manifest  from  the  above  that  we  need  not  betake  ourselves,  after 


THE  JEWISH  SECTS  OF  LATER  TIMES.         G39 


the  manner  of  some,  to  Parsism,  for  an  explanation  of  tin- 

tenets  of  the  Pharisees.      See  Beuss  in  Herzog's  Encyclopedic,  Article. 

Phurisaer. 

The  statements  of  Joseplius  respecting  the  Pharisaical  doc 
trine  in  respect  to  the  divine  decrees,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
human  freedom  on  the  other  (Antiq.,  13.  5.  9;  18.  1.  3;  Jewish 
War,  2.  8.  14),  are  loose  and  confused.  This  only  is  manifest, 
that  they  believed  in  the  cooperation  of  the  divine  will  (for  which 
he  commonly  substitutes  the  Greek  term  fate)  with  man's  free 
agency.  They  probably  held,  as  does  a  large  part  of  Christen 
dom,  that  God  did  from  eternity  "  ordain  whatsoever  comes  to 
pass  ;  yet  so  as  thereby  neither  is  God  the  author  of  sin  ;  nor  is 
violence  offered  to  the  will  of  the  creatures,  nor  is  the  liberty  or 
contingency  of  second  causes  taken  away,  but  rather  estab 
lished." 

6.  The  severity  with  which  our  Lord  denounced  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees  seems  at  first  view  surprising,  when  contrasted 
with  the  general  mildness  of  his  dealings  with  sinners.  But  we 
must  remember  that  they  sat  in  Moses'  seat,  and  were  the  ac 
knowledged  leaders  and  guides  of  the  people  in  religion.  It  was, 
therefore,  of  supreme  importance  that  the  hollowness  of  their 
system  and  the  hypocrisy  of  their  lives  should  be  fully  exposed 
by  the  omniscient  Saviour  for  the  benefit  of  all  coming  ages. 
Though  there  were  among  them  honest  and  good  men,  like  Nico- 
demus  and  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  they  were  as  a  body  the  repre 
sentatives  of  formalism  and  hypocrisy,  two  twin  vices  that  are 
always  found  locked  in  each  other's  arms.  In  them  was  illustra 
ted  the  union,  so  often  witnessed  since  their  day,  of  great  punc 
tiliousness  in  religious  rites  and  great  profligacy  of  heart  and 
life.  The  history  of  Christ's  church  for  eighteen  centuries  shows 
how  needful  it  was  that  the  great  Master  himself  should  lift  the 
veil,  once  for  all,  from  such  a  system,  and  exhibit  it  in  its  naked 
deformity,  that  all  future  generations  might  see  it  and  abhor  it. 

The  scribes,  so  often  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  were  the  learned 
men  of  the  nation  who  had  been  trained  up  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy 


040  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

Scriptures,  and  were  their  recognized  expositors.  They  appear  often  in 
connection  with  the  Pharisees  and  chief  priests ;  and,  as  "Winer  remarks 
(Realworterbuch,  Art.,  Schriftgelehrte),  "the  chief  priest  and  scribes 
(Mutt,  2  :  4  ;  20  : 18  ;  Mark  14  : 1 ;  Luke  22  :  2  ;  23  : 10),  or  the  scribes  and 
elders  (Matt.  26  :  57),  or  the  elders,  chief  priest,  and  scribes  (Luke  22  :  66  ; 
Murk  14  :  43  ;  15  : 1,  compared  with  Acts  4:5),  is  obviously  a  designation 
of  the  Sanhedrim."  The  Sanhedrim  embraced  both  Pharisees  and  Saddu- 
cees,  and  so  apparently  did  the  body  of  scribes  (Acts  23  :  6-9) ,  though  un 
doubtedly  the  larger  part  of  them  were  Pharisees.  It  is  generally  thought 
that  the  lawyers,  that  is,  teachers  of  tlie  law  (terms  used  in  the  gospels  only 
by  Luke,  with  the  exception  of  Matt.  22  : 35),  were  identical  with  the 
scribes.  See  Winer,  as  above. 

II.     THE  SADDUCEES. 

7.  The  origin  of  the  name  Sadducee  is  uncertain.     Some  de 
rive  it  from  a  word  signifying  just  (Heb.,  tsaddik),  supposing  that 
the  party  took  to  themselves  this  name  in  opposition  to  the  Fhai  - 
isees,  as  being  the  men  who  held  the  written  law  in  its  purity 
and  simplicity.     The  Talmudists  refer  it  to  one  Sadoc  or  Zadoc, 
who  is  said  to  have  lived  about  three  centuries  before  Christ. 
The  Sadducees,  like  their  opponents  the  Pharisees,  were  both  a 
party  in  the  state  and  a  sect  in  religion. 

8.  The  essential  feature  of  Sadduceeism  was  the  rejection  of  «ll 
unwritten   tradition.     "  The  Pharisees,"  says  Josephus  (Antiq., 
13.  10.  6),  "  have  delivered  to  the  people  many  ordinances  from 
the  tradition  of  the  fathers  which  are  not  written  in  the  laws  of 
Moses  ;xand  for  this  reason  the  sect  of  the  Sadducees  rejects 
them,  saying  that  we  ought  to  observe  as  ordinances  those  things 
which  are  written,  but  not  to  keep  those  which  come  from  the 
tradition  of  the  fathers."    See  also  Antiq.,  18. 1.  4.    Herein  they 
had  truth  on  their  side,  and  thus  the  -authority  of  the  Saviour 
himself.     But  there  is  ground  for  believing  that  the  principle 
which  actuated  the  mass  of  them  was  not  zeal  for  the  truth,  but 
rather  a  worldly  spirit,  which  felt  the  Mosaic  law  itself  to  be  a 
burden,  and  to  which  all  human  additions  were  therefore  dis 
tasteful.     According  to  Josephus  (Antiq.,  13.  10.  6 ;  18.  1.  4)  the 
adherents  of  the  Sadducees  were  few,  in  comparison  with  those 
of  the  Pharisees,  but  foremost  in  dignity ;  "  the  Sadducees  draw- 


THE  JEWISH  SECTS  OF  LATER  TIMES.    641 

ing  to  their  party  the  wealthy  alone,  and  not  enjoying  the  favor 
of  the  multitude  whom  the  Pharisees  had  as  their  allies." 

It  is  incorrect  to  affirm,  as  some  have  done,  that  the  Sadducees  received 
only  the  Pentateuch.  This  is  confounding  them  with  the  Samaritans.  It 
is  the  express  testimony  of  Josephus  (Against  Apion,  1.  8)  that  all  the  Jews 
receive  from  their  very  birth  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  which  he 
enumerates,  without  addition,  diminution,  or  change ;  and  are  ready,  if 
necessary,  to  die  in  their  behalf.  See  further  in  Winer.  According  to 
Josephus  (Antiq.,  18.  1.  4),  when  they  held  offices  they  yielded  a  forced 
compliance  to  the  maxims  of  the  Pharisees,  because  otherwise  they  would 
not  have  been  tolerated  by  the  multitude.  This  only  proves  that  they 
were  influenced  by  a  worldly  temporizing  spirit. 

9.  It  was  natural  that  the  Sadducees  should  carry  their 
antagonism  to  the  Pharisees  into  the  sphere  of  theology  and  phi 
losophy.     Hence  (1)  they  maintained  that  the  soul  perishes  with 
the  body,  and,  by  necessary  consequence,  denied  the  doctrine  of 
future  rewards  and  punishments ;  (2)  they  denied  the  existence 
of  angels  or  spirits,  evidently  on  the  ground  that  created  spirits 
cannot  exist  except  in  bodies;  (3)  they  denied  the  doctrine  of 
foreordination,  as  applied  to  human  actions.     See  Matt.  22  :  23 ; 
Mark  12  : 18  ;  Luke  20  :  27 ;  Acts  23  :  8;  Josephus,  Antiq.,  18.  1. 
4;  13.  5.  9;  Jewish  War,  2.  8.  14. 

Our  Saviour's  argument  from  the  Pentateuch  :  "  God  is  not  the  God  of 
the  dead,  but  of  the  living"  (Matt.  22  : 32),  was  directed  against  the  Sad- 
ducean  doctrine  that  the  soul  perishes  with  the  body,  so  that  death  is  the 
annihilation  of  the  whole  man.  If  the  soul  lives  after  the  death  of  the 
body,  the  man  himself  lives,  God  can  be  his  God,  and  he  can  be  clothed 
upon  with  a  resurrection  body ;  otherwise  not.  Thus  by  destroying  the 
ground  on  which  their  denial  of  the  resurrection  rested,  he  destroyed  the 
error  itself. 

As  to  the  numerous  angelic  appearances  noticed  in  the  Old  Testament, 
the  Sadducees  probably  explained  them  as  manifestations  of  God  himself 
in  human  form ;  or  as  simply  visions,  and  not  true  manifestations  of  real 
beings. 

III.     THE  ESSENES. 

10.  For  our  knowledge  of  the  Essenes  we  are  mainly  indebted 
to  Philo  (Quod  omnis  probus  liber,  §  12,  seq.)  and  Josephus,  who 
has  given  (Jewish  War,  2.  8.  2,  seq.)  a  long  and  highly  eulogistic 


642  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

account  of  them,  with  various  shorter  notices.  They  represented 
the  ascetic  tendency  of  the  human  mind,  which  has  so  often  ap 
peared  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Though  they  were  strict  in 
their  observance  of  the  Mosaic  law,  particularly  of  the  Sabbath, 
they  did  not,  like  the  Pharisees,  multiply  outward  rites,  court  the 
favor  of  the  multitude,  and  aspire  to  be  their  leaders.  Like  the 
monks  of  later  ages,  they  sought  to  gain  preeminent  holiness  and 
purity  by  seclusion  from  the  world,  meditation,  prayer,  the  mor 
tification  of  the  flesh,  and  the  quiet  practice  of  the  social  virtues. 
They  lived  in  communities  under  strict  regulations,  disparaged 
the  married  state  (though  one  section  of  them  allowed  it  under 
certain  restrictions),  and  replenished  their  community  by  adopt 
ing  the  children  of  others.  An  entire  community  of  goods  was 
an  essential  feature  of  their  system.  For  admission  to  their 
number  a  long  and  severe  probation  was  required ;  and  then  they 
bound  themselves  by  awful  oaths  to  observe  all  the  rules  of  the 
system,  which,  according  to  Josephus,  related  not  to  outward 
ceremonies,  but  to  the  substance  of  religion  and  virtue — the 
pious  worship  of  God;  the  maintenance  of  justice,  faith,  and 
truth  in  their  intercourse  with  men;  obedience  to  rulers,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  moderate  exercise  of  authority,  'on  the  other ; 
plainness  of  dress;  abstinence  from  theft  and  unjust  gain,  etc. 
They  took  an  oath,  among  other  things,  "  to  preserve  the  books 
of  their  sect  and  the  names  of  the  angels,"  with  apparent  refer 
ence  to  some  kind  of  angel-worship. 

11.  In  respect  to  their  theological  and  philosophical  tenets,  they 
held,  according  to  Josephus,  that  all  things  are  determined  by 
fate ;  and  that  the  soul  is  immortal,  attaining  to  its  highest  state 
of  perfection  by  its  liberation  from  the  body.  Josephus  further 
says  that  they  assigned  to  pious  souls  an  Elysium  like  that  of  the 
Greeks,  and  to  the  souls  of  the  wicked  a  Tartarus,  consisting  of 
a  murky  and  tempestuous  cave  full  of  eternal  punishments.  But 
here  he  is  with  reason  suspected  of  having  assimilated  his  rep 
resentations  to  the  ideas  of  his  heathen  readers. 


THE  JEWISH  SECTS  OF  LATER  TIMES.         613 

IV.     THE   HERODIANS. 

12.  The  Herodians  (Matt.  22:16;  Mark  3:6;  12:13)  were 
apparently  the  partisans  of  Herod,  that  is,  Herod  Antipas  ;  and 
thus  the  supporters  of  the  Roman  dominion  in  Palestine,  in  op 
position  to  the  Pharisees,  who  held  that  it  was  a  profane  usur 
pation  of  power  over  God's  covenant  people,  to  be  resisted  as  far 
as  possible.  "The  leaven  of  Herod."  (Mark  8:15)  is  the  cor 
rupt  worldly  principles  of  Herod  and  of  his  followers,  the  Hero 
dians.  The  question  propounded  to  our  Lord,  at  the  instigation 
of  the  Pharisees,  by  a  company  'of  Pharisees  and  Herodians 
banded  together  to  ensnare  him  in  his  words :  "  Is  it  lawful  to 
give  tribute  to  Caesar,  or  not?"  (Matt.  22:17),  brought  out  the 
essential  point  of  antagonism  between  the  two  parties,  and  they 
felt  confident  of  bringing  the  Saviour  into  difficulty  on  one  side 
or  the  other.  He  decided  the  question  against  the  Pharisees, 
but  in  such  a  way  that  they  could  make  no  use  of  his  answer  to 
his  disadvantage. 


APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DIVISION. 

ON  THE  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  HEBREWS. 
I.  REMAKES  ON  THE  ANCIENT  SYSTEMS  OF  IDOLATRY. 

1.  THE  doctrine  of  one  personal  God,  who  is  before  nature,  above  nature, 
and  the  free  author  of  nature  ;  whose  eternal  power  and  Godhead  arc 
revealed  without  the  soul  by  his  works,  and  to  whose  holiness  and  supreme 
authority  the  conscience  within  the  soul  bears  witness — this  scriptural  doc 
trine  is  in  such  perfect  harmony  with  unperverted  human  reason  and  un- 
coiTupted  human  character,  that  nothing  but  sin  can  account  for  the  loss 
of  it,  as  it  was  originally  revealed  to  man.      "  They  are  without  excuse," 
says  the  apostle,  "because  that  when  they  knew  God,  they  glorified  him 
not  as  God,  neither  were  thankful,  but  became  vain  in  their  imagina 
tion,  and  their  foolish  heart  was  darkened."     But  their  apostasy  from  God 
did  not  give  them  independence  of  God,  outward  peace,  or  inward  tran- 
quilh'ty  of  mind.     They  found  themselves  surrounded  by  mighty  super 
human  forces,  which  they  could  not  control,  and  whose  crushing  power 
they  were  often  compelled  to  feel ;  while  a  guilty  conscience  filled  their 
souls  with  fear  and  dark  forebodings  of  wrath  to  come.     They  had  forsa 
ken  the  true  God,  but  they  could  not  live  without  gods  of  some  kind. 
They  needed,  first  of  all,  superhuman  help  in  the  stern  conflict  of  life  : 
they  needed,  also,  expiation  of  sin  to  quiet  their  consciences,  and  this  could 
only  come  from  deity  :  they  needed,  finally,  to  wring,  if  possible,  from  the 
dark  future  its  awful  secrets.     Then  commenced  the  process,  not  in  a  con 
scious,  but  in  a  blind,  unconscious  way,  of  making  for  themselves  gods  in 
accordance  with  their  own  darkened  understandings  and  corrupt  affections. 

2.  The  first  thing  that  we  notice  in  this  formative  process  of  idolatry 
is  the  confounding  of  God  with  nature.     The  forces  that  surrounded  men  all 
lay  in  nature,  and  they  were  not  able  to  rise  from  them  to  the  free  author 
of  nature.     The  result  was  the  deifying  of  the  powers  of  nature.     When 
the  ancient  philosophers  attained  to  the  idea  of  the  unity  of  God,  it  was 
either  by  making  him  the  soul  of  the  universe  (Virgil,  JEneid,  6.  721,  seq., 
who  represents  the  highest  results  of  western  heathen  philosophy) ;  or,  in 
the  way  of  impersonal  pantheism,  by  which  the  universe  itself  was  made 
God.     No  one  of  them  regained,  without  the  help  of  revelation,  the  true 
idea  of  a  God  who  is  the  1'rcc  author  of  nature,  and  therefore  before  nature 


APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DIVISION.          645 

and  distinct  from  nature,  though  continually  active  in  nature.     Much  less 
did  such  a  sublime  conception  enter  the  mind  of  the  masses. 

3.  With  the  deification  of  the  powers  of  nature  came  the  loss  of  the  idea 
of  God's  unity.     Though  some  of  the  heathen  philosophers  regained  it  in 
the  false  ways  that  have  been  indicated,  the  multitude  divided  the  deity 
into  parts,  according  to  the  multiplicity  in  which  the  forces  of  nature 
manifest  themselves.     In  tin's  process  of  multiplying  gods,  the  more  cul 
tivated  among  the  heathen  deified  the  heavenly  bodies,  the  elements, 
and  the  generative  powers  of  nature.     Their  gods  were  mostly  in  pairs, 
male  and  female.     "Every  god,"  says  Rawlinson  of  the  Assyrian  deities 
(Herodotus,  vol.  1,  Essay  10),  "is  associated  with  a  goddess."     They  also 
exhibit  a  gradation  from  higher  to  lower ;  and  they  have  charge  of  par 
ticular  nations ;  also  of  particular  departments  of  nature,  and  particular 
employments — the  heavens,  the  sea,  the  underworld,  the  generation  of  the 
races,  the  harvests,  the  vineyards,  war,  hunting,  trade,  and  so  on.     The 
rude  and  barbarous  tribes  took  a  low  and  fragmentary  view,  deifying  any 
little  parcel  of  nature  or  art  that  came  to  hand—a  tiger,  a  serpent,  a  beetle, 
a  stone,  a  pan,  a  horseshoe,  etc.     Of  this  kind  are  the  fetishes  of  the  Af 
rican  tribes,  and  to  a  great  extent  the  gods  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  also. 

To  these  nature-gods  must  be  added  among  many  tribes  the  worship  of 
the  spirits  of  the  dead,  and  of  demons  conceived  of  as  like  spirits.  The  idea 
here  is  that  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body  advances  it  to  a  higher 
sphere  of  action,  and  confers  upon  it  mysterious  powers  over  the  affairs 
of  men.  With  this-  form  of  idolatry  is  often  associated  the  doctrine  of 
the  transmigration  of  souls.  Thus  the  African  will  reverence  a  serpent 
that  haunts  his  hut,  under  the  idea  that  the  spirit  of  one  of  his  ancestors 
is  embodied  in  it.  With  this  branch  of  idolatry  are  intimately  connected, 
as  we  shall  see,  the  rites  of  witchcraft  and  magic. 

4.  By  the  process  of  nature-worship  which  we  have  been  considering, 
the  idea  of  deity  was  degraded  beyond  measure.     The  gods  of  the  heathen 
nations  were,  as  we  have  seen,  not  before  nature  and  above  nature,  but  ex 
isted  only  in  nature;  and  each  of  them,  moreover,  represented  only  a  frag 
ment  of  the  whole  force  of  nature.     Thus  the  deity  was  robbed  of  inde 
pendence,  omnipresence,   and  omnipotence.     The  gods  of  the  heathen 
were  local,  and  therefore  partial  in  their  interests,  as  well  as  limited  in 
power.     They  were  the  tiitelary  deities  of  particular  nations,  and  in  the 
wars  of  men  they  were  found  ranged  on  different  sides,  opposing  and  cir 
cumventing  each  other  ;  for  heathen  gods  had  not  the  attribute  of  omnis 
cience,   any  more  than  of  omnipotence.     Even  Jupiter,   "the  father  of 
men  and  gods,"  was  deceived  in  a  notable  instance  by  the  artifice  of  Juno 
his  wife.      Iliad,  Book  14.      But,  worse  than  ah1,  the  deity  was  robbed  of 
the  attributes  of  holiness  and  truth,  and  made  as  vile  as  the  hearts  of  tho 
worshippers  could  desire.      The  assemblage  of  heathen  deities  comprised, 


C40  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

as  all  know  who  have  even  a  superficial  acquaintance  with  mythology,  adul 
terers  and  adulteresses,  liars  and  thieves.  They  were  destitute  of  the  attri 
bute  of  impartial  justice,  and  respecters  of  persons.  They  had  their  favorite 
cities,  the  aggrandizement  of  which  they  sought  at  the  expense  of  bloody  and 
unrighteous  wars.  In  one  word,  a  heathen  pantheon  was  a  pandemonium. 
5.  Image-worship,  which  is  idolatry  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  lias 
always  gone  hand  in  hand  with  polytheism.  The  devotee,  who  can  think 
of  his  god  only  as  inhering  in  some  part  of  material  nature,  must  embody 
him  in  a  material  form.  In  the  case  of  low  nature-worship,  he  has  the 
form  already  at  hand  in  his  fetish.  He  presents  to  this,  though  it  be  but 
a  stone,  a  pan,  or  a  horseshoe,  his  daily  offering,  and  seeks  from  it  protec 
tion  and  success  in  all  his  undertakings.  The  higher  forms  of  nature-wor 
ship,  though  they  may  begin  with  the  controlling  powers  of  nature — the 
heavenly  bodies,  the  elements,  the  generative  forces  of  nature — have  a 
sure  tendency  towards  the  representation  of  these  in  images,  as  we  see  in 
the  history  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  as  well  as  of  the  Assyrians  and  other 
eastern  nations.  These  images  varied,  according  to  the  culture  of  the 
worshippers,  from  the  Apollo  and  Venus  of  the  Greeks,  down  to  the  hide 
ous  and  disgusting  idols  of  barbarous  tribes.  But  in  all  cases  they  were  an 
infinite  affront  to  God's  majesty  and  glory.  "Forasmuch  then,"  argues 
the  apostle  (Acts  17  :  29),  "as  we  are  the  offspring  of  God,  we  ought  not 
to  think  that  the  Godhead  is  like  unto  silver,  or  gold,  or  stone,  graven  by 
art  and  man's  device."  The  apology  for  image-worship  offered  by  the  phi 
losophers,  that  they  did  not  consider  the  idol  itself  as  the  abode  of  the  deity, 
but  simply  as  a  sensible  medium  for  elevating  the  worshipper's  thoughts 
to  the  deity,  is  only  a  confession  that  they  saw  the  absurdity  of  image- wor 
ship,  and  wished  to  explain  it  away.  With  the  mass  of  the  people  the 
very  office  of  the  idol,  whether  a  living  animal  like  the  bull  Apis  or  a  dead 
statue,  was  to  localize  their  god.  They  wished  to  have  him  at  hand  in  a 
visible  form,  to  which  they  could  pray  and  offer  their  sacrifices  and  obla 
tions.  This  is  everywhere  the  scriptural  view  of  idolatry  :  ' '  He  burneth 
part  thereof  in  the  fire  ;  with  part  thereof  he  eateth  flesh  ;  he  roast  cth 
roast  and  is  satisfied  :  yea,  he  warmeth  himself,  and  saith,  Alia,  I  am 
warm,  I  have  seen  the  fire  :  and  the  residue  thereof  he  maketh  a  god,  even 
his  graven  image  :  he  falleth  down  unto  it,  and  worshippeth  it,  and  pray- 
eth  unto  it,  and  saith,  Deliver  me,  for  thou  art  my  god."  Isa.  44  : 16,  17. 
Such  representations  as  this  are  drawn  from  the  reality,  not  from  what  cer 
tain  men,  more  enlightened  than  the  multitude,  think  ought  to  be  the  real 
ity.  Rachel,  upon  her  departure  from  Mesopotamia,  stole  her  father's 
gods  (teraphim,  household  </(»/*.  answering  to  the  Penates  of  the  Romans), 
that  she  might  have  gods  always  with  her  (Gen.  31 : 30-35);  gods,  namely, 
which  made  their  abode  in  these  little  images.  Such,  beyond  doubt,  was 
the  Roman's  conception  when  he  worshipped  his  Penates. 


APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DIVISION.  647 

G.  Of  the  rites  of  idolatrous  worship  we  cannot  speak  at  length.  They 
consisted  mainly  in  oblations  of  bread,  fruit,  wine,  etc. ;  in  bloody  sacrifi 
ces,  in  the  burning  of  incense,  and  in  the  recitation  of  forms  of  prayer. 
The  temples  of  the  gods  were  replenished  by  the  gifts  of  the  devotees. 
The  forms  of  service  varied  according  to  the  character  and  office  of  the 
gods  worshipped.  The  worship  of  Astarte  and  of  the  Grecian  Venus  and 
Bacchus  was  connected  with  horrible  impurities  and  drunken  revels.  Mo- 
lech  was  appeased  with  the  blood  of  human  victims.  Such  sacrifices  seem 
to  have  been  generally  made  in  great  emergencies  for  the  purpose  of  expi 
ating  the  wrath  of  an  offended  deity.  Thus  the  king  of  Moab,  in  his 
extremity,  offered  his  eldest  son  upon  the  wall  of  the  city  as  a  burnt-offer 
ing  to  Chemosh  his  tutelary  god,  whose  character  seems  to  have  been  sub 
stantially  the  same  as  that  of  Molech,  the  god  of  the  Ammonites.  See 
2  Kings  3  : 21-27.  The  Chinese  worship  the  spirits  of  their  departed 
Ancestors,  represented  by  ancestral  tablets,  by  burning  before  them  tapi-rs 
and  sticks  of  incense,  and  offering  before  them  bowls  of  soup,  various 
kinds  of  flesh,  cakes,  etc. 

7.  The  worship  that  we  have  been  considering  had  for  its  end  to  obtain 
needed  good  or  avert  threatened  evils.  But  the  desire  to  unlock  the 
secrets  of  the  future  is  one  of  the  strongest  impulses  of  humanity.  Divine 
revelation  satisfies  this  desire  in  a  reasonable  way  and  to  a  reasonable 
extent.  It  reveals  to  us  as  much  of  the  future  as  concerns  our  duty  and 
our  salvation,  and  teaches  us  to  exercise  implicit  faith  in  the  all- wise  dis 
posal  of  God's  providence.  Thus  it  brings  peace  and  tranquillity  to  the 
believer's  soul,  as  it  is  written:  "Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace 
whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee,  because  he  trusteth  in  thee."  But  when 
men  have  forsaken  the  living  God,  they  will  substitute  other  means  of  pen 
etrating,  if  possible,  Oie  darkness  of  the  future;  means  which  are  essentially 
idolatrous  in  their  spirit,  and  are  forbidden  as  such  in  God's  word.  These 
means  naturally  divide  themselves  into  the  following  classes  : 

(1.)  The  responses  of  persons  supposed  to  be  inspired  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  future.  There  were  famous  oracles  in  ancient  times,  like  that  of 
Apollo  at  Delphi,  where  the  priestess,  sitting  upon  a  tripod,  fell  into  a 
state  of  frenzy,  and  made  utterances  which  were  believed  to  proceed 
from  the  deity  that  had  taken  possession  of  her.  There  were  also  persons 
not  confined  to  any  particular  places,  who  professed  to  foretell  the  future 
by  virtue  of  a  superhuman  spirit  dwelling  within  them.  Such  was  "the 
damsel  possessed  with  a  spirit  of  divination,  who  brought  her  masters 
much  gain  by  soothsaying."  The  responses  of  these  persons,  like  those  of 
the  priestesses,  were  generally  delivered  in  a  state  of  frenzy,  with  foaming 
at  the  mouth,  gnashing  of  the  teeth,  trembling,  and  various  distortions  of 
the  body.  ^Eneid,  6.  46,  seq. 

(2.)  Dreams  and  visions',  supposed  to  be  revelations  made  by  the  gods, 


648  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

and  which  were  actually  employed  by  the  true  God  on  many  occasions. 
Dreams  did  not,  as  a  rule,  interpret  themselves ;  but  there  was  a  class  of 
men  who  made  it  their  business  to  explain  their  import,  as  we  see  in  the 
case  of  the  wise  men  at  the  courts  of  Pharaoh  and  Nebueha<lne//ar. 

(3.)  Divination,  that  is,  the  foretelling  of  future  events  by  means  of 
certain  outward  signs.  The  idea  here  was  that  the  deity  gives  indications 
of  the  future,  through  these  signs  according  to  certain  fixed  laws,  which 
must  be  learned  by  observation  and  experience.  Hence  divination  was  an 
art,  studied  by  men  called  diviners,  who  were  subdivided  into  various 
classes.  The  astrologers  had  rules  for  discovering  future  events  from 
the  position  of  the  heavenly  bodies  ;  the  haruspices,  from  the  inspection  of 
the  entrails  of  the  victims ;  the  augurs,  from"  the  singing,  feeding,  and 
flight  of  birds.  Then  there  were  omens,  good  or  evil,  from  chance  utter 
ances  or  chance  passages  upon  the  opening  of  books,  from  stumbling, 
from  sneezing,  etc.  It  is  vain  to  ask  for  the  reason  of  these  signs.  The 
whole  system  is  one  of  unreason  ;  as  much  so  as  our  modern  supersti 
tions — that  to  see  the  new  moon  for  the  first  time  over  the  right  shoulder 
betokens  good  luck,  the  breaking  of  a  mirror  the  death  of  a  near  friend, 
etc.  Underlying  all  these  arts  of  presaging  the  future  is  unbelief,  and  this 
is  the  main  element  of  their  criminality.  He  who  practises  them  looks 
away  from  the  living  God  for  help  to  unwarranted  human  devices.  They 
are  owls  of  darkness  which  the  rising  sun  of  faith  will  banish  to  their 
appropriate  dens. 

8.  Closely  connected  with  divination  is  sorcery  in  ah1  its  forms.  The 
essential  idea  of  sorcery  is  intercourse  with  spirits  by  means  of  certain 
magic  incantations  and  rites ;  that  is,  incantations  and  rites  that  operate 
in  an  unknown  way,  and  by  means  of  which  supernatural  help  is  supposed 
to  be  obtained  from  these  spirits,  or  supernatural  knowledge  of  the  future. 
Commerce  with  the  spirits  of  the  dead  is  necromancy;  commerce  with 
demons,  wifckcraft  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word.  So  far  as  the  moral 
character  of  sorcery  is  concerned,  it  is  not  necessary  to  determine  whether 
this  commerce  with  spirits  is  a  reality  or  a  cheat,  or  a  mixture  of  both.  It 
is  turning  away  our  faith  and  expectation  from  the  living  God  to  creatures 
from  which  he  has  not  authorized  us  to  seek  help.  It  aims  a  deadly  blow 
at  the  very  heart  of  true  religion ;  and  whether  it  does  or  does  not  begin 
in  jugglery  and  lies,  it  opens  a  flood-gate  to  their  entrance.  With  every 
system  of  sorcery  there  intertwines  itself  a  system  of  imposture.  The 
rain-makers,  medicine-men,  and  other  managers  of  this  black  art  exercise 
a  cruel  tyranny  over  the  benighted  people,  and  multitudes  of  innocent 
victims  perish  under  their  accusations  of  witchcraft.  In  all  its  varieties 
sorcery  is  a  vine  of  Sodom,  whoso  clusters  are  wormwood  and  gall.  It  ill 
becomes  believers,  who  sit  at  God's  table  and  eat  <>!'  the  bread  that  camo 
down  from  heaven,  to  taste,  under  any  pretext)  of  its  poisonous  fruit. 


APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIKD  DIVISION.  G4(.) 

II.     THE  PRINCIPAL  IDOLS  WORSHIPPED  BY  THE  HEBREWS. 

9.  First  in  order  of  time  was  the  worship  of  the  golden  calf  in  the  wil 
derness,  which  was  in  a  later  age  imitated  by  Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Ncbat. 
That  this  form  of  idolatry  was  derived  from  Egypt,  the  country  which  the 
Israelites  had  just  left,  is  admitted  on  all  hands.    The  Egyptians  worshipped 
the  bull  Apis,  as  the  abode  of  deity ;  and  with  his  worship,  as  with  that  of 
their  other  gods,  they  connected  a  festival  like  that  instituted  by  Aaron. 
See  Herodotus,  Book  3.  27-29.      It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  Jeroboam, 
who  more  than  five  centimes  afterwards  established  the  worship  of  golden 
calves  in  his  kingdom  (1  Kings,  chap.  12),  had  just  returned  from  a  resi 
dence  with  Shishak  at  the  court  of  Egypt.     1  Kings  11  :  40.     The  question 
has  been  raised  whether  these  golden  calves  were  intended  to  be  represen 
tations  of  an  Egyptian  god  or  of  Jehovah  the  God  of  Israel.     The  narra 
tive  in  Exodus  (chap.  32)  implies  that  Aaron,  at  least,  intended  the  gold 
en  calf  to  be  a  representation  of  the  God  of  Israel ;  for  he  said  to  the 
people  (ver.    5):  "To-morrow  is   a  feast  to  Jehovah."      His  apology  to 
Moses  (vers.  22,  24)  shows  that  he  made  the  idol  against  his  better  judg 
ment  to  pacify  the  people.     How  the  multitude  understood  the  worship  of 
the  calf,  when  they  sacrificed  to  it  and  feasted  and  danced  before  it,  is 
more  doubtful.     But,  taken  either  way,  the  act  was  a  horrible  affront  to 
the  majesty  of  Jehovah,  and  in  express  violation  of  the  second  command 
ment,  which  forbids  alike  the  worship  by  images  of  the  true  God  or  of  false 
gods.     As  for  Jeroboam,  it  is  not  probable  that  he  cared  how  the  people 
of  his  kingdom  understood  the  worship  of  his  two  calves,  his  object  being 
to  withdraw  them  from  the  worship  of  Jehovah  at  Jerusalem.     1  Kings 
12  :  '20-28.     To  this  end  he  established  a  feast  in  the  eighth  month  in  imi 
tation  of  the  feast  of  tabernacles  held  at  Jerusalem  in  the  seventh  month 
(vers.  32,  33).     Satan,  says  an  ancient  church  father,  is  the  ape  of  God;  his 
object  being  to  imitate  the  true  worship  of  God,  and  true  miracles  and 
prophecies,  by  a  delusive  show  of  the  same. 

10.  The  next  and  most  prominent  form  of  idolatry  among  the  Hebrews 
was  the  worship  of  Baal  and  Axhinrclh,  two  deities  that  form  a  couplet 
male  and  female  universally  worshipped  in  Phoenicia  and  among  the  Ca- 
naanitish  tribes.     The  plural  form  Baalim  often  occurs,  and  in  the  case  of 
Ashtoreth,  the  plural  Ashtaroth  is  universally  employed  except  in  the  books 
of  Kings,  where  occurs  the  singular,  Ashlorelh,  the  goddess  of  the  Zid<mi<nix 
(1  Kings  11  :  5,  33),  and  Ashtoreth,  the  abomination  of  the  Zidon'mn*  ('2  Kings 
23  : 13).     These  plurals  have  been  commonly  understood  to  mean  images  of 
Baal  and  Ashtoreth  ;  but  this  hardly  accounts  for  the  universality  of  the 
plural  form  Ashtaroth.      Perhaps  they  are  examples  of  the  so-called  plural 
of  eminence,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Hebrew  names  for  God,  Lord,  etc. 

11.  Baal  (always  with  the  article)  signifies  the  Lord,  as  being  the  high 
est  of  the  Phoenician  and  Canaanitish  gods.     Whether  he  originally  repre- 

Oeog.  A  Aini-i.  28 


650  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

sented  the  sun  or  the  planet  Jupiter  is  a  question  that  has  been  much  dis 
cussed.  It  is  certain  that  the  Baal  hamman  of  the  Phoenician  inscriptions 
is  Baal  the  sun-god.  The  Hebrew  word  hammanlm  (Lev.  26  :  30  ;  2  Chrou. 
14  : 4— Eng.  version  14  :  5  ;  34  :  4,  7 ;  Isa.  17:8;  27  :  9  ;  Ezek.  6  : 4,  G)  sig 
nifies  sun-images.  It  is  several  times  joined  with  Asheroth,  images  of  A.^/t- 
loreth  (2  Chron.  34  : 4,  7  ;  Isa.  17  :8  ;  27  : 9),  and  from  2  Chron.  34  : 4  it 
appears  that  the  sun-images  stood  above  the  altars  of  Baal.  All  this  goes 
far  to  show  that  Baal  originally  represented  the  sun,  as  the  great  generative 
power  of  nature.  The  word  Baal  occurs  frequently  in  composition  with 
another  word.  This  denotes  sometimes  an  attribute  of  the  god  ;  as  B<utl~ 
zebub,  Fly-lord,  averter  of  jlies ;  Baal-berith,  Covenant-lord,  as  the  god  in 
voked  in  covenants ;  Baal-hammdn,  Sun-lord.  In  other  cases  the  compound 
word  has  passed  into  the  name  of  a  place ;  as  Baal-gad,  Lord  of  good  for 
tune,  the  name  of  a  place  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Hermon  ;  Baal-hermon, 
Lord  of  Hei-mon,  a  town  adjacent  to  Mount  Hermon,  etc.  The  number  of 
these  names  shows  the  universality  of  the  worship  paid  to  him  by  the 
Canaanitish  tribes. 

12.  Ashtorelh,  in  the  plural  form  Aslitarotli,  is  the  corresponding  female 
deity,  representing  the  productive  power  of  nature  ;  that  is,  either  the  planet 
Venus  or  the  moon,  according  to  the  meaning  assumed  for  Baal.     The 
Greek  form  of  her  name  is  Astarte.     She  is  the  queen  of  1i<-ar,-,i  to  whom 
the  idolatrous  Hebrew  women  burned  incense,  poured  out  libations,  and 
offered  cakes  (Jer.  44  : 17-19),  and  corresponds,  not  specifically,  but  in  a 
general  way,  to  the  Venus  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.    Ashlaroth-karnaim, 
that  is,  the  two-horned  Axhtaroth,  with  reference  to  the  horns  of  the  cres 
cent  on  her  head,  was  a  city  of  Bashan,  so  called  from  the  worship  of 
Astarte  practised  there. 

13.  The  word  Askerah,  in  the  plural  Asheroth,  occurs  in  close  connec 
tion  with  the  worship  of  Baal.     Our  translators,  following  the  authority  of 
the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate,  have  everywhere  rendered  grove  and  groves,' 
but  the  incorrectness  of  this  translation  is  now  generally  admitted.     It  is 
not,  however,  perfectly  clear  whether  Asherah  is  identical  with  Ashtoivth  ; 
or  a  different,  but  closely  related  goddess;  or  a  woodVn  statue  or  pillar  of 
Ashtoreth  planted  in  the  ground,  and  BO  called  from  its  upright  form.    The 
latter  is  the  more  probable  view,  and   it  accords  with   the  fact  that   the 
destruction  of  these  statues  or  pillars  was  effected  by  cutting  them  do\vn 
and   burning   them.      Exod.   34  :  13  ;   Deut.    12  :  3  ;   Judg.    6  :  25,    set].  ; 
2  Kings  18  :  4  ;  etc. 

14.  Of  the /onus  of  idolatrous  worship  offered  to  Baal  and  Ashtoreth 
we  have  no  very  definite  information.     Their  worshippers  offered  sacrifices 
to  them,  burned  incense,  made  libations,  and  in  extreme  cases  cut  them 
selves  Avith  swords  and  lances,  in  the  vain  hope  of  thus  securing  an  answer 
from  their  god.     1  Kings  18  :  28.     The  chosen  places  of  worship  were  high 


APPENDIX  TO  THE  TEIKD  DIVISION.  051 

hills  and  shady  trees,  as  wo  learn  from  abundant  notices  of  Scripture. 
1  Kings  14  :  23  ;  2  Kings  17  : 10  ;  Jer.  2  :  20  ;  Ezek.  20  : 28  ;  etc.  This  idol- 
dtroxs  worship  on  the  high  places  must  be  carefully  distinguished  from  the 
sacrifices  to  the  true  God  which  were  offered  on  the  high  places  by  an 
irregularity  tolerated  by  even  the  prophets,  and  sometimes  commanded  by 
God  himself.  1  Sam.  9  : 12  ;  10  :  2-5 .  1  Kings  18  :  31,  seq. ;  eta 

15.  We  notice  next  the  worship  of  Moleclt,  "horrid  king,  besmeared 
with  blood  of  human  sacrifice."     Moled i  (in  the  Greek  form  Moloch,  called 
also  Milcom,  1  Kings  11 :  5,  33  ;  2  Kings  23  : 13  ;  and  Malcom,  Jer.  49  : 1,  3) 
signifies  king.     He  was  especially  the  god  of  the  Ammonites  (1  Kings 
11 : 5,  7,  33),  for  whom  Solomon,  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  his 
Ammonitish  wives,  built  a  high  place  "in  the  hill  that  is  before  Jerusa 
lem."    1  Kings  11 :  7.    Moloch  is  generally  understood  to  have  represented 
the  element  of  fire.     In  some  passages  of  the  Old  Testament  his  worship, 
if  not  confounded  with  that  of  Baal,  is  closely  associated  with  it.     Jer. 
19  :  5  compared  with  chap.  32  : 35.     The  scriptural  testimony  to  the  fact 
that  human  victims  were  sacrificed  to   Moloch  is  decisive:   -'They  have 
•built  the  high  places  of  Tophet  in  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnoni,  to  burn 
their  soiis«aii(l  their  daughters  in  the  fire."     Jer.  7  :  31 ;  and  compare  Jer. 
19  :  5  ;  32  :  35  ;  Psa.  106  :  37,  38.      This  agrees  with  the  statement  of  pro 
fane  writers,  that  the  Phoenicians  and  Carthaginians  offered  human  sacri 
fices  to  a  god  whom  they  compare  to  Saturn.    The  seat  of  this  horrid  w<  >r- 
ship  among  the  Jews  was  Tophet  in  the  valley  of  Hiimoni.    2  Kings  23  : 10  ; 
Jer.  7  :  31,  where  the  high  pluc<*  are  artificial  mounds  or  altars  ;  19  :  6,  13, 
14.     For  this  reason  Josiah  defiled  the  place,  and  it  became  a  type  of  hell. 
The  rabbins  toll  us  that  the  statue  of  Molech  was  a  hollow  brazen  figure  of 
human  form,  but  with  the  head  of  an  ox.      Being  heated  within  like  an 
oven,  the  babe  was  placed  in  its  arms,  and  its  cries  drowned  by  the  noise 
of  drums  and  cymbals.    Diodorus  Siculus  (book  20,  chap.  14)  describes  the 
statue  of  a  Carthaginian  god,  whom  he  calls  Saturn,  thus:  "They  had  a 
brazen  statue  of  Saturn  with  his  hands  extended  and  inclining  downward 
towards  the  earth"  (that  is,  manifestly  downward  in  the  direction  of  his 
body) ;  "  so  that  the  child  being  placed  upon  them  rolled  off  from  them  and 
fell  into  the  chasm  "  (the  hoUow  body  of  the  image)  "that  was  full  of  fire." 
He  tells  us  that  on  one  occasion  the  Carthaginians,  being  hard  pressed  by 
their  enemies,  offered  to  this  god  at  a  public  sacrifice  no  less  than  two 
hundred  of  their  most  noble  boys,  besides  thirty  voluntary  victims. 

16.  The  remaining  false  deities  worshipped  by  the  Hebrews  require 
only  a  brief  notice.     We  give  them  in  alphabetical  order. 

Bel  (Isa.  46  : 1  ;  Jer.  50  : 2  ;  51  : 44),  the  chief  god  of  the  Babylonians, 
was  substantially  identical  with  the  B<i<d  of  Phoenicia  and  the  Canaanites. 

Chemosh  (Numb.  21  :  29  ;  Judg.  11  :  24 ;  1  Kings  11 ;  7,  33  ;  2  Kings 
23  : 13  ;  Jer.  48  :  7-,  13,  46)  was  the  abomination  of  the  Moabites.  It  was  to 


652  BIBLICAL  ANTIQUITIES. 

this  god  that  the  king  of  Moab  offered  his  son  (2  Kings  3  :  27).  He  is  once 
called  the  god  of  the  Ammonites  (Judg;  11  : 24),  and  seems  to  have  been 
worshipped  with  the  same  rites  as  Molech.  His  name  appears  on  the 
Moabitish  stone  recently  discovered. 

Dagon  (Judg.  16  :  23  ;  1  Sam.,  chap.  5 ;  1  Chron.  10  : 10),  that  is,  FisJt- 
gcxl,  was  an  idol  worshipped  in  the  Philistine  cities  under  the  form  of  a 
fish  with  the  head  and  arms  of  a  man.  There  are  at  Kouyunjik  like  fig 
ures,  for  which  see  Layard's  Babylon  and  Nineveh,  p.  343.  Such  a  figure 
corresponds  well  with  the  account  of  the  mutilation  of  Dagon  in  the  pres 
ence  of  the  ark  of  God  (1  Sam.  5:4):  "The  head  of  Dagon  and  both  the 
palms  of  his  hands  were  cut  off  upon  the  threshold ;  only  Dagon  (that  is, 
the  fishy  part  of  the  idol)  "was  left  to  him."  According  to  Diodoras 
Siculns  (2.  4),  the  city  of  Ascalon  worshipped  under  the  name  of  Derceto 
a  female  deity  with  the  face  of  a  woman,  but  the  body  of  a  fish. 

Gad  and  Meni  are  mentioned  by  Isaiah  (chap.  65  : 11)  as  deities  for 
whom  the  apostate  Jews  spread  a  table,  after  the  fashion  of  heathen  wor 
ship  :  "But  ye  who  forsake  Jehovah,  who  forget  the  mountain  of  my  holi 
ness,  who  spread  a  table  for  Gad"  (that  is,  Fortune],  "and  who  fill  a  drink- 
offering  to  Meni"  (that  is,  Allotment],  "I  will  even  allot  you  to  the  sword," 
etc.  Gesenius  regards  them  as  representatives  of  the  planets  Jupiter  and 
Venus,  both  of  them  stars  of  good  fortune. 

Nebo  (Isa.  46:1)  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  planet  Mercury,  wor 
shipped  in  Assyria  and  elsewhere.  Several  places  bear  the  name  of  Nebo, 
probably  from  the  worship  of  the  god  there  celebrated  ;  as  Dent.  32:  49 ; 
34  : 1 ;  Numb.  32  :  3  ;  Ezra  2  :  29,  etc.  It  also  enters  into  the  composition 
of  several  proper  names  ;  as  Nebuchadnezzar,  Nebuzaradan,  etc. 

Remphan  occurs  in  Acts  7  : 43  as  the  name  of  a  heathen  deity.  But 
this  is  taken  from  the  Septuagint  version.  The  original  (Amos  5  :  26)  may 
be  translated  :  "Yea,  ye  took  up  the  tabernacle  of  your  king,  the  pedestal 
of  your  images,  the  star  of  your  god  which  ye  made  for  yourselves  : 
that  the  particular  god,  who  is  apparently  Molech,  is  not  named.  Those 
who  retain  the  rendering  of  our  version,  Chiun  your  ima/j^x,  understand  by 
Chiun  (transformed  by  the  Septuagint  into  Kemphan)  the  planet  #//»/•>/. 

T<immuz  in  Ezekiel  8  : 14  is  supposed  to  represent  Adonis,  the  favorite 
of  Venus,  whose  premature  death  and  subsequent  resurrection  the  women 
celebrated  with  a  yearly  festival  beginning  with  lamentations,  and  ending 
with  revelling  and  licentious  orgies. 

17.  For  further  information  on  this  dark  and  perplexed  subject  the 
reader  must  be  referred  to  the  commentaries.  It  is  a  dark  domain  where 
unreason  rules  ;  "a  land  of  darkness,  as  darkness  itself  ;  and  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  without  any  order,  and  where  the  light  is  as  darkness." 


GEOGRAPHICAL  INDEX 


OF 


MODERN  ARABIC  NAMES. 


THE  CORRESPONDING  SYNONYMS  (HEBREW,  GREEK,  ROMAN, 
ETC.)  ARE  GIVEN  IN  ITALICS. 


A. 

Abil,  Abel-beth-maachah PAGE  283 

AinFaluj----- 134,  137 

Ain  el-Hudherah,  Hazeroth 252 

Am  Jsil fid,  fountain  of  Jezreel -     44 

AiuJidy,  En-yedi 39,  167 

Ain  el-Mndauwarah,  Capernaum  ?  144, 223 

Am  Shems,  Beth-shemesh 12G,  132 

Ain  Shems,  On,  Hdiopolis 241 

Ain  es-Sult:\n 152,  153 

Ain  et-Tabigkak 144 

Aiu  et-Tin ---  143 

Ain  el-Weibeh 33,  253 

Ajlfm,  Eglon - 128 

Akabah,  sea  of,  jElanit!cgulf~-36,  134, 

135,  248 

Akir,  Ekron 125 

Akku,  Accho,  Ptolemais 116,  124 

Akka,  plain  of - 37,  41,  116 

Akrabeh,  Acmbatta 204 

El-Aksa,  mosque 82,  86,  87 

E1-A1,  EtniHi 187 

Amman,  Kabbah,  Philadelphia 268 

Am  was.  A'/// nnt "N  ? 133 

Anal),  Anab 114 

Anata,  Anathoth 102 

Aujar 283 

Arabah 33,  146,  161,  248,  260 

Arair,  Aroer 188 

Arsuf,  ApoUonia  ?-  -. 121 

Askulfm,  Askelon 126 

Asuan,  >';/<' nc --  244 

El-Asy,  Orontes 282 

Awaj,  Pharpar 285,  286,  288 

El-Azariyeh,  Bethany - 102 


B. 
Bahr  Lut,  Sea  of  Lot,  i.  e.,  Dead  Sea  -166 

Banias,  Paneas 35,  135,  136 

Barada,  Abana 286,  28& 

Bathanyeh 174 

Batihah  --- 144 

Beirut,  Berytus 298 

Beisan,  Beth-shan 44,  149,  156,  213 

Beitm,  Beth-el 64,  106 

Beit  Jibrin,'  Eleutheropolis  --67,  129,  130 

Beit  Lahrn,  Beth-lehem 109 

BeitUr 39,  108 

El-Belka .- 182 

Bir  Eyub,  En-rogel 91 

Bir  es-Seba,  Beer-sheba 114 

Birket  el  Hanimam 91 

Birket  el-Mainilla 92 

Birket  er-Rani,  Phiala 138 

Birket  es-Sultan 92 

El-Buka'a,  Ca-le-Syria 278,  280 

El-Bureij 137 

Busaireh,  Bozrah  of  Edom 262 

Busrali,  Bozrah  of  Bashan,  Bostra-  179 

D. 

Dahar  el-Kudib 277 

Debbet  er-Ramleh 249 

Debfirieh,  Daberath 49 

Ed-Deir,  Jabesh-yilead 185 

Deir  Dubbau 130 

Deir  Dmvan 107 

Deir  el-Ghuzjil 284 

Dera 180 

Denial-all 137 

Dhiban 188 


654 


GEOGRAPHICAL  INDEX. 


Diarbekr 270 

Difneb,  Daphne 135 

Ed-Duhy 42,  44,  51 

E. 

Edbra,  Edrei 180 

Endor,  Endor 52 

Esdud,  Ashdod,  Azotus 126 

Esfieb 53 

F. 
Fusail,  Phasaelis 155 

G. 
El-Gbfib 282 

El-Ghor 146,  147,  159,  161 

Gbuzzeb,  Gaza 128 

H. 

Haifa,  Sucaminum 116,  117 

Haleb,  Aleppo 290 

Hamah,  Hamath 284 

El-Haram,  of  Jerusalem 76,  81-83 

El-Haram,  of  Hebron - 112 

Hawaii,  Haran 274 

Hasbeiya 137,  283 

Hattin - 50 

Haurfm 42,  174 

Hesbfin,  Heshbon 187 

El-Huleb,  waters  of  Merom 50 

El-Hideb,  plain  of 138 

Hums,  Emesa 34,  282,  284 

Hunin 35,  136 

I. 
Iskanderun,  gulf  of,  Issus 29,  276 

J. 

Jaulan,  Gaulonitis 42,  173 

Jeba,  Geba 104 

Jebeil,  Gebal,  Byblus 298 

JebelAjlfm 181 

Jebel  Attarus 188,  205 

Jebel  ed-Deruz - 174 

Jebel  Fureidis,  Frank  mountain  ---  210 

Jebel  Hauran 175,  183 

Jebel  Heisb • 174 

Jebel  Jelad,  Mount  GUead 181 

Jebel  Jermiik 41 

Jebel  Musa 251 

Jebel  en-Nusairiyeb,  JSargylus  -  281,  282 

Jebel  esb-Sbeikb,  Hermon 279,  280 

Jebel  esh-Sburky,  Anti-Lebanon-  41,  278 

Jebel  Simnin 277 

Jebel  et-T&r,  Tabor 42 

Jenin,  Gincea  — - 46,  51 

Jerasb,  Gerasa 185 

Jezireb 27(5 

El-Jib.  Gibeon 107,  198 


Jilj  ilia,  Giltjal,  of  Epbraim- 65 

Jiljuleh,  Gilyal,  of  tbe  Mediterrane 
an  plain 66,  122 

Jisr  Jtoi-it  Yakob, 139,  140 

Jisr  el-Mejamia- 149 

K. 

El-Ka'a 249 

Kabul,  Oabul 117 

Kaisariyeb,  Ccvsarea  — - 119 

Kalab  Sherghat 312 

Kana  el-Jelil,  Cana  of  GalUee 35.  49 

Karun,  Pasitigris 318 

Kedes,  Kedesh 50 

Kefr  Kenna 49 

Kefr  Saba,  Antipairis 120,  124 

KefrSehvan 88 

Kerak 213,  266 

Keramles 312 

Kerkhab,  Choaspes 318 

Kersa 145 

Khfibur,  Chebar - 274 

Khan  Minyeh 143 

Khasm  Usdurn--- 162,  163 

Kborsabucl 312 

Khu/iieh - 261 

Koyunjik 312 

Kubbet  es-Sukhrab 82,  86 

El-Kiids,  the  Holy,  i.  e.,  Jerusalem-     70 

Kunawat,  Kenath 180 

Kureiy at,  Kiriatha  im? 1 S  S 

Kurmul,  Carmel  of  Judah 113 

Kuriwh - 274 

Kuril  Surtabeb 68,  147,  149 

Kuryet  el-Enab,  Kirjatli-jearim  ---.-  109 

L. 

Lebbaii,  Lebonah 65 

Ledtlfm 135,  137 

El-Lejab,  Argob,  Trachoniiis--174,  175, 
176,  178,  214 

Lejjiin,  Megiddo 45,  51,  124 

El-Lis&n 161 

Litany,  Leontes 41,  280 

Lud.l!  Lod,  Lydda 1T>.  1-J! 

M. 

Main,  Maon 188 

El-Makhrucl -    117 

Mai-din 276 

Mar  Saba-- KIN.  ±il 

Mcjdd,  in  Galilee,  Magdala 143 

Mejdel,  in  Syria 2.s:t 

Mi'rj  Ay  fin-- -• 137,  283 

Merj  el-Buttauf 36,  43,  50 

M(  rj  .  1-Gliuruk 55 

Merj  Ibn  Amir,   plain  of  Esdrae- 

lon 43 

Merj  Ibn  Omeir 109,  133 


GEOGRAPHICAL  INDEX. 


Mosul  - 270,  312 

Mu^heir 275 

El-Mnhiakah 54 

Muklnnas,  Mii-lmxtah 105 

El-Mukhua 55,  56 

El-M«ikuttu.  A"/*/,.*,/ ^5 

N. 

N:\bulns.  S/Kr/,<m 55 

Nahr  el-Akhdar 199 

Nahr  1 1-Amvaly,  Bostrenus 291 

Nahr  el-Hasbany 137 

Nahr  el-Jalud 150 

Nahr  el-Kasimiyeh 281 

Nahr  el-Kebir,  'Eleutherus 277 

Nahr  Naman,  Belus 116 

Nahr  Rubin 128 

Nahr  ez-Zerka,  Jabbok 150,  184 

En-Nasirah,  Xazarelh 48 

Nehy  Harun,  Mount  Hor 202 

Neby  Ismail 49 

NebY  Sainwil,  Mizpeh  ? -  107 

NebyYunus 312 

Neiu,  Xain 52 

Nimrud 312 


0. 


Oorfa- 


R 

Er-Rahah 249, 

Er-Rani,  Ramah 

Er-Ramleh - 122,  124, 

Rasht -i  ya - 

Has  el-Abyad 35,  11G, 

lias  el-Feshkhah 39,  G7, 

Ras  el-Mersed 39,  1GO, 

Ras  ni-Nakurah 41, 

Ras  Sasafeh 

Ribleh,  Riblah 34, 

R iha.  ,J>  rli-Jut 

Ruad.  An;i<l.  ,1/v/i/o.v 

Rnhaibeh,  Rehoboth?- 

Ruinnianeh, 


250 
103 
£5 

283 
2'.  U 
1GO 
ir.i 
lie. 
252 
2S4 
l.VJ 

133 
51 


S. 

Sabkhah,  plain  of 161 

Safod  ----- 41,  50 

Saida.  S;,l>n - - 297 

Sakut.  Sucmif,  ?    117.  156 

Salim.  Mulr-m? 58,  64 

Es-Salt.   Hi.nntl.-.iH.KHl 182,  186 

San.  ;:-»/„.  y'i/»;.s- 210 

Sebnstioh,  Snni<iri<i ti2 

St-ffurioh.  Sei>)>]iuris 4!) 

Seilfm,  M.Hoh  -- <!4 

Sehvau,  Siham 87 

Semua,  Eshtemoa  • 114 

Serbal-- :5J 


Esh-Sherif.  tl«  y,,blr,  i.  c.,  Haram-  82 

Esh-Shukif  ..........  -  ........  •-  281 

Esh-Shurkiyeh,  Goshen  ...........  235 

Shuweikeh,  Shochoh  .............  114 

Es-Sik  .................  .........  261 

S.'.ba  ...........................  104 

Solam,  Sliunem  ------------------  51 

Sabribeh  .......................  136 

Es-Snlah.   Iforinfih?  ..............  1(J7 

Sukkot,  Succoth  ?  .......  ..........  156 

Sulkhad,  Salcah  ..............  173,  179 

Sur,  Tyre  ................  ------ 

SuratVnd.  Z>tri  ///c</A.  Farepta  ------  -''S 

Surah,  Znr-ih  ....................  132 


T. 


Taammk,   TaanrifJi  .............  -!">.  "-0 

Tiiiyibeh,  Ophrafi  ?  ............  68,  105 

Taiitfira,  Dor  ..............  -----  121 

Tarabulus,   Tripolis  ..............  298 

'lYima.   T>  ma  .......  •  .........  —  271 

T.-kua,  Tekoa  ...................  110 

Tell  Basta.  Pi-bwth,  Bubasti*  ----  211 

Tell  Dothan,  Dothan  ............ 

Tell  Dibbin,  Ijon  ................  283 

Tell  Hum-----  ...................  144 

Tell  el-Kady,  Dan  ............  135,  206 

Tell  Kaimon,  Jokneam  ...........  200 

Tell  Khuraibeh  ..................     50 

Tell  Main,  3faon  ..............  69,  113 

Tell  Mutsellim  ..................     51 

Tell  es-Safieh,  Gath?  .............  126 

Tell  Zif.  Ziph  ..................  -  113 

El-Tellul  ..................  -----  285 


Tibneh,  of  Dan,  Ttnumlh  ......  ---  132 

Tibnin  ..........................  35 

Et-Tih  .......  -  ..............  2-19,  2.V2 

Tubiikat  Fahil.  Pdl<i  -----  ........  186 

Tnbar  iyeh,  Tiberias  ..............  142 

Tubas.'  '1I..1,.-  .....  ---  ...........  64 

Tui'ileh.   T»pM  -----  .............  262 

Tuh-il  el-Ful,  Gibeah  .............  103 

Tulluzah,  Tirzah  ?  ...............  64 

U. 
Um  el-Gemal,  Beth-gamul  ........  180 

Urn  Keis,  Gatlara  ......  ---145,  184,  185 

Urn  Lakis,  Lachish  -  ..............   1  2S 

Umgheir  ........................  275 

W. 
Wsuly  Beit  Hanina  ..............     74 

WadyFeirin  ...................  256 

Wady  Farah  ..................  -  -     68 

WadyFaria  ................  -147.  14!) 

Wady  (Miunnulel  ............  250,  256 

Wady  Ham  am  --  ................  -  145 

Wadyllesban  .................  --  7!*4 


656 


GEOGRAPHICAL  INDEX. 


Wady  Jelioshafat,  valley  of  Jehosha- 

pJiat - 73 

Wady  el-Jeib 260 

Wady  Kadisha 278 

Wady  el-Kelt,  brook  Cherith? 39,  68, 

152,  155 

WadyKerak 1G8,  2G5 

Wady  Khnreitun 68 

Wady  el-Leja 250 

Wady  Leimun 222 

Wady  Mahamvat 164 

WadyMojib,  Arnon---33,  160,  1G7,  184 

Wady  el-Mukatteb 254 

Wady  Miisn,  Petra •-  -  261 

Wadyen-Nar 68,  168 

Wady  es-Safieh - 168 

Wady  es-Seba 114 

Wady  Sebayeh 252 

Wady  esh-Sheikh 251,  256 

Wady  es-Sumpt,  valley  ofElah--67,  131 

Wady  Surar 67,  132 

Wady  et-Teim 134,  137,  280 


Wady  el- Ward 

Wady  Zurka  Main 
Wady  Zuweirah  -  - 


101 

•164,  167,  184 
162 


Y. 

Yabes,  Jabesh 185 

Yafa,  Japhia 41) 

Yafa,  Japho,  Joppa 121 

Yalo,  Ajalon 109,  133 

Yarm  uk,  Jarmuth 132 

Yarinuk,  river  Hieromax  --150,  173,  184 

Yebiia,  Jabneh -  128 

Yeheniiam,  Gehenna 73 

Yeshfia,  Eshtaol 132 

Yutta,  Juttuh 114 

Z. 

Zanua,  Zanoah 132 

Zekweh 283 

Zerin,  Jezreel 44,  47,  51 

Zib,  Achzib,  Ecdippa 117 


INDEX  OF  PLACES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


N.  B.  In  this  Alphabetical  Index  thp  titles  of  the  several  chapters  are  given. 
For  an  analysis  of  their  contents  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Table  of  Contents 
at  the  beginning  of  the  volume. 


A. 
Abana  ......................  PAGE 

Aim  vim  ......................... 

Abel-beth-maachah  .............. 

Abib,  mouth  of  .................. 

Abilene  ......................... 

Abrahamic  covenant  ..........  •!''•'.">. 

Absalom,  so-called  tomb  of  ....... 

Acacia.     See  Bhittim-woocL 
Accho,  Acre.  Akka  ............... 

Accursed  thing  .................. 

Aceldama  ....................... 

Aeli/ib,  Gr.  Ecdippa  ............. 

Adoraim  -  -----  -  .................. 

Adramyttiuni  .................... 

Adullam  ........................ 

Adultery  ......  -  ......  ............ 

JEgean  sea  ...................... 


JElanitic  gulf  ----  ................ 

Agriculture  ................  -335, 

"  animals  used  in  ...... 

"  implements  of  ........ 

'  '  laws  concerning  ...... 

Ai  .....................  -  ....... 

Ajalon.  valley  of  ----  "-  ............ 

Akabah.  gulf  of  ................. 

Akka.  plain  of  ................... 

Akra  ........................... 

Akrabbim.     See  Scorpion  Cliffs. 
Aleppo  ......................... 

Alexander  the  Great  ............. 

Alexandria  ...................... 

Almond  ..................  -  ..... 

Alphabet,  origin  of  -------------- 

Altar  of  burnt-offering  ........  554, 

'•     of  incense  ................. 

Amanus,  mount  ..............  276, 

A  malek  —  ...................... 

Ambuscades  ................  ---- 

Ammon  ......................... 


286 

183 
283 
448 
290 
535 
96 

116 
Gil 
99 
117 
114 
307 
132 
427 
300 
157 
248 

342 
340 
335 
107 
ion 
248 
116 
77 

290 
4!)4 
2;5<> 
363 
•2!':; 
<;-2"> 
562 
282 
256 
523 
267 


Ammonitis 204 

Amorites 267,  327 

Amphipolis 305 

Anab 114 

Auathoth 102 

Ancient  divisions  of  Israel 191,  seq. 

Animals,  domestic 2-Ji » 

wild 221 

Ankle-bands  and  chains 404 

Anointing  --- 575 

Anti-Lebanon 278 

Antioch  in  Syria 284 

"       in  P'isidia 303 

Antipatris 120 

Antouia,  fortress  of 85 

Anysis  -  - 240 

Appendix  on  Arabic  names  — 322,  seq. 

"      the  Canaanitish  tribes-325,  seq. 

"       Grecian    and    Roman 

games 443,  seq. 

"      Roman  citizenship 531,  seq. 

Apples  of  Scripture — 217 

"      of  Sodom 218 

Apollonia 305 

Arabah----- 146,  161,  192,  248,  260 

Arabian  Peninsula 247,  seq. 

Arabia   Petrjca.      See  Arabian  Pe 
ninsula. 

Arabic  feast - 415 

Aradus.     See  Arvad. 

Aram 29,  273 

Ara  r  a  t 321 

Araxes 3:20 

Arbela.     See  Beth-arbel. 
Argob.     See  Trachonitis. 

Arimathea -•  • 104 

Ark  of  the  covenant 549 

Armenia --297,  309,  317.  320 

Armor,  defensive 520,  seq. 

Arms,  offensive 516,  seq. 

Army-  - 515 


28* 


G58 


INDEX  OF  PLACES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Ar  Moab  

265 

Arnoii  167,  184,  265, 

207 

Aroer  -  

188 

Arpad  -  

313 

Arrow  -  

519 

Arts,  domestic  and  mechanical  

541 

Arvad  

298 

Ashdod  -  — 

126 

Asher,  tribe  of  

201 

Ashernh  

C50 

Ashes,  in  mourning  -- 

441 

Ashkenaz  

321 

Ashtaroth  Karnaim  

180 

Ashtorcth  and  Ashtaroth  

649 

Asia  Minor  and  Greece  299, 

seq. 

Asia,  province  of  

299 

Asia,  seven  churches  of  301, 

seq. 

Asida-ans  -'-- 

636 

Askelon  

126 

Asplmltic  lake.     See  Dead  Sea. 

Ass  -  

379 

Assos  -- 

30f> 

Assyria  

309 

Assyrian  empire  309, 

seq. 

Astrologers  

648 

Atbara  

235 

Athens  

305 

Atonement,  great  day  of  

582 

Atropatcne  •  

317 

Attalia  

303 

Augur  

648 

Aulon  ---  -  

146 

Auranitis  

173 

Aveh  

313 

Aven,  plain  of  

284 

Avenger  of  blood  

509 

Avim  

383 

Azekah  

131 

Azotus.     See  Ashdod. 

Azzah.     See  Gaza. 

B. 

Baal  •  

649 

Baall  >oc  

283 

Baal-gad  

191 

Bashan,  descried  cities  of 177 

Batanasa.     See  Bashan. 

Bath  --                                     .|i;7 

Battering-ram 526 

Battle,  order  of- - 523 

Battle-axe 518 

Battlements  of  roofs 391 

Beans - 343 

Bear 221 

Beard,  usages  respecting —  102 

Beasts,  exposure  to  - 445 

Healing  to  death . 511 

Beer-sheba  - 114 

Bees 


224 

Beheading 511 

Behemoth •>•>(', 

Bel- 


Baal-meon 187 

Baal-peor -  184 

Babylon 315 

Babylonia 314 

Badgor  of  Scripture 223,  5 16 

Ba-tis- 296 

Bakeries - 411 

Balm.     See  Balsam. 

Ballista -  -  - 525 

Balsam 154,  365 

Bargvlns,  mount 281 

Baris- 85 

Barley  --- 311.  3-H 

Bashan 38,  173,  soq.,  204 


651 

Belka- 182 

Bells 573 

Belus - 116 

Benjamin,  tribe  of-- 197 

Berytus-"- - -  2'.)S 

Bethany- 101 

Beth-arbei 145 

Beth-barah --  - 157 

Heth-el  -  - - - 106 

Bt-lliesda,  so-called  pool  of 85 

Beth-gamul  -  -  - -  - 181 

Belli-horoH -   108 

Beth-lehem - -- 109 

Befchphage - 102 

Beth-rehob - % ->*•> 

Bethsaida ---  144 

Beth-slum 156 

Beth-sliemesh  - - 132 

Beth-shemesh,  of  Egypt- 241 

Betogabra.     See  Eleulheropolis. 
Betrothal.     See  Espousal. 

Bezetha '- 79,  86 

Birds  of  Palestine 222 

Bithyuia 304 

Bitumen : 165 

Blue 407 

nine  Nile 235 

Boards  of  (he  tabernacle •"">!:'• 

Bonnets 40  I.  ."".7:'. 


Hooks,  ancient  -  

-   -{55 

B<">ths  

606 

Bottle  --- 

---362,  :!7:; 

Bottle  in  the  smoke  

;\~,-2 

]}mv   

51  S 

Bozrah  of  Bashan  

179 

of  Edom  

262 

Bracelets  

.|o  | 

Hivad  

--    110 

Breastplate  of  judgment-- 

-  r,70 

"  •       military  

521 



-400,  .".7:: 

1NDKX  OF  PLACES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


659 


Bricks- 393 

Bubastis.     Hoe  Pi-be:-eth 

Bullal.. 220 

Bulls  of  Bashan - 225 

Burial -  -  - "-  439 

*  Burning  at  funerals 440 

"       as  a  penalty 508 

on  the  altar 582 

Butter -  - 376 

By  bins.     See  Gebal. 

C. 

Cabul 117 

Csesarea  of  Palestine 118 

Philippi- 136,  279 

Cakes  baked  in  the  embers 411 

Calf-worship - 649 

Callirrhoe 167 

Calneh  or  Calno - 317 

Camel - - 370 

Canaan,  land  of 30 

Cauaanites--     327 

' '        extirpation  of  the 529 

C.ma  of  Galilee  - 49 

Candlestick,  golden -553,  564 

Cauneh.     See  Calueh. 

Capernaum 143 

Capital  punishment 506 

Caravan - 464 

Caravanserai 466 

Caivhemish  - 274 

Carmel,  mount  - 52 

"      of  Judah 113 

Carob-tree 218 

Casius,  mount 281 

Catapult- - 525 

Cauls 404 

-- 69,  383 

Cedar  of  Lebanon -  278 

Cenchrea 305 

Cereal  and  leguminous  plants -342,  seq. 
Chaboras.      See  Chebar. 
Chain.     See  Necklace. 

Chaldfca 314 

Chald&an  empire 315 

Chambers  of  houses 388 

of  the  temple 618,  621 

Chamberlain - 490 

Changes  of  raiment-  - 407,  416 

Chariot --- 519 

Chebar 274,  318 

Cheese 377 

Cheesemongers'  valley.     See  Tyro- 
poaon. 

Cherith,  brook  of 152,  155 

Cherubim 550,  563 

Chief  priest  -  - 497 

Chiefs  of  tribes 473 

Chnrneys.  absence  of 392 


Chinneroth.     See  Sea  of  Galilee. 

Chittim,  isles  of 300 

Chi.m - 652 

Choaspes 318 

Chorazin - --  144 

Chrysorrhoas.     See  Abana. 

Churning - 377 

Cilicia 304 

Circesium.     See  Carchemish. 

Cisterns 66,  91,  378 

Cities  of  the  Plain,  overthrow  of- 168,  seq. 

"    of  refuge 509 

."    oriental 394 

Clauda - - 307 

Clean    and    unclean,    distinctions 

of 590,  seq. 

Clean  animals 591 

Climate - '-  -  -  206 

Climate,   soil,   and   productions  of 

Palestine -- -206,  seq. 

Clothing,  materials  of-  - 406 

Cloud  of  God's  presence 565 

Cnidos - 307 

Coat  of  many  colors 397 

Coele-Syria 280 

Colosse 303 

Commanders,  military 488 

Commerce,  routes  of 464 

Compensation  in  kind 503 

Concubine 419 

Congregation 474 

Consanguinity,  laws  of -  425 

Cony  of  Scripture -  221 

Coos ----- - -  306 

Corban 611 

Corinth-T 305 

Corporal  punishment -  503 

Council.     See  Sanhedrim. 
Countries  north  and  northeast  of 

Palestine-  - 273,  seq. 

Countries  southeast  and  east  of  Pal 
estine 259,  seq. 

Countries  southwest  and  south  of 

Palestine 228,  seq. 

Court  of  the  tabernacle - 549 

Courts  of  houses — 385 

' '      of  the  temple 619,  seq. 

Crete -     -- 307 

Crisping-pins.     See  Purses. 

Crocodile 238 

Crucifixion - ~>11 

Cubit 466,  468 

Curtains  of  the  tabernacle ">  1  ."> 

Cush ' •- ----  246 

"    of  Gen.  2:13 ---  318 

Cushan-rishathaim - -  'll  \ 

Cymbal - i-V.i 

Cyprus 303 

Cyrus,  river - 317.  320 


INDEX  OF  PLACES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


D. 
Dabareh 49 

Dagger.     See  Sword. 

Dagon - - 652 

Dalmanutha 143 

Dalmatia  -  - 306 

Damascus  -- - 279,  285 

Dan,  city  of- 136 

"     tribe  of- - 198 

Daphne.     See  Tahpanhes. 

David,  tomb  of--    81 

Day,  Hebrew 450 

Dead  Sea  --       --36,  134,  157,  seq.,  265 

Dead  body,  uncleanness  from 594 

Death-penalty  - 505 

Dedan,  Cushite -  297 

Dedan,  Jokshanite 262,  297 

Dedication,  feast  of 608 

Delta  of  Egypt--  233 

Demoniacal  possessions < 462 

Demon-worship -- 645 

Derbe ..-.*..  303 

Dial - 451 

Dibon  or  Dimon- 188 

Dichotomy - 511 

Divan  -- -- 388,  394 

Divination- 648 

Divorce 426 

Dog--- 222 

Domestic  relations  and  usages-419,  seq. 

Dor 120 

Dothan - -  - 48,  64 

Dreams- - 647 

Dress  and  personal  ornaments -396,  seq. 

Dulcimer - 459 

Dumah 271 

E. 

Ear-drops 404 

Ear-rings - 405 

Eastern  empires " 309,  seq. 

East  Sea.     See  Dead  Sea. 

Ebal,  mount - 56,  58 

Eboda --  256 

Ecbatana -  317 

Eden,  garden  of 314 

Edom,  land  of 259,  seq. 


Edrei- 
Eglon 


180 
128 


Egypt  and  Ethiopia —  - 228,  seq. 

Ekron - 125 

Elah,  valley  of ---  131 

Eliim 318 

Elders - 473,  497 

Eleutheropolis 129 

Eleutherus 277 

Elim --  250 

Elislmh,  isles  of 296,  300 

Eloth - 248 


Elusa 256 

Embalming -  -  - 244.  460 

Embroidery '-  452 

Eiiu-sa 284 

"    plain  of 282 

Emmaus 133 

En-gedi - 1(17 

Endor 52 

En-rogel - 91 

Ephah 467 

Ephesus - 301 

Ephod 569' 

Ephraim,  city  of 105 

"        mount 55 

tribe  of- 199 

Ephratah - 1 09 

"Epiphania.     See  Haiuath. 

Epistle 456 

Erech - 317 

Esdraelon,  plain  of 43 

Eshtaol - 132 

Eshtemoa - - 114 

Espousal 422 

Esseues 641 

Etam  or  Etliam 94 

Ethiopia 246 

Ethnarch 495 

Eulrcus.     See  Ulai. 

Euphrates 274,  276,  314,  320 

Excision 508 

Ezion-geber- 248 

F. 

Fair  Havens -  307 

Families  of  a  tribe .- 473 

Family  relations 419,  seq. 

Fasts,  national -  <;<>'.) 

Fathers'  houses 472 

Feast  of  harvest.     See  Pentecost. 

"     of  ingathering.      See  Taber 
nacles,  feast  of. 

"    of  the  passover.     See  Pass 
over. 

"     marriage- - 423 

"     oriental - 416 

Fennel :m 

Ferguson's  plan  of  the  taberuai  1.      548 

Fetishes  -- r.ir, 

Fig 216,  361 

Fines- 503 

Firstborn 429,  589 

First-fruits 589 

j.'ish.-s 223 

Fishing--         -- 382 

Flocks  and  herds 367,  seq. 

Flowers  of  Palestine 219 

Flute -  - 459 

E< >( id  and  meals  -- 408,  seq. 

Fountain  of  Elisha 152 


INDEX  OF  PLACES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


G61 


Fountain  of  the  virgin 88 

Fountains  of  Palestine 215 

sealed 94 

Freedom,  loss  of- 505 

Fringes 407 

Fruit-trees 21 G,  359,  seq. 

I'rvhmpaii  — 412 

Fuller's  field 100 

Funeral  rites 440 

Furlong 467 

G. 

Gad,  tribe  of-- - 194 

"    a  deity C-VJ 

Gadara - 185 

Gadarenes • 145 

Gulatia - 304 

Galeadites - 204 

Galilee,  mountainous  region  of-41,  seq. 

"      sea  of 140,  seq. 

Games,  Grecian  and  Komaii  -  -443,  seq. 

Gardens  and  orchards 217,  364 

Garments,  modern  Arabic -   --  400 

Gate,  Beautiful- - 625 

"     Golden 624 

Gates  of  cities - 499,  524 

"    ofhouses - 384 

Gath - -  12i) 

Gaulonitis --  173 

Ga/a - 40,  127 

Geba 104 

Gebal - 298 

Gennath,  gate 78,  80 

Gehenna - 73,  94,  seq. 

Genuesareth,  land  of 141 

Gennesareth,  sea  of.      See  Sea  of 
Galilee. 

Gerar 133 

Gerasa 185 

Geraseues.     See  Gadarenes. 

Gergesenes 145 

(Jeii/.im,  mount 56,  58 

Girshonites,  charge  of  the •"">•> 

Gibbeting 507 

Gibeah  of  Benjamin 103,  105 

"       ofPhinehas 103 

Gibeon --- 107 

Gifts ---  43!) 

Gihon,  pools  of 92 

Gilboa 51 

Gilead 38,  181,  seq. 

Gilgal  of  Ephraim - 65 

"      of  the  Jordan  valley 155 

of  the  Mediterranean  plain-  122 

51 

Girdle -- 397 

"     military 521 

"    priestly - 573 

Girgashites 328 


- - - 405 

Gleaning - 34* 

Glorious  land - 31 

Goad 342 

Goats  .- ^ 373 

Goats-hair  curtains ~>\~> 

Goat-skin  bottles 373 


Gog  and  Mago;. 


321 


Goiner - 321 

Goshen,  land  of 234 

Government  after  the  captivity -492,  seq. 

( n-aiiaries - 347 

Grapes,  treading  of 351 

Greaves  --- 521 

Greece 299 

Guitar.     See  Lute. 

H. 

Habor 275,  313 

Hagarenes  or  llagarites 271 

Hair,  plucking  off,  in  mourning —  441 

Halah 275,  313 

Halak,  mount 191 

Haiuath,  entering  in  of 33,  277,  281 

city  of - 284 

Hanes 240 

Hanging - 507,  511 

Harani  of  Jerusalem 82 

"      ofHebron 112 

Haran 274 

Harem,  royal - 491 

Harod,  fountain  of -     45 

Harosheth  of  the  Gentiles  -  -  - 50 

Harp 457 

Harrow 341 

Haruspices -  648 

Harvest,  times  of-- 212 

Hauran -  - 174 

Havilah 250,  257 

Hazeroth  - -- -   -J.VJ 

1  fa/e/< )ii-tamar  - -   1<'»7 

Head-drees--- •in-J 

of  tribes-— 17:5 

Heave-offering - 582 

Hebrew  divisions  of  time 417 

Hebrews,  division  by  tribes —  I'1 

laud  of  the 31 

Hebron Ill 

Helbon - 290 

Helena,  tomb  of - —     96 

Heliopolis  of  Egypt.     See  On. 

"        of  Syria.  •  See  Baalbec. 

Hellas- 'JOr, 

Helmet 520 

Heptanomis - 233 

Haracleopolis  -- - -   2  JO 

Hennon 134,  174,  279 

Herodians 643 

Heroopolitau  gulf.  See  Suez,  gulf  of. 


G(52 


INDFX  OF  PLACES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Heslibon- -  - 187 

Hierapolis  - - 303 

Hieromax 149,  184 

Highlands  west  of  the  Jordan --41,  seq. 

High  places 650 

Hinnom,  valley  of 73,  94,  seq. 

Hippicus,  tower  of  - - 78 

Hippopotamus 238 

Historical  survey 534,  seq. 

Hittites 327 

Hivitos 328 

Holy  Land 31 

"    of  holies--- 549 

"    sepulchre - 82 

Homer 4G7 

Honey  of  grapes - 350 

"      of  bees -366 

Hor,  mount 253,  262 

"      of  the  north 34 

Horeb - 251 

Horites :w:i 

Hormah 197 

Horn-- 459 

Horns  as  ornaments 406 

Horse - 380 

Hospitality,  oriental 417 

Hours---- 451 

House,  oriental,  plan  of 384 

Houses  and  their  appointments,  383,  seq. 

Huleh,  lake - -  138 

Hundred,  military 510 

Hunting 381 

Huts  of  the  poor 383 

Hyena 221 

Hyssop 218 

I. 
Iconium  -- 303 

Idolatrous  rites 647 

Idolatry  of  the  Hebrews 644,  G52 

Idumrea,  province  of 204 

Ijoii 283 

lilyricum 306 

Image-worship 646 

Imprisonment 502,  510 

Inauguration,  kingly 487  I 

"  priestly 574,  seq. 

Incense,  sweet 556 

"        symbolism  of 564 

India----- - 322 

Ink 454 

Inns - 465 

Insects  of  Palestine 224 

Ionium.      See  Javan. 

Irrigation 338 

Ir-shemesh - 133 

Jssa-liar,  tribe  of 200 

Is -iiis.  gulf  and  plain  of -    2S2 

Israel.  Imd  of - 31 


Italy 320 

Itunea -•  -173,  204 

Iveh---- 313 

J. 

Jabbok 150,  184,  267 

Jabesh-gilead 185 

Jabneel  or  Jabneh 128 

Jackal - 221 

Jacob's  well 61 

•lames,  tomb  of 96 

Janmia.     See  Jabneel. 

Japhia 49 

Japho.     See  Joppa. 

Jiirmnth 132 

Javau  -- 297,  300 

Javelin 517 

Jebusites  -  - - -  -  :12S 

Jehoshaphat,  tomb  of  - 96 

valley  of ---     73 

Jericho - 152,  seq. 

Jerusalem,  history  of 70 

' '         position  of- 72,  seq. 

Jezreel,  valley  of 44 

Jokneam 200 

Joppa-- 121 

Jordan  and  Dead  Sea,  valley  of-l:M, seq. 

"      circuit  of ' 140,  170 

"      river 148,  151 

' '      sources  of 135,  seq. 

Joseph's  tomb -     (i2 

J( isliua,  office  of -  - 478 

Journeyings  of  the  Israelites 557 

Jubilee,  year  of 337,  450,  599 

Judah,  tribe  of 196 

Judea,  mountainous  section  of- -66,  seq. 

"     Roman  province  of 204 

Judges,  extraordinary 477 

"       ordinary 475 

"       tombs  of  the 90 

Justice,  administration  of 498,  seq. 

Juttah - v  114 

K. 

Kadesh  and  Kadesh-barnea- '2">:> 

Kaiiah,  torrent  of - !!>'.) 

Kedar--- -  271 

Kedesh  of  Xaphtali 50,  258 

Kenat  h 1  SO 

K.Miites --  2.~>7 

Keiak -   2(\(\ 

Kidron,  valley  of --- 72 

Kingly  form  of  government  --482,  seq. 

King's  councillor 490 

"      friend 4!M) 

Kings,  tombs  «>f  the 96 

Kir-heres  or  Kir-harcseth.     See  Ke- 

rak. 
Kiriathaiin —  188 


lM>r,K  OF  PLACES  AND   SUBJECTS. 


663 


Kirjath-arba  ....................   113 

Kirjath-jearim-  -  .................  109 

Kir  M«al>.     See  K<rak. 
Kneading-tronghs  ...............  410 

Kohathitcs,  charge  of  the  ........  558 

Kur.     See  Cyrus,  river. 


L. 
Lachish--  ......  ----  ..........  - 

Ladder  oi1  Tyre--  ........  -  ....... 

Land  of  promise"  ----  ............ 

Laodicea  ........................ 

Laver   ---------------  -----  ---- 

Leaven.  as  a  symbol  ------------- 

Lt-banou  and  Anti-Lebanon  ------ 

"        chain  of-  .............  --- 

Lechaium  ---------  .............. 

Lentiles  ..............  ---------- 

Leontes  ----  ..................... 

"      chasm  of  the-  .....  134,  277, 

Leopard  --  .......  ------  ^  -------- 

Leprosy---  ......  ---------  ic.l.  5M3. 

"       in  houses  and  garments  — 
Levi,  tribe  of  ..........  ---------- 

Leviathan  ........  -  .......  ----- 

Levirate  ---------  ...........  ---- 

Levitts,  as  a  class  -------------  f>>~ 

'  '       organization  of  ---------- 

"       provision  for  the-  -  ....... 

Levitical  cities  ------------------- 

Levy  of  men  -  - 

"     of  troops  ------  ..........  -- 

Libya  ........  -  .......  ---------- 

Lion  ----------------------  ----- 

Lip,  covering  of  the  ........  -  ..... 

j  i  if  showbread  -----------  - 

L«  x-iists  ------------------------- 

"      as  food  .................. 

Lod.     See  Lydda. 
Lord's  Supper,  relation  -of  the. 
the  Passover  --  ......  --  .....  - 

Lnd  and  Lndim  ----------------- 

Lunacy  --------  .......  --  .....  - 

Lute  -'  .....  ---------  ..........  -- 

Luz.      See  Beth-el. 

Lycaonia  ------  .................. 

Lydda  -------------------------- 


12S 

110 

31 

303 

G03 
27»i 
'ill 
305 
3-42 
41 
280 
'I'll 
.V.ir. 
4(12 
iMl 

421 

58(5 
587 
589 

514 

2!!G 
.221 
441 
552 

22  4 

4!3 


296 

4'>s 

303 

122 
4.18 
303 


518 
Macedonia  -------  .......  -  .......  304 

Machierus.  fortress  of  .....  -------  205 

MagdaLi  ------------------------  143 

Mahonaim  --------  ............  --  18f> 

Malta  --------  ........  ----------   307 

Maimv  ----  .....  -    --------------    113 


Lystra  -------------------------- 

M. 

Maachah.    See  Abel-beth-Maachah. 


Manasseh,  halt  tribe  east 105 

half  tribe  west 

Manna - 

Mantle - \VM 

Maon  - 69,  113 

Maivslmh-- - 131 

Marriage  dowry 422 

"        cousummation  of -  423 

'    "        institution  of 534 

Mars'  hill 305 

Masius,  mount 274 

Masters  and  servant-; 430,  seq. 

Mattock ---  341 

M,.:lls 413,  seq. 

Me.lel.,1 188 

and  Persians -31, 

Media  -- 317 

Medical  art lf',0,  secj. 

Mediterranean  plain 37,  IK!,  seq. 

Megiddo 15.  51 

Melita.      S,e  Malta. 
Memphis.      See  Xoph. 

Meni d52 

Men/il  or  public  lodging-place 418 

Merantes,  charge  of  the 558 

Meivy-sea't .">.")(  i 

Meroe -  -  - 247 

Merom.     See  Huleh. 

Meshech -- 297,  321 

Mesopotamia 2  73 

Metempsychosis 24i 

Michmash  — — 105 

Midianites     and      other      Arabian 

tribes 2< 

Mi-dol 

Miletus 302 

Military  affairs — .">  i 

Milk—- 376 

"    of  goats 373 

Mill - 40S 

Millet --- 343 

Mines,  military .V2i'» 

Minni 321 

Mishor- 181,  193 

Mitre, --- ":! 

Mityl-ne : 3<i.; 

Mixed  garments -iuii 

Mizpah  and  Mizpeh-- 107 

Moab •!• 

MoabiTis -  -  -  -  204 

Molech r,:,l 

Months,  Hebrew 447,  seq. 

Moph.     See  Xoph. 

Moresheth-gath 132 

Moriah--         -- ---77 

Mortar ins 

Mosaic  covenant -   -H','.) 

economy ."•:; 

M"oschi.     8e    >!• 


664 


INDEX  OF  PLACES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


Moses,  offices  of- 477 

Mosque  el  Aksa 86 

"       of  Omar 86 

Mountainous  belt  of  Palestine 36 

Mount,  military 525 

Mourning,  forms  of - —  441 

Mourners,  professional -  442 

Mufflers -  - 404 

Mummies 244 

Murder,  primitive  law  against 535 

Music  and  musical  instrumeuts-457,seq. 

Must - 352 

Myra - - 307 

Mysia 304 

N. 
Nabathoeans.     See  Nebaioth. 

Niiin  - - 52 

Naming  of  children 428 

Naphtali,  mount 41 

tribe  of 201 

Natural  history  of  Palestine-- -215,  seq. 

Navigation,  ancient-- 464 

Nazareth 40,  48 

Nazarite G12,  seq. 

Neapolis 304 

Neat  cattle 376 

Nebaioth 271 

Nebo;  a  deity (i52 

"     mount -  183 

Necklace 403 

Necromancy ••-  648 

Nile 235 

Nineveh - 312 

No-Amon.     See  Thebes. 

Nomadic  life 3G7,  seq. 

Noph 242 

Nose-jewels 405 

Nuts 217 

Nyanza  lake 235 


O. 
Oak 
( )blai  ion - 

Officers,  Hebrew 

of  the  king 488, 

"        of  the  Sanhedrim • — 


Oil- 


"  holy  anointing 

"  ritual  use  of «•- 

"  mill 

"  cistern - 

(  Hive,  culture  of  the  -----216,  356, 

Olives,  mount  of 

Omer 

On 

Olio 

Ophel - 

Ophir 


218 
581 
474 
seq. 
497 
358 
556 

358 

seq. 
100 

4''.7 

241 

216 

•--77,  86 
•248.  -J'.i'i 


Oplu-ah 105 

Oracles,  responses  of 647 

Oratorios - 629 

Orchoe.     See  Erech. 

Organ 459 

Ornaments,  female 404 

Orontes 280,  282 

Ovens,  forms  of 412 

"      public 411 

Oxen  for  the  tabernacle  service 559 

P. 
Padan-arain 273 

Painting  the  eyebrows 405 

Palsetyrns 294 

Palestine,  different  uses  of  the  term 

30,  seq. 

general  view  of 29,  seq.. 

boundaries  ideal  and  ac 
tual 31,  seq. 

form  and  dimensions  —     35 

general  divisions 3(5,  seq. 

direction  of  the  valleys--     38 

routes  of  travel  • 38 

peculiar  situation 40 

military  strength 40 

Palm-tree 359,  seq. 

Palmyra 4(>5 

"       desertof 276 

"       ruins  of 291 

Pamphylia,  buy  of 303 

Paneas 136 

Pantheism 644 

Paphos 303 

Papyrus  - 218,  238,  454 

Parental  power 429 

Partliia 317 

Paschal  Limb.     See  Passover. 

Passover 601,  seq. 

Patara --  306 

Pathros  and  Pathrusim 233 

Patriarchal  form  of  government,  469,  sea. 

"         its  chief  element- 471 

"          its  advantages  and  de 
fects 171 

"  bond  of  union  under  it  480 

Paul's  three  missionary  tours-  -:>():>.  srq. 

Peaee-oiVerings 57."..  .".71. i 

Pella - 186,  '2(1.1 

Pen 454 

Penalties,  Hebrew 502,  seq. 

' '         foreign 510,  seq. 

Pentecost 604 

Peor 183 

Penes 37.  20:. 

P.Ttiinie-boX'-s 404 

Perga 303 

IVrgamos -  :5<>'2 

Peri//ites :'»•-'•-; 


INDEX  OF  PLACES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


665 


IVrsiii 318 

Pi-tni -  -  -  2C,i) 

Pharisees -  6:J."i,  s.-q. 

Pharpar 285 

Phasaelis 155. 

Pin-nice  in  Crete 307 

rhiiila,  lake 137 

Philadelphia  of  Ammon --  268 

of  Asia  Minor 302 

Pliil;e,  islaml  of 233 

Philippi 304 

Philistines 124 

Phoenicia 291,  seq. 

Phoenicians,  arts  and  sciences -293,  seq. 

"  relations  to  Israel 294 

Phrygia 303 

Phut , 296 

Phylacteries 407 

Physicians 460 

Pi-beseth 240 

Pigeons 222 

Pillars  of  Hercules -  292 

"      of  the  court 549 

"      of  the  tabernacle 542 

Pins  of  the  tabernacle 548 

Pipe.     See  Flute. 

Pisgah • 183 

Pistacia 218 

Pithoui - 241 

Pits  used  in  hunting 381 

Plants,  cereal  and  leguminous 342 

"      furnishing  clothing 216 

"      odoriferous 218 

Plough  and  ploughing 340 

Poetry  of  the  Hebrews 539 

Polygamy 419,  42G 

•  Polytheism 645 

Pomegranate -217,  3<>2 

Pomegranates,  artificial 217,  274 

Pool  of  Hezekiah 91 

"    ofSiloam 87 

Pools  of  Gihon 92 

"     of  Hebron Ill 

"    of  Solomon 93 

Poor,  provisions  for  the 347 

Porch 385 

Pottage 343 

Potter's  field 99 

Presbytery.     See  Sanhedrim. 

Priest,  idea  of- 567 

Priests,  as  a  class —  584 

"      marriage  of 425 

Priesthood,    sacrifices,    and    obla 
tions  567,  seq. 

Priestly  garments 569,  seq. 

Princes - * 473 

Procurator 495 

Prophets,  tombs  of  the 96 

Provinces,  Roman - 495 


Psaltery -l^s 

l)sei)liiinis.  tower  of 78 

Ptolemais - 116 

Purifications 594,  seq. 

Purim.  feast  of-- 608 

Pilule,  Tyrian 293 

Purses 405 

Puteoli 308 

Pyramids 245 

Q. 

Quails 222 

Quarries  in  Jerusalem 89 

Quicksands 307 

Quiver , 519 

R. 

Raamses  or  Rameses 241 

Rabbah  of  Ammon 268 

."       ofMoab 2i;r, 

Rachel's  tomb 110 

Rains  of  Palestine 207,  seq. ' 

Ramah  of  Benjamin- —  103 

"      of  Samuel 104 

Ramathaim-zophim —  104 

Raniath-mizpeh 104 

Ramotlr-gilead  - 182,  186 

Ramoth-negeb 104 

Reception-room - 387 

Recorder - 489 

Red  Sea 247 

"      passage  of  the 2-19 

Regions  east  of  the  Jordan 173,  seq. 

"      remote  from  Palestine -320,  seq. 

Rehoboth- - 1 .33 

Remphan - 652 

Rending  of  garments 441 

Rephaim,  valley  of •» 101 

Resurrection 637 

Retaliation 504 

Reuben,  tribe  of 194 

Revenues,  royal - 491 

Riblah - 284 

River  of  Egypt 31 

Roads  of  Palestine 38 

Robe - 398 

Robe  of  the  ephod 572 

Roll - * ---455 

Roman  citizenship 531,  seq. 

"      divisions  of  Palestine -203,  seq. 

Rome 320 

Roofs 389,  seq. 

Rosh -- 321 

S. 

Sabbath 534,  598 

Sabbath  day's  journey 467 

Sabbatical  year 336,  599 

Sabeans.     See  Sheba. 


GOI5 


INDEX  OF  PLACES  AND  .SUB  JECTS. 


Sacklmt - 459 

Siickclotb --407,  441 

Sacrifice,  idea  of 568 

Sacrifices,  different  kinds  of  -  -  577,  seq. 

Sadducees 640,  seq. 

Salumis -  303 

Sale-all 179 

Salmone -  - 300 

Salt  as  a  symbol 413 

"    mountain 163 

"   Sea.     See  Dead  Sea. 

"   valley  of 163 

Salutations,  oriental 434 

Samaria,  city  of  — 02,  seq. 

"        mountains  of 52,  seq. 

"        Roman  province  of -  201 

Samaritans 59,  seq.,  492 

Samaritan  temple 00 

Samos 300 

Samothrace - -804 

Sanctuary,  inner  and  outer 542 

Samlals - - -  400 

' '      loosing  of 401,  424 

Sanhedrim 496 

Saivpta.     See  Zaivphath. 

Siirdis - 302 

Satrap - '---  494 

Scapegoat - - 583 

Scarlet  - - 407 

Sciences  and  arts 447,  seq. 

Scopus -- ---  100 

Scorpion  cliffs- 191 

Scourging - 503 

Scribes  of  New  Testament 497 

"      royal 489 

Scythopolis.     See  Beth-shan. 
Sea    of    Galilee    and    Lower    Jor 
dan  — : 140,  seq. 

Seal.     See  Signet, 

Seasons  of  Palestine 200,  seq. 

"       sacred 598,  seq. 

Seba 247 

Sects,  Jewish -- 035,  seq. 

Seed-time 343 

Seir,  mount--. 253,  259 

Sela.      See  Petra. 

Seleucia 285 

Semechonitis,  lake 50 

Senir 296 

Sepharvaim 317 

Sepphoris-  - 49 

Serpents 222,  seq. 

Servants,  bond  and  hired 430,  seq. 

rights  of 431 

Servitude,  Hebrew 431,  seq. 

"         foreign 434 

Shadfif- - 339 

Shalem 58,  64 

Sharon 117,  seq. 


Sheath -.--  f,17 

Shel.a 271 

Shechem 56,  seq. 

Sheep - 371 

•     "     care  of 372,  seq. 

Shekinah 502,  500 

Shekel .--  466 

Shenir.     See  Senir. 

Shephelah 123,  191 

Shepherds 307 

Shield 521 

Shiloh 04 

Shinnr 314 

Ships  of  the  ancients 464 

Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul 448 

Shittim-wood 543 

Shochoh --114,  131 

Shoe.     See  Sandals. 

"     military --  .V21 

Shovel 342 

Showbread 552,  504 

Shunem 51 

Shur 257 

Shushan 318 

Siddim,  vale  of 170 

Sidon 297 

Siege  of  cities --524,  seq. 

Sieges,  remarkable 527,  seq. 

Signet 402,  456 

Siloani 87 

Silk - 406 

197 
238 
240 
577 
250 

251 

322 

212 
434 
519 
302 
549 
seq. 
seq. 
648 
192 
517 
646 
582 
402 
388 
405 
506 
511 
393 
$94 
352 
156 


Simeon,  tribe  of 

Simoom 

Sin,  Egyptian  city  of 

Sin-offering 575. 

Sin,  wilderness  of 

Sinai 

Sinim,  land  of - 

Sirocco  - -- 

Slaves,  fugitive 

Sling 

Smyrna - 

Sockets 542, 

Social  intercourse,  forms  of — 434, 

Soil  of  Palestine 212, 

Sorcery 

South  country 133, 

Spear-- 

Spirit-worship — 

Sprinkling  of  blood — 

Stntr  ------- 


Stairs  

Stomacher 

Stoning-- 

Strangulation  -  - 
Straw  for  bricks 
Streets,  oriental 
Strong  drink  — 
Snocoth 


TNDKX  OF  PLACES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


667 


Rue/,  gulf  of - 2-48 

Susiana.     See  Klani. 

Summer-house  - 392 

Swearhi'j-.  form  of 614 

Swine,  wild- -   221 

Sword-- ^517 

Sycammum "117 

Sycamore 217,  3G2 

Syene - 243 

Symbolism  of  the  tabernacle- -560,  seq. 
Synagogue.  Jewish r,-j 

"         buildings 628 

officers  of 629,  seq. 

"          services 631 

the  great - 634 

Syria,  ancient - - —     29 

"     proper --- 27»'«.  seq. 

Syria-(  'ilieia.  gates  of- 2$2 

T. 
Taanach 45,  51 

Tabernacle,  Mosaic 542,  seq. 

"  materials  of •">(;•", 

"          removal  of 557,  seq. 

"          symbolism  of 560,  seq. 

Tabernacles,  feast  of 606 

Table  of  showhread 552 

Tal.le-laiul  east  of  the  Jordan- -181,  193 
Tablets.  S  >  Perfume-boxes. 

Tal  (lets  for  writing 454 

Tabor  - - •-     42 

Tadmor.     See  Palmyra. 

Tahpaiihes  -  - 240 

Tak-iit -  4r,»5 

Tammuz- - 652 

Tanis.     See  Zoaii. 

Tappuah 114 

Tares-- 348 

Tarshish  or  Tartessus 296 

Task-masters 430,  seq. 

Taurus  - --- 27(1 

Tekoa 110 

Tema -  271 

Ternan  --- 262 

Temperature  of  Palestine 210,  seq. 

Temple - 84,  540,  615 

"      of  Herod 622,  seq. 

"      of  Solomon 015,  seq. 

' '  of  Zerubbabel  - 620,  seq. 

Ten  tribes 493 

Tents --- 368 

Terraces - 340 

Tin-bins 233 

Thebes 242 

Thebez  - 04 

Tlu-ssalonica  -  - 305 

Thousands -47:5.  •"•  1  «'• 

Threshing  and  threshing-floors -342, seq. 
ThyatiiM- -  302 


Tib.-rias --   1  ',-2 

••      Sea  of    See  Sea  of  Galilee. 
Tibaivni.      See  Tubal. 

Tigris--  -- 274,  314,  320 

Timbrel - 459 

Time,  Hebrew  divisions  of- 447 

Timnath 132 

Timnatb-heres - r,r, 

Tires 404 

Tirshatha 494 

Tithes -  -  -  588 

Trad.'  and  commerce 463,  seq. 

Togarmah -297,  321 

Tombs  around  Jerusalem 96,  seq. 

"      Egyptian - 245 

Tophel - 262 

Tophet - 94 

Torrent  of  Egypt  - 32 

Tower  of  a  vineyard 349 

Tracbonitis 173,  seq.,  204 

t  Palestine 216,  seq. 

Tripolis -  2'.»S 

Troas 304,  306 

Trogyllium 306 

Tubal 297,  321 

Tunic  -- --- -  396 

"     priestly 572 

Tyre---  - 294 

"    old.     See  Palaetyrus. 

Tyropceon-- -- - 75 

' «        ancient  bridge  over 83 

U. 

riai - -  318 

Undergirders 

Unicorn  — —  '2:2~> 

Unleavened  bread,  feast  of -  -   »>lll 

Urim  and  Thummim  -- -  ~>71 

t'p.per  Jordan  and  Huleb 135,  seq. 

Ur  of  the  Chaldees 275,  314 

Uzr  laud  of -- -  272 

V. 
Valley   of    the   Jordan    and    Dead 

36,  134,  seq. 

Veil  of  the  sanctuary.      See  Cur 
tains. 

Veil  of  the  temple,  rending  of '  584 

Veils 40.J 

Verandah 386 

Vetches 343 

Victors,  rights  of 528,  seq. 

Vines,  culture  of 21  r>.  :!  i 

Vineyards  and  their  appointments-   :'•  1'.' 

Vintage - 350 

Visits,  oriental -  438 

Vows  and  devoted  things 610,  seq. 

"     affirmative - 610 

"    negative 612 


608 


INDEX  OF  PLACES  AND  SUBJECTS. 


W. 

Walls  of  cities 524 

Watches,  military 451 

Wave-offering 582 

Week - - -  450 

"    of  weeks -- 450 

"    of  years 450 

' '    of  Sabbatical  years 450 

Weights  and  measures 466,  seq. 

Wellof  Harod - 45 

"    ofNehemiah 91 

Wells 377 

"    at  Beer-sheba 115 

' '    in  and  around  Jerusalem 90 

Wheat 215,  341 

Wheat  harvest 344 

White  as  a  symbol 407 

Wife,  choice  of 420 

Wilderness  of  Judah 69,  192 

"         of  Paran 252 

of  Sin 250 

of  Sinai - 248,252 

ofZin - 253 

Wimples.     See  Mantle. 

Windows 388 

Windows  of  Palestine 208,  seq. 

Wine - 350 

"    bottles  for 352,  374 

"    on  the  lees 355 


Wine,  vinegar  of 356 

' '     various  terms  for 353,  seq. 

Winepress 350 

Winnowing 346 

Winter-house 392 

Witchcraft - 648 

Woman,  her  relation  to  man 437 

Writing,  art  of - 453,  seq. 

Y. 
Year,  Hebrew 447,  449 

Z. 

Zagros,  mountains 309,  317 

Zanoah - - 132 

Zarephath --• 298 

Zulmhm,  tribe  of 200 

Zechariah,  tomb  of  - 96 

Zephath.     See  Hormah.  " 
Zidon.     See  Sidon. 

Zion - 81 

Ziph - 113 

Ziz,  cliff- -  167 

Zoan 240 

Zoar,  site  of- 169 

Zobah - 290 

Zophim,  field  of 183 

Zorah - 132 

Zurka  Main - 167 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS 
REFERRED  TO  IN  THIS  VOLUME. 


GENESIS. 
Oh.  1:5,  seq.  PAGE  450 
1'26   27                          ^^ 

19-Q 

106   9n-i 

.     367 

r.Q 

21  -6 

428 

12  :  10-20-  -  - 
19-14 

232 

-   -  -  403 

21:10  
21-14  

432 

114   374 

2-9  9. 

4_r:n    rrno 

2.0   14 

014 

10.  If 

.-  37Q 

21  '19 

377 

9-11 

orn 

iq-1 

fiQ 

21:21  
21:22-34--- 
91-30  31--. 

252.  421 
125 
378 

2.  i  q 

q-io 

iq-1    4    10 

3  -on 

428 

13-3  

106  170 

q  -91 

406 

13  *7  - 

325 

-114  seq     367 

•>  ..)  i 

13-10 

170  seq 

92  3  

-  37Q 

4.  i 

498 

13-10  19    . 

146 

99-15  18 

470 

4-q  4 

534 

14-1  9  

315 

Ch   23  

111    '{97 

4:19  

4.  91 

-  419 

14:3,  10--- 
U.  r 

-166,  169,  seq. 
180 

23:2  
9q-7  19 

113.  441 
j->  i 

4  ..)<: 

534 

130  383 

4(16 

7:4,10  

7-11     •>  t 

450,598 

448 

14:7  
U-13 

167,  257 

97q 

93  '"17    19-- 

Cli    "24 

491     opn 

8-3   6  13  -- 

448 

14:14  -- 
14:15  
14:20  
15-2 

-  432 
289 

---  588 

-  989 

24:3  
94-3  37  

30 

8:4  

8-10    12 

321 

450  598 

94-4. 

WJR. 

8  .on   91 

24*10  - 

97q 

8:22  - 

0.  .~      f\ 

206,  seq. 

.-,,)- 

15:8-21  

470 

q97    eqn 

24:16  - 

—  403 

9:20-27  

K)..> 

429 
297 

15:18  

1  ">•  1()   91 

.......31,  195 

396  393 

•'  }  ••>•>        _-     -                                !<',<• 

04  --n    qq  . 

417 

10-.-)  

300 

16:1,  seq.— 
16:7  
17.7  8  

420,  428 
---  250 

24:02  
•>4  •(;">  

69 
403 

10:6  
10-7  

296 

•>71  297 

25-2  

10:10  
lO-ii  12 

314,  317 

Q1Q 

17:12  

17-90, 

428 

4^9 

25:3  
25:4,  13,15 

271.  2'.'7 
971 

1f).  iq    14 

1  0-1    o 

417 

10-15   19 

q9=; 

18-9 

4q4 

9  "  9n 

970    .)-  ( 

10:16-  
10-19  

328 

qO 

18:4  
18-6 

400 

410  4fiH 

25  -21   26  -  - 

ing 

25  •  23 

10:21,  
10-28------ 

97q 

18-8 

25-25 

qon 

271 

18-19  

428 

25-31  34  

-  42Q 

Ch   11  

974  314 

18  -19 

469 

25-34  

Q4Q 

11:3  

11:15-26--- 
11-31  ._  ._ 

394 
-  273 

074    «ipn 

19-1 

439 

26-7     •   

4nq 

19-1    11 

417 

lie: 

19-9 

400 

Of,  .1  - 

070 

12:3  
12:6  
12  «(j  10  

479 

---5(5,  58,  325 
qp,7 

19:17,  seq.- 
10-Q.n  •}« 

146 
113 

•>iiit 

•)!*  •  **•)     QQ 
—  '  '  .  •*  —  ,    OO  -  - 

oi;.-{i    qr: 

133 

-114,  seq.,  378 
41  9    v^pn 

670 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


Ch.  27 429 

27:3,  seq. 381 

27:9-14 373 

27:29 430 

27:36 428 

27:40 264 

28:1 421 

28:2-5,  seq. 273,  seq. 

28:6-9 325,  419,  seq. 

28:10-22 106,  114 

28:20-22 588,  610 

Ch.  29 419,  422 

29:2,  seq. 378 

29:6 375 

29:13 434 

29:24,  29 420,  423 

no .  ore  4-^*3 

29:27,  28 450,  598 

29:31 428 

Ch.  30,  seq. 428 

30:1 428,  438 

30:3,  4,  9 420 

30:37-42 374 

30:43 379 

31:18 - 274 

31:20,  24 .--  373 

31:27 - 456 

31:30-35 646 

32:2 186 

32:10 402 

32:22-32 150 

32:28 -- 428 

33:1-7 435 

33:16,17 156,  seq. 

33:18,  19 58,  seq.,  149, 

274,  368 

Ch.  34 58 

34:2 327,  seq. 

34:4,  8 421 

34:12 422 

34:20,27 58 

35:1-7 • 106 

35:1,  27-r 368 

35:4 58 

35:9,  26 274 

35:16,  19 109 

35:27 Ill 

36:6-9 259,  263 

:ir,:l-2 < 256 

36:24 220,  279 

317.3 f 397 

:'>7: 12-17 58,  111,368 

37:25 , 365 

37:25-28,  36-269,465,  488 

37:29,34 407,441 

38:6 421 

38:8 424 

3H-.14 403 


38-24 

429 

riv.    r 

39-20-  -- 

5.7 

qqq 

411 
378 
239 
402 
342 
seq. 
422 
435 
465 
365 
241 
465 
400 
435 
413 
441 
416 
440 
274 
234 
230 
367 
380 
230 
471 
274 
429 
327 
429 

429 

430 
349 
379 
223 
375 
614 
seq. 
440 
460 

241 

49Q 

7-18    21 

40*15  31 

8*3 

4.1  0 

Ch  41  

8-29    son 

41:14  -- 
41:22,  23  

41  -42                         403 

8:26  
9:32-  --- 

n.  r 

230 
343 

4.OQ 

41:45  341, 
42:6  --- 
42-27  

12:2  
12:3  

19  •(; 

-448,  seq. 
473 

43:11  363, 
43-13 

12-7   13 

Rfifi 

19-11 

308    409 

43:21  -  
43-24  

12:13,  seq.-~- 

-601,  seq. 
235 

43-28  

12-35   36  

•)•;•) 

43-33  

19-37  

934 

44-13.  

12*39 

CAQ 

45-22  -  407 

13-9. 

KOQ 

46  -4 

13.4 

448    QPH 

46*15 

13-rr 

46-20 

13-6    7 

601     <jpn 

4(5.34  

13-9   16  

407 

47-3  

13-13  . 

589 

47:17  
47-22  -- 

13:20---  
14-2  

234 
--234  240 

48  -5   g 

14*7 

-.  'o 

48-7                 100  273' 

U.ii     >Q   Kpn 

CMC 

48:14,  18-20  
48:22  -  
Ch.  49  
49:3,  seq.  195- 
49:3,  4  

4.0  .  o 

14:24  
15:1,  20  
15:14---  
15:20,  21  
15:22---  
1  (  \  •  i 

451 
456 
30 
137 
250 

OCA 

40-11                          . 

16*12 

40-14 

1  1;  •••>*{ 

600 

49:17  -- 
49-24  

17:8-16  
17-14  

257 
--453   610 

49*26       ... 

Qh     18  

508 

49*30   31               112 

18-13  

472 

rco-1 

18:21-26  
10-1    s;pn 

476 

250  605 

50*2   26 

EXODUS. 

Ch    1-11 

iq.rt   q 

-  469 

1  q  •  q    cpn 

566 

fli     20 

")08 

2.  i  n 

90-10 

431 

2.  1  rr     i  (• 

378 
376 
417 
422 
422 
584 
seq. 
477 
232 

461 

436 

430 

ic.r. 

90-18    91 

566 

2:16--  -  

2-90 

20:19  
20*  26 

477 

2:21  
3:1  269, 
3:5  1«1. 
3.3    17  325 

Ch.  21-419,  seq. 
21:15,  17  
21:20,  seq.  
22;  1    seq  

,  431,  seq. 
506 

-503,  seq. 

crno 

3-0  in 

99.3 

505 

3  •  21    99 

22:13—-  
22:26,  27  
90*00 

-500,  seq. 
432 
399 

589 

4:6  -  — 
4:18  
4:22  

i  ••)  i  . 

•>:i  •.-.-- 

-  379 

INDEX   OF  SClUPTlTvAL   TEXTS. 


G71 


•J>?  '  1  i  17                1  so  coo 

34:  IK,  seq.  COO,  seq. 
31:22.  2:;  INI 

•>  i  •  Of                             41  " 

Ch.  14   

U-33    ~>'\                    4(1°    50  1 

.>•«.]-                                                   (\l\-\       oaf. 

23:Hi  cn.7  seq. 

i  -  .  -                                         -.ri  i 

•5  j  ••>-                   _       .  453 

23  -23  

35:2,  seq.  59!*. 

•;-.]•>                                               .--•> 

Ch.  16  -577,  582,  seq. 

94-4                               453    471 

S5-18                                      "ils 

1  1  ;  .  1                                          4f  »o 

24"16  18  

36-8   14           •    --           "i!") 

16-14  16  550   561 

Ch.  25  --  542 

25  *  4                                373 

38:8  556 

3S-  10                                      54') 

16-18    1Q                      -  552 

16:25--  -  577 

1f..o<)     31                                     f.(i«) 

25:8  530,  542,  5G1 
25  :  10,  seq.  549,  seq. 
95-21-                                  5fi1> 

38:27  -  514 
39:3  570 

30-94   of.                        --217 

17-4   9  508 

17.  Q  .   577 

95-93   «;pn                             559 

17  -10         --           508  509 

95-31    <JPO                 553    <?pfi 

40-9    17                                447 

17-10   11                         5R8 

95-oo                                        3i;o 

JO-l'i    90                                5fiS 

Ch     1  8                                    508 

40  -q   11     04    or;                   5f"i 

18-18                                         l->5 

Ch   '^0                             407 

}()••>•>  9g                          551 

18*22   23     -     --   Io7 

9(5-1    14                      545   qpri 

40:38  566 

LEVITICUS. 

Chs    1    7                    577    <;pn 

1  8  •  90                                508 

9/1.3    opn                                  t''"i 

1  q  •  c                                        508 

9ft-  15   SO                     543    <spn 

1<i.  q    10                                  'US 

2(j'7-----           -  373 

19  -19  920   406 

Ch    27                                  407 

1-49              -  -            589 

19-20  °°         4°7  504 

97-1    8                        554   spn 

1:9  578 

2:4,  5,  7  412 

2.13                                                                 ETO1 

19  -28     -         -       44° 

97.  If,                                    ^40 

Ch    20                              508 

97-10                                      548 

90-2   fi                                   500 

97-90                                        358 

9-14                                          580 

90  •  2    97                                50fi 

r»h    98                   -         407 

3.9   ig  291    577 

20-3   5  508 

28  *  1   sen       -         568  seq 

Ch    4                                           r;09 

20-9  499  506 

oo.o                                          007 

4:8,  seq.-  577 

20  -10         -     --  427 

98-11    91                              453 

90-io  21                           50fi 

9si-->1                                        471 

5-1    fi   0                                578 

20  •  1  4                                      508 

90.  qi                                             300 

5:11  581 
g-10  400 

91  .  i    a                         1  19    t;Qf; 

28:33,  seq:-  -217,  363,  573 
98-3fi                                       175 

91-11  G13 

19-13-                               .  .  538 

21:7.  13,  14-  ----425.  seq. 
21:17,  23----  585 
Ch  23-  600 

Ch    *>0                          574   «spn 

6:12,  26-30  577,  seq. 
Ch   7.  577   seq 

o<  )•'?()  37  576 

2!»  ::!!>,  41  451 
29  *4()                  358 

7  •  20   seq  -  -  -  508   seq 

23:3  600 
23-5     47i 

•"i  •  i-)  45                          5H3 

Ch   8  ••-   -                  581 

23*5  8                                li()° 

30-1                                 .     552 

30-7   10                                   57* 

8-80                             V~t    <spn 

•>•}  .  i  -    01                                 fi).-; 

30-8        •        451 

.77-") 
8:25  221 

8-26                                   -  577 

2:5:27,  Beq.--r  609 
23:32  600 

•;')''5i   seq      --         --  din; 

30:17  -  554,  seq. 
30  •  1  7  2,1                              5  s  "i 

30  -  92   33                               4s™ 

0-1                                           57C> 

94  •  9 

'  ^                                             ' 

9:19  221,  577 

10-1    3    10    11                     5S8 

94-5   0                                      ~,7i 

or»-oV    G^                         '->'-> 

•>4-1()    1  •>                                502 

10-0    11                       35**    585 

94-14    <spn                              5OI» 

31  •  1  4    15                    50A    508 

10-10                                        50O 

31  -15                                        Ii0l) 

Cli     1  1                          501     cpn 

•'5-5    17                                  T>14 

31-18                      453 

11-5  291 

0-,-s-    seq                                337 

Ch   39        .       437   g49 

11:21.  22  225,  366,  413 
ll:21.M(1..39,40--594,seq. 
Cli    l-)                                1''^ 

32:15.  1(>  - 

33i2----  325,  seq. 
34:11  --325,  aeq. 

25:10  -  434 

o  -.•)()   99                                44(i 

12:6-8  595 
Ch.  13  461,  585l 

ISt*4K..                               .  441 

25  ::!:».  seq.  --432,  seq.,  5n5 

•>{  j  •  '  u  \                                     it  "^n 

•>r,  -:i:\   .S4..                   .  18Q 

672 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


Ch.  27 611 

27:26 589 

27:30,  seq.-     - 588 

NUMBERS. 

Ch.  1 -- 514 

1:2,  4 472 

1:16 473,  seq. 

1:44 -  471 

Ch.  2 557 

Ch.  3- 472,  558,  seq. 

3:6-10 569 

3:24,  30,  seq. 472,  seq. 

3:41 430 

3:45 568 

4:8-- 550 

4:18,  20 559 

4:23 585 

4:28,  33,, 560 

4:31,  32 - 543 

Ch.  5 585 

5:1-4 - 557 

Ch.  6 612,  seq. 

6:3 352,  355,  356 

6:4-9--- 631 

7:6-9 559 

7:8--"- 544 

7:89-- - -  563 

Ch.-8- 568 

8:24 585,  586 

9:3,  5,11 451 

0:fi,  seq. UO'2 

9:15 5G5 

9:17,22 566 

Ch.  10 --  558 

10:1 557 

10:1-10 600 

10:3,  4 473,  seq. 

10:10--- 447 

10:11 - 250 

10:12,  33--- 252 

10:29- ----  257 

Ch.  11 496 

11:3,  34,  35 252 

11:5 238,  382 

11:8 408 

11:13-21 631 

11:16,  17 496 

11:26 497 

12:10 461,  590 

12:16 252,  sea. 

13:3,  21,  26 252,  seq. 

13:22 „---.-•  Hi 

13:23 210,349 

13: 29 ---30,  257,  325,  327 

14:43,  45 257,  325 

Ch.  15 581 

15:32-36 -502,  50<> 

15:37-41 407,  631 


lg-40  

-,-,] 

QO  .  1      A 

J.OU 
1  R1 

Ch  17 

qftq 

Q9-q 

n-2 

479 

q9  .  o 

os 

n-4 

Cftq 

q9  .qq 

1  Q1 

589 

qo  .  qq  40 

9ft7 

IS-  17 

18-19  

•     41  S 

q9-49 

1  SO 

18-20 

202 

qq-9 

18:20,  seq.  -- 
iq  .9 

587 

Q1O 

33  -8   seq    36  

Zfifl 

qq  .  q'ft    q7  ' 

9t;q 

19:7  595 

19:11,  seq.  594 
20:1,  13,  seq.  253 
20-14  21  °';cl 

33:41^4  
33:50-56  
34:1-12  

.—   251 
--32,  610 
--32,  33 

20:22-29--- 
91  -1    3- 

202,  569 
610 

34-3'  12  

T  (T 

9S4 

91  -4 

219    203 

34  *1  1 

21:4,  11  ---- 
21:6,  8  
21:21-35---- 
21-24  

254 
223 

---  327 
194  267 

34:27  

Ch.  35-  -470,  471, 
:!.->:!    8  

----  453 
509,  589 
202 
100 

21:  26-  -180, 
21-32 

183,  187,  327 
181 

q-Vqi     qq 

DEUTERON 
PV>    1  •  1 

>MY. 
-123,  252 

21-33  35 

180 

fVi    22 

266 

99-91 

q7q 

1-1    9    10    4fi 

22-24  20  

350 

180 

22  -36  

265 

1:7 

PVi    9^ 

9ftft 

1-11 

-17-".,  -I7i  I 
499 

23:9  
23*13  14  

:  40 

183  seq 

1:10,  17  

1-44--   . 

oq  -  98 

-  --     183 

2-4   spn 

91Q 

PV>    24 

266 

9-S 

948 

24  -2  seq  

184 

2-g  

265 

24-20  

257  seq 

2-12  20  

325 

94-91 

91H 

9.19    99 

1  *3O 

24  -24  

300 

2-14- 

25:3,  5  

184 

506   seq 

2:19  - 

2:22,  23-125,  127, 
9  '  30 

-194,  :!27 

ISO 

Ch.  26  
26  '38  41 

•  479    -~,i  i 

479 

q-4     r    11 

20  •  02 

902 

q-4    1Q    19    iq 

ueq.,  :TJ7 
----  173 

is::.  !'.»:{ 
----  453 
186,  193 

27:14--  
97-18   9*3 

253 

47S 

3:9  - 

3:  10--  -173,  180, 
3:13  

3:17-  ---in.  li  ••(;. 
4:13  
4.43  i8i 

27:21  

Ch.  28  
28:3-10  

OQ  -4   8 

572 

r,si 
579 
--  451 

90  .  7 

4  -4ft 

90-11 

447 

4  *48 

188 

90-11    14 

600 

4-40      .             100 

is:},  UK* 
431 

98  >i6  25 

602 

1-14 

Ch.  29  
29:7-^  
Ch.  31-  

•11  .0 

.--581,  CJOG 
--   609 

---  270 

5:28  
6:8,  9  

7-1 

....  477 
----  407 
325  328 

7-1    fi 

529 

31:25-47--- 
f!h    39.  .. 

270 

.32.  335.  367 

7-9.    4 

425 

7:12  26  .. 

.    32 

INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


678 


8.7                                          91  ^ 

22  '18                    --        504 

7-1     11  ,;ll 

8.1":                                        o*>S 

90  -iq    98    9Q                     ^03 

7  •  6                                       441 

q.i  n                                        097 

99.9-1    94                             Kf\c 

7  •  1  (i   18 

9:23  253 

1  n  .  o                               909    c:»7 

22:22  427 

90.4                               9po    970 

7:21-23  :}'.)!• 

7-94   9fi                        1  ^    mo 

11  -10      --237  339 

23*  15   16                ...  434 

Til    8                               .-  *>23 

n.  1  1                               01  5    330 

23-17    18                     99'2    611 

Q.oq                                        ^(17 

n.  1  6                                       47.-: 

93  •  91    93                               fii  9 

8.QA  or:.                                  CQ 

n.  oq    on                                  co 

93-94    9^                              ^48 

PVi    0                                      1  0ft 

19-3  6,50 

24-1  ..  453 

9-1  37   123  325   seq 

19-17   18                431  588 

24-1—4                              42fi 

9-4                               .'.  374 

1  •>  •  °9  31  -                    -  ^9Q 

24-6                                      410 

0.7     17                                Q97     cpn 

Ch  13  499   506   610 

24-7  432   506 

9-10-  180 

IQ./;    IQ                                     rr»7 

94.0                                               cos: 

10-9                                        1  08 

13  '9    10  -           506 

94-13                               399 

10-3     132 

Ph    14-                       591     SPO 

94-19  29                               348 

10-5.                                1  28 

U-1                                           44'? 

•>'"»-1    3                ^00    509    504 

1  0  •  ^    fi                                 *V27 

14-21  413 

95-4  345 

10-7  39 

14-28  29-   --  588 

25-5  10  401   494  470 

10-11     109 

15  '1  11                   336   599 

26-1   11  -                          fWfl 

10-12                               108 

1^-7   8                             439 

9fi-5-                                     273 

10-40                            37    193 

ir.io                                      50=C 

pu    97                                        r.w 

10-40   41                     101     !')•> 

1  •">  •  1  9   18                    4^9    4^3 

97.9   c                                     4-0 

n.  o    i  fi                                  37 

1  6  •  1            -  -  -  -  448  seq 

28  -26  440 

11-9  193   141 

16  '1  17                        -  431 

31*10  13-       431  538  697 

11*3     --30   3°5  390'  393 

1(5:3-8  601,  602 
if*,  n   10                                 60^ 

31:12  474 

^1  •  99                                       4~»°, 

11:5  50 

n.  u                                          1  07 

1P>-1^  15               4^0  p,0(; 

qi  .  90    qo                                 474 

U-1fi    17          T>3    191     1Q9 

16  '16  17        480  600  seq 

39-13  35(j 

11-17  34   137   283 

16  "18        -     475   seq     470 

39-14  215   376 

11-19  397  398 

16  '19               -           -    499 

32  •  33                           -     223 

11-21        _,            69 

n.  ft      7                                                       506 

39  .49                          1  83    (VV2 

TVi^   19  19                        32 

1  7  •  fi                                 ^00 

^9-51                                     9-"»S 

19-15                                   1  73 

n.o   iq                                   477 

PVi    ^^                                  1Q7 

19-9    5                                 181 

n'  .  1  9                                                             CT09 

qq-9                                            9^:9 

1  9  .  q                                          1  03 

n-14  90  °90  380  486  491 

33-13   i7_                       199 

12-4        igo 

Ph    18-1    2                909    ^87 

33  •  1  fi                                  -  61  4 

12-7                  34  137  283 

18-17  90                     477    488 

qq-17                                     995 

12-78                             1  91 

19*3  13  509   seq 

33-18  201 

12-8  37  123  326 

19-15  91  500 

33.90    21-  195 

12-11  _  132 

20  -5    8   9                             47s* 

33-22  198 

12-21  51 

90-10  14                    439    528 

33-93    24                         201 

12  "23                66  120  122 

90-lfi   18                     590    610 

qq-90                                          q^4 

Ph    13    Rpn                          478 

90  •  1  7                                     *39fi 

04-1                     ici     103    j--o 

13-15                                   34 

9O  .  1  n    90                     ^97    ^9Q 

04  .  q                    14fi    154    ^9 

13-5                               41    284 

01  .1    q                50fi     51  ^    ^97 

34-10  12                             478 

13-9  193 

01  -3                                        349 

13  '9  11   16  seq  -  180  181 

91-10                                     490 

Tf\CTTTTA 

13-10   15  31  194,  267 

91-10  14                               4°«9 

PV,    1.4                                   397 

13-17    26   30--           •-  187 

91-19                                      44-1 

1-10                                        475 

13-91                                     969 

91  -15   17                    41  Q    49<) 

3-2                                   --  47^ 

13-25-  188  268  327 

'21  -18  91                              506 

3  -10                         325  328 

13-96  '-104'  107 

91-10                                      4^Q 

q  .  1  5                                  1  48 

13-27.  156 

91  .  99    03                               ro7 

q-1f>                                   151     166 

14-6  253 

99  •  r;                                            407 

PVi    ^                                    1  ^ 

14-15  --  113 

2'>-g  .          3qi 

5-15           401 

Clis   1517  124   196 

•2-2:10  342 

->•>  •  1  1                                          4Or 

6:17-19  610,  seq. 

n.  f)(\                                              1  trq 

15:1,3  -  -  2.-.:1, 

1  5  •  ''    5                               1  66 

29 

674 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


1  *;  •  4   47 

32 

23'  11  13  -  -               32  425 

7-  1 

-  -ti,  ^<i» 

AK 

-i  r,  .  rt   11 

102  196 

Ch    24                               58 

7-3 

r  i  r~. 

1  r.  7 

24-2--                                  97^ 

7-19 

m'l/'V' 

15.7  8  

91 

24-11  325  39g 

451 

ir,:s  

15  -9   63  

----  73 
_    70 

24:30  66 
24  -32  58   G2 

7:24  -- 

f!h    S 

---55,  157 
47    970 

128 

24-33  103 

Q.  1      Q 

470 

15:11-15,  22, 
15-13 

23            198 

JUDGES. 
Ch.  1:2  572 

1*3  17  22  25                479 

u-4    r. 

156    1  fX7 

113 

47 

15:33,34--- 
15-38  

•-37,  123,  133 
107 

8:24-27  
8-26 

270 

407 

15-44.   

-  117 

1:4,  5  325 

1-8    21                                     70 

Pli    0 

--58,  484 

15.57 

103 

q.n 

i  5-62 

1-9                                   37    193 

9:27  

9-53             .      .    _ 

350 
.     64 

15-63  

70  328 

1-10_  113  325 

Chs.  16,  17-- 
17.7  10   11 

199 

too 

1:12  -  422 

1  -  14   15                          423 

10*3  4 

370 

10-26  - 

507 

17-11 

51 

1:10  154,258,  359 
1-19  327  516  520 

Ch.  11  
11-4  

515 
268 

55  328 

17-16  

220 

1-23  106 

11:11,  29,  34--- 
11:12-28  195 
n-17  - 

107 

,  267,  327 
950 

17>16   18  

516  520 

1  •  27                                  51 

18  '1   8  10 

18:1-9  

18-7 

106 

1:31,  32  ----116,  seq.,  201 
1  :  34,  35  198 
Ch.  2  530 

9-1    *>    90   93                          °.9 

U-24 

909 

n-33 

9(17 

18:11  15  
18-13    99 

198 

Iftfi 

11:34  
19-1    A 

-437,  45G 

484 

ix-  K;  

101 

•;•()                                  55    6(> 

19-13   14 

-     379 

18:15-19  --- 

18'  19 

91,  102 
1G6 

3-1   5                              396 

1  •>  •  1  -, 

957 

3:3  284,  326,  328 
3-7                                          49^ 

13-o   7  „ 

cig 

18-23 

10K 

13-4 

18-26  

107 

3-8  273 

13-25  

133 

18-1  9  

3-8  10--  276 

Ch   14  

19'8   29  3G 

104 

3  "12  30                   266  208 

14  '8            -   -  - 

3(i6 

19*10  1C 

900 

3:13  ---154,  359 
3:16------  517 
3:20,  24  392 

3  '27                     -          514 

14-12  13 

407   41  fi 

19-19 

4Q 

15:3-5  
15:4  
15-8         

132 
221 

101 

19:17-23  

200 

19-21 

51 

3  •  31                                       342 

16*3 

197 

1  0  •  24  39 

34   901 

4-9    6    7-                                 ^0 

16-  91 

400 

i  o  •  9r> 

1  00    901 

4.0                                990    590 

in-  93 

659 

19-27  - 

117 

4-5          .   .       _.  103  500 

133 

1  O  .  oo 

198 

4.  c   i  o                                     ^14 

17-fi 

480 

1  0  •  40-47 

198 

4-11                                       950 

Ch  18  

19:41  
1  0  •  46 

133 

4:19--  374 

18-98    90 

989 

Chs.  19-21-  -103, 
19-11    1*1 

479,  484, 
499 
103 

19"  50 

66 

^•1O                                            ^70 

on-  5    7 

41 

5-14                                          057 

20:7  - 
90    7   o 

---50,  55,  58 
510 

5:14^18  479 

r  .  f  rr    -i  /?                                    900 

19-  1  f> 

417 

90-1 

20  '8 

-180,  181,  186 

909    rroq 

^•10  21  -                 4^  48   r>1 

2Q-16  -- 

519 

Ch.  21-  
21  •  1  1 

90-18    93 

570 

K.OQ                                                            QQQ 

21*8  12     

186 

21-18 

Iflfl 

Pli    C\                                     970 

21  '19  23 

64  65 

21:21  
21-  28 

--    58 
-    49 

6:2  383 

5.4                        257 

21:21  
KUTH. 

nil  1-17 

437 
p.i  4 

21  '29 

51 

6-  5                          ^70  369 

21:32  

99  -Q_. 

50 

.      181 

6:25,  seq.  650 

r:-°.Q  QC:      .__957   470    mn 

9-4.- 

INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


G75 


2-14  

356 

13-20  

342 

3'3 

358 

13-92  . 

.-  ^17 

q-7 

q48 

Ch    1  4 

v>  I 

q-  1  >•*, 

qoo 

U-1    18 

10^ 

4:1,  11  --- 
4-7         

-439,  499 
401   424 

14:3  
14*14 

569 

-  342 

4.11 

10Q 

U.orr   07 

994    Qf,6 

4  •  1  q    1  r 

498 

14:47-52- 
Ch  15 

•--263,  266,  268, 
483,  488 
482 

4-18  22  

._    9fift 

I.  SAMUEL. 

Pll      1                                                              ^OQ 

1  t^.o  Q 

610 

1  x.(\ 

-  9^8 

1-1  _  

104 

15-7  

250    *'"i7 

j-2  

-  420 

15*12 

113 

i  .7 

441 

1  ^  -27 

QQq 

1  .11 

p.i  9 

1  "",-qq 

^Ofi 

Ch  2  

CK 

15  -  34  

-   10S   qpn 

2-1  

4or» 

Ch   16 

-  4H7 

2-11 

10-1 

16-1  1*3 

482 

2-19  

399 

16-2  5  

651 

2-99.  

-  "i^n 

16*10--   - 

__      47Q 

4-4  .-  _ 

KCq 

16*13 

104 

4-19 

44.1 

in-  16   2*3 

4^6    4^8 

19-18 

(!K 

16-90 

4Q1 

4.  13  

"499 

Ch   17  

--  126  131   524 

Ch   5  

126  652 

17*5  7 

522 

Ch  6             1°5 

seq.,'  132 

19-r 

17*18 

077  x-\(\ 

fv  -I   17 

17-98 

1  00    "379 

fi-7 

049 

17-Q4  oft 

Qtjl 

7-1  2  

109 

17-40  

--  402 

7.5  19   i(j  

107 

17.44  4(5 

438 

7*17 

104 

18-4 

QQ7     QQO 

tj-2 

18-fi 

4ftO 

8-4  

104 

18-6   7  

..  4*57 

g.jO  ig  

}x->       K-, 

18*10 

4^H 

8:12  

8.1Q 

516 
411 

18:11  
18  -1Q 

517 

K-lft 

8.  1  rr    -17 

4Q1 

1ft  -99  9r» 

499 

0.9 

400 

1Q-Q 

4"".  8 

9:12  

q  •  i  tc   17 

651 
4Q1 

19:10  

IQ-iq 

---  517 

070 

0-16 

407 

10-10 

1  04 

10  -1  seq  

482   487 

10-24 

409 

10-9'  ..   . 

104 

90-1 

1(1-1 

10-5 

4s»fi   4^9 

90  -q 

rri7 

10-17  25  107 

482,  487 
472,  seq. 

20*5 

448 

10-19--  

'20  -^18 

41  q 

10-25  

90-41    49 

4qr 

10-26  

10^ 

91  .q   n 

rt-q 

10-27 

401 

riu    99 

484 

Ch   11  

186    ^Ti 

99.  Q    4 

107   2fifi 

11-1  11  

one 

99  -fi 

10q 

11:4  
11:11- 

103 
4-~1    K-I  (• 

22:7  
22:9,  20-- 
23:2,  4,  6, 
90  .  i  q 

-  516 
569 

Q    19                   t*«79 

19-17. 

Oil 

13:2,  15,  seq.--- 
13-6-  -.. 

----  103 

q8q 

90.94  97 

HO    1T3 

13:13.  14-- 

.-  489, 

r,li    94.. 

.    r>Q 

24:1,  :* --  1G7 

24:4 309 

24:8 435 

Ch.  25 113,372,373 

25:1 - 104 

25:2 69 

25:6,41 400,435 

26:7,  seq. 517 

26:20 381 

Ch.  27 126 

27:8 250 

Ch.  28 52 

28:3 104 

28:6 572 

28:14 399 

Ch.  29 45,  47 

29:2 516 

Ch.  30 369 

30:1 69,257 

30:4 441 

30:14 488 

30:27 104 

31:1-6 47 

31:8-10 439,  440 

31:8-13 47,  156,  186 

II.  SAMUEL. 

Ch.  1:2 435 

1:6 517 

1:21 ---    51 

Ch.  2 Ill 

2:4 - 487 

2:5 521 

2:8,  9 18G 

2:13 108 

2:23 518 

Ch.  3 Ill 

3:9,  35 614 

3:31 407 

4:12 112,439,507 

5:1-3 487 

5:7 - 70 

5:11 294 

5:18,  22 101 

Ch.  6 70,  109 

6:2 563 

6:5 458,  460 

6:14 437 

6:16 - 388 

6:17-19 581 

Ch.  7 -  483 

7:2 540,  615 

8:2 266 

8:3,  seq.-- 289,  290 

8:13 163 

8:13,  14 263 

8:16-18 488-490 

9:6 435 

Ch.  10 269 


676 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


10-G  

282 

1*40  "" 

459 

12:26-30-106,136,480,649 
Ch.  13  106 

H-  1    1  7                            r  i    t'~ 

10-0   14 

Ch.  2  
9-  ""» 

506 

108    "-|91 

n-1 

9r>8 

11-2  

390 

2-23  -- 

614 

14-10  508 

11:14,  15-  - 
12-5 

456 

--  484 

2:27  
2:28-34  
2:32  
3-1  

5«9 
108 
488 

-  232 

14:11  -222,  440 
14-93                              r*".i 

12-20--  

358 

14-25    26                     70    939 

12:  26-31  -268,  seq 
13-18  

,507,529 
397,  399 
441 

1  ft-17  99.                              103 

3.4  15 

108 

1ft.  18  90                               98Q 

13-19- 

3.  16 

1ft.  Of)                             141     983 

13-23 

105 

4:3,  seq.,  21 
4-12  

488-401 

1ft  -91     qq                                    (\A 

13-29  

220,  379 
358,  441 
500 

51 

1ft-  4  .                            ooo    440 

14-2  HI 

4-22   23  

485 

1ft.  8    opn      q9                       fi4 

14-4  

4*24  - 

m483 

1  ft  .  o                                          CM  ft 

14-4  22 

435 

204 

14:8-11  
15-  1  

----  485 
40 

5:6  
5-11  

293,  452 
._  357  seQ 

16:34  153 

17  '3   6-              --      --  155 

15:2  

15*7  12- 

----  500 
111 

•18-16  ----- 

•  1  8 

485,  489 

9Qfi 

17-8  9,4                               2()8 

1  8  •  ^                                     370 

488 

h.  6  ---616,  seq. 

-1     q7                                           AAO 

18:28  -  650 

18-31     Kpn                               r>'">1 

1"v19    q7 

400 

15-18  22  

489 

-7  

90 

18*41-46                 208  398 

15  •  30   39 

-100,  441 
490 

*23   31  33 

--  357 

18*44                                46 

16*16   17       -    -- 

:27  
:38--  
Ch   7 

551 
450 

(\1(\     cprt 

ig  -19                      340  399 

17-17 

91 

Ch.'20  289 

90-21    9^                                40 

n.  is 

386 

408 

7-7  

46  500 

20-31  407 

17-93 

370 

7-13    14 

903 

91  -8                                        4**ifi 

n.  94    97 

186 

7-18    90    49 

917   3fi3 

91  -91                                         "^OK 

n-27 

268 

7-46 

157   170 

21-24  2"  440 

n-98 

343 

7-48 

'  553 

Ch  22              63   186  289 

17:29  

18-9 

376 

8:2  

8-10    11 

--  450 

565   621 

22:10  439,  499 
99  •  1  1                                    40(5 

18-3    f>  0   24    33 

1S7 

8*62  66 

581 
-    32 

117 

22:31-34,  37,  38  40 
22:34  521 
22*47           -  --  263 

10.0 

379 

8:65  
0-11    iq 

18-11 

307 

1  8-  93 

14ft   107 

8-18 

901    46C» 

22-48                           --  20fi 

10-94 

402 

8-96  98 

248   297 

II.  KINGS. 
Ch  1-1  266 

90-8   10 

108    308 

PVi    10 

491 

20:9-  

9O  •  1  4    »pn 

-402,  436 
983 

10-11 

207 

10-1  -^ 

491 

1-2  389 

90-1  *"> 

527 

10:22  

296,  297 
379 

1:8  397 
1«9         5ift 

9O-93    9ft 

488-4QO 

Pli     91 

507 

10:26  
10-97 

220,  516 
--37   123   362 

Ch.  2  65,66,  4S4 
2*4  5   18  22  !•">:> 

91  -9 

327 

91  -ft 

103 

10-28    20 

232  380 

2*8   13   14  151  3i>(> 

91  •  1  8   99 

11:1,  seq.-- 
11:5,  33--- 

-419,  420,  425 
649,  651 
100  651 

2-19  22  152 

Ch.  23  

93-4 

524 

486 

3:4,  5,  21-27  266,  491, 
647,  652 
3.9  263 

1  01 

n-1  q 

nan 

93  -90 

381 

n-1  rt    16 

3-11  415 

94-  1  7 

n-IP. 

252   270 

3-15  45(? 

I.  KINGS. 
Ch  1                               A<*n 

n-93     94 

900 

q.9ft                                        ._  9f,(; 

11:29  
11:40  
Chs.  12  
12:11,14--- 
12:15  

65 
649 
58,  649 
504 
65 

Ch.  4  52 

4:1  432,507, 
4  -  23                        448  C'^7 

1:3  -- 

1:9,  seq.  
1:33  

52 
--91,  488 
379 

4:29  398,  402,  4:56 
Ch.  5  (>'•'> 

INDEX  OF  SCBIPTUBAL  TEXTS. 


677 


5-q  21  -  

40 
286 

596 

162 
63 
64 

289 

•>•)- 

19-12   13  

313 

5C.3 
527 
70 

15-27  

li;i 

399 

r>  •  1  9 

l  '  i  •  1  ~i 

15-98 

4cq 

19-32  

16'4  6  41 

49  456 

5:27  461, 
Ch   6       - 

19.35  

!<!•  39  42  - 

108 

19*37 

18:3,  5,  6, 

1  S  •  1  9 

10  289,  290 

IfiQ 

n.tt   7 

90  •  0   11 

6:8-12  

20:12  

315 
99 

487 

489 

r.'i 

100 
651 

619 

651 

4S 

18:12,  13- 
18'15  17 

263 

I'll  1 

(5.31.     

Ch.  91 

18-17 

4  XX 

Ch.  22  

•)•>  •  •> 

19:3-5  
iq.p. 

402 

97q     97fi    98^ 

r-  1'  ' 

8:13,  14  - 

263 
264 

460 

487 
508 
999 

22:14  -  

23  •  3 

20  •  1  - 

20-3 

_  ' 

8:28!  29  186,  289, 
f  h  o 

93  .  jo                  73   95 

Pli    9*3 

487 

9q  .  1  1 

9'i-3    spn 

'">8fi 

9*1    seq  398 

23:13  649, 

23:28-32-- 

586 

CKO 

9:8  

<)  .  i  o    Sfi 

•'•{  •  ",  1 

448 

388 
40 
44 

93-30  

40 
284 
32 
502 
315 
128 
620 
527 
284 
488 
70 
315 
492 
189 
107 

296 
180 
197 
187 
271 
195 
369 
296 
276 
539 
478 
104 

619 

101 

195 
516 
435 
901 

Ch   94 

l'(-     -s") 

9-K5  ..  

94-  7 

24:3  
94  •  fi 

569 
ion 

g-  17 

9-24  

519 

507 
40 

417 

289 

488 

346 

266 
289 

166 

•24S 

21:12  

01-11 

Ch  25 

Q'SK 

•  )-..)-    qi 

101 

Pli     1  0 

94  •  1  7 

27:  28-  ---37,  123,  217,  362 
07-  oq                                   no 

10*1  14  

Cli   9j                       V'7 

10:15,  16  
10-1(5   26  

25:1  

25-6   7-- 

27:32,  33-- 
28-12- 

490 

R1Q 

10-99  

95-8  

29*16 

<:i  ••: 

](!••;•)    33            ..     59 

95-9 

II.  CHRONICLES. 
Ch.  1:14  220 
1:15  -37,  123,  362 
2  -4                                  MV 

n.  4.  1  9                      487 

25*11- 

12:17  
13:7-  

25:12  
25:19  

1  3  •  24   95 

I.  CHRONICLES. 

2-7 

!  "i-> 

U.  7                              Of59 

9-10 

q~7 

2:16  

n»  3 

----  363 

14:22  

14*27  98  -- 

t  •>"   "<>   ri 

3:3  

q  .  1  1  > 

ir,s 

•)(-q 

1-1-5 

rt  -8 

l.Vii;  310 

529 
383 

289 

289 
310 
516 
60, 
492 
232 
275 

310 
275 
310 
100 

489 
4<)0 

5-10   seq  

Ch  4 

(')l(')     vfii 

]-,.-,><)      59 

5:11,  11)  
5-18  '?3            173    19^ 

4:17  
4-10 

146 

~  "«'{ 

15:37-  - 

Ch   16 

5:23  
5:26  

5:12-13--- 
5:13  

7.9 

407,  457 
f-jse 

16-5  (5  248 

16  -7  9  .  _              289 

16:9  

Ch  17  passim  59 

fi  •  33  ss 

0.4. 

901     4i;"» 

6:73  
8:12  -- 
9:26  

9  -39 

8-17  18 

•>  Iv 

313, 
17:4  -  
17-n  

9:10,  21--- 
9:27  
n-i\ 

296,297 
---37,  123,  362 

17-10  

10-10 

n.Q 

i->r. 

18-4  

n.A    7 

n.  1  o    9q 

41  Q 

18-9  12  

1  '!•  3 

-.1  -. 

18-11  -.   .. 

n  .-,)•) 

H-fi 

n  'i 

18-13  seq  

12:8-15  

1  O  •  1   I 

13:11  
iq-iq   i  r 

-  553 

PTOQ 

18-17  

18-18  37  

19-18 

13  '19 

105 

19:2-- 

1-?:3->  40--. 

13">1-- 

.  419 

678 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


14:5 650 

14:8 515 

14:9-15 131,  232,  246 

15:9 - 202 

15:14 459 

16:2-4 289 

36:4 283 

10:8 -  246 

1(1:12- 460 

16:14 --  410 

Ch.  17 - 310 

17:7-9- 587,  627 

19:8-- 586 

19:11 ---  475 

20:1,  2,  20 ---39,  111,  167 

20:16 167 

20:36 - 297 

21:8-10-- 264 

21:11 69 

21:19 440 

Ch.  23 587 

25:11,  12 264,  529 

25:23 80 

26:6 -126,  128 

26:10 37,  123 

26:15 525,  527 

26:16-21 -487,  596 

27:4 69 

28:3 ---    73 

28:15 154,  359 

28:16-21-- 289,  310 

28:18 37,  123 

29:15,  16 587 

29 : 25-30 540,  587 

Ch.  30 492 

30:6 493 

30:16-20 602 

30:22,  25-30 587 

31:5,  11--- ---  619 

32:3,  4,  30 --90,  92,  94,525 


33:11--.-.-- -  502 

34:4_7_  -60,95,202,492,650 

34:8- 489 

35:3,  15 587 

35:11,  13 - 602 

35:22 43 

35:23,  24 40,  48 

EZRA. 

Ch.  1 319 

1:7-11 620 

2:26 103 

2:29 652 

2:33 122 

2:41 540 

2:  (53 194.  572 

3:7 121 

4:2,  10 59,  60,  310 


5:14  
g-1    2  

494 
--318  455 

2:12  

3-8  

399 
227 
98 
499 
4(55 
398 
460 
501 
357 
406 
381 
381 
453 
223 

347 
380 
41)9 
402 
222 
402 
213 

380 
225 
341 

227 

:;s2 

347 

•15!) 

381 

225 
222 
581 
375 
:(74 
225 
459 
347 
381 
423 
386 
610 

222 
J63, 

290 

Ml 

6-3  

--620  621 

3*13   14 

(5-7  

494 

5-4                           4SO 

6-  11 

r:f)8 

6-15   20                       S77 

7-fi 

480 

12-18 

7-  7 

'vtft 

1S-4 

7-25  26  

498 

13-26-- 

9-3  

-  -402   441 

15-33 

9.  q     c 

QOQ 

16*15 

NEHEMIAH. 

Ch     1  -^18    4^H 

18-8  10 

19-6  

19-24  

2-1  

448  449 

2Q-14   16                229 

Ch  3 

80 

20  '17 

3-15 

81     87 

21-18 

S-22 

1  4fi 

94  -^ 

409 

29"  7 

6:2-  
6'  15- 

122 
4^0 

29:14-  399, 
30  •! 

7:1  
7-30  

540 
103 

31:36  
37-17  

7-37 

-  -  122 

38-3  

7  •  65    70 

404. 

qo-ec  8 

8:7  

8-  0 

474  39:9-12  

4-04    SO  •  1  0 

8-  1/117 

fiOn  Lm-1  r;   O4 

8-15  

101 

Ch  41  

8:16  

9-5 

390 

41:1,  7--  

41*24 

10  •! 

4()4- 

PSALMS. 
Ps'i   1*3  

10-33  

..    ..  553 

11-22   23  

540 

11-29 

1S2 

1-4     

n-SS 

1  0S 

Psa.  5,  title  
9:15  

10-0 

13:35  -- 

19-SO 

122 

on    01 

1S-98 

en 

i  ft-  1  1 

ESTHER. 
Ch   I'l             --             CK)0 

17-15                 .  .. 

ig-10         

22:12,  13,  16,  20,  21-- 
99  •  1  (\ 

1-9    ^ 

SI  8 

2:16  
S-7 

450 
44ft    <?pn 

22:25-31  -332. 
•>q-i    2  

S-10    19 

AM     Xrtf* 

23-4     

4-1     S 

441 

7:10  
8:2  -- 

8:8,  10  

8.  (i 

508 
403 
456 
S99    4.4Q 

32:2---  
35:5  
:55:7  

4^-8    IS    14 

u.  ir: 

40  S    407 

52-8         357 

9:24,  26  -- 
10-1 

4QO 

56:12,13  ---- 

JOB. 
Ch.  1:4  
1:15  
1:20  --- 

9-S-. 

----  428 
271 

en  .  a    11    i  .- 

Tsa.  60,  title  1C.:?.  '. 
273, 
(50-8          30 

-399.  441 

-    i  ll 

Ps-i     (iS     tJtlp 

C..S-10--. 

INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


117!) 


oo.y,  iu  

(u;-i'i  14 

610 
175 
439 
300 
403 

(n-,    1  -o 

403 

I":; 
402 
366 
381 
475 
381 
499 
353 
504 
402 
381 
638 
102 
384 
389 
!!-- 
341 
339 
499 
353 
223 
499 
217 
415 
lisii 
408 
373 
221 
376 
406 
439 

364 
407 
382 
344 
341 
410 

369 
364 
217 
209 
145 
49  Q 

7.3  

217 

fiK  •  1  •"»    1  fi 

•  >..)•> 

fi.O 

354,  363 

CM  .  1  o 

4..0 

8-r: 

7'-*  '10 

5.3..    .             

g-6_  

402 

7-j.  i; 

R»fi. 

ISAEAH. 

rii  1-13 

4  ix 

7'5->)l  

63N 
628 
227 
406 
353 
354 
362 
228 
202 
189 
:,.;:: 
600 

oi  ^ 

6-6  7  

74  -X 

7-9q 

71.10    11 

8.q 

2-  7 

Kin 

7V  1    10 

n.o. 

2-19  21  

383 

715.0 

1  f  )  -  1  Q 

3-18  24  

404,  405 

^QO 

70.04. 

1O  -J. 

q-99 

TS:  17   
78:51  

7S-(I7 

12:27  
14:32  - 

in  .qi 

5:1,  seq.-  349,  seq. 

ej.fi                                               Q  n 

5-10  

342 

7M-1     -i 

n.iq 

5-11  

416 

80  •  1  376 

19-13     

5-12  

459 

01  .  q                                 4.4.8 

1  q  •  94. 

^•94 

q47 

81  •  1  fi 

0(1-    1 

g-4  

565 

QQ.fi 

271 
30 
270 
30 

)",i) 

91  -1 

6-11   12  

188 

83:7---  
83:9  

87-4 

•2-2:  -2-2  439, 
23:30  --  
^::5i>-  --  
91-7 

B-1S. 

1'i'J 

7:1_9  

7:3  92, 
7-14  

289 

Kin.   l-J.x 

.J0<| 

SO  •  97 

01    .-> 

381 

00  .5 

I.V.I 
225 
360 

3S(i 

:57(i 
300 
459 
563 
376 
500 
3SD 
227 
228 

quo 

9  ~>  •  1  1 

7-15   22  

•57,; 

<>1:13  

1)2:3  

<!•).  ID 

26:15  

27:15  
07-99 

7:19  
7-9S 

366 
S41 

8-1   3  

-428,  455 
87 

<)••>•  1  o 

97-97 

8-(j  

n.)  .  i  q 

qr».  9f» 

8-7  8  

289 

«~  .  7 

qrj.qq 

8*10          -     -   -- 

j-)i> 

07  •  1 

q-i  .  99 

q.i 

2flO, 

OX-  (\ 

qi  .  9q    q-i 

0-4 

-  970 

00-1 

ECCLESIASTES. 
PVi    9-4.  K 

g-(j      

429 

1  oo  .  q 

9.  10      

362,  :'.:•:{ 
qiq 

1  (11  -X 

Ph    10 

i  oj.  •  1  1 

9:8  -  
9:12  381, 
n.  i 

in.  i 

r;01 

1  0-t  •  9fi 

10:9  

10-99    

317 
493 

105:23  

1  1  \-  .  o<i 

11  '  4 

1Q-9(J 

970 

106:22  -- 

1i  1C,-  '57    ^X 

228 
651 
401 
399 
607 
352 
381 
74- 

12:1-7  363, 

CANTICLES. 

Ch    1*5 

10:28,  29  103, 
H-8  

in-,.  107 

1ns-')                              ^0 

11-11  

233 

111')  •  Oil 

14.99   31  30 

l-J'.i.  223 

o,;7 

"Pen     11°.     1  1  X 

1:14  154,167,  349, 
2:3,  5  

9-10    1  S 

fh    1  T    - 

II  '.i  :  S3  •  
m-7 

1  x.  i 

•V.")  •>*;*; 

15.9  

1^8 

125:2--         

9-14  . 

Ch   16  

267 

i  .)(•  •  i 

70 
390 
135 

loo 

21  ;  i 

222 
381 
564 
381 
459 
91.1 

q  .  1  1 

16-1 

262 

io«)-fi    7. 

4..q                           --91  7 

363 
296 

423 
94 
364 
397 
403 
364 
363 
400 

lf,-7   11  

266 

io'i  -X 

4.0 

IQ-S   9  

:M<) 

1  •{•>•  C, 

1.1  A      11 

16-10  

-350  351 

m-7 

4.  1  O 

17-5  

102 

17.0 

(•-o 

liU.O  

•jin.rr 

:l^-Io  
s:.q                           

19:5  

19:8  - 
10-13  

32 
382 
242 
.—  126 

397 

141-0  

5-7  

1   JO  .  q 

(\  •  9    11 

1-H:9  

1  17-  1  I.. 

6:7  
7:1--                    

20:1  

20:2  4  

G80 


INDEX  OF  SCKIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


2i-ii   16  17  - 

271 
391 
92 
98 
403 
300 
295 
458 
189 
300 
416 
650 
32 
317 
56 
361 
402 
341 
346 
456 
232 
240 
223 
374 
346 
95 
232 
381 
189 
380 
343 
176 
225 
118 
100 
489 

51-22  23  

353 

19-0   7-     -  - 

-  -y-t,  001 
*>•"» 

22-1  

53-7  

M51 

19-13--   - 

qn-i 

22:9  

99  -  1  f! 

56:10  

58'5 

999 

90-9 

441 

Of)  •  1  X 

490 

58:7  
58-11  

439 

21:12  
22-19  

5(10 

400 

2M-1    12  

23-11  

59:5  
59-17- 

222,  223 

qnn 

22-24--  

40M 

23  -1C  

25*10-- 

410 

°4*1   12 

Chs  60  62 

2V  '20 

ml  On 

24:15  

60:6,  7  
01:10  
(52-3  

270 

399,  423 
,  402   405 

25:27  

9V  MO 

353 

27-9..  

95-34  

t   1  1 

27-12  

(33-1  

OKI 

26  '6   9  - 

RS 

97  .  oo 

65:3  
05:11  
66:15-17,  23, 
(3(3-19  

95 
052 

94                 or 

29:22  
31-4   13  

511 

--  4M7 

28:1,  7  

98-4 

01  .  r 

rrrr 

90  .  r 

MOO 

31  '15--   - 

103  104 

28  '24 

60  -23 

AAQ 

32  •  2 

-  503 

28:25,  27-  ---343,  345, 

JEEEMIAH. 

r*v»  1-1                       i  ny 

M9-7   9 

KIM 

09  .  94 

V>7 

MO-1    7 

M9  •  M^ 

7M  <;r»i 

30'  4  - 

I'll  12  

32-44..    . 

-37   69   l'^3 

30  •  6                        222 

2«  10  

971     MOO 

33  .4 

-•>- 

MO-  14 

2:13  
2:16  
2:20  
2:21  
9.94.. 

379 

33:13  
M4  •  T    20 

M7     (i()    I'-'M 

MO  •  24                          M42 

240,  242 
651 
349 

440 

30:33  

01.1    q 

30:2  
30:22  
37-13  

--  392 
80 

31-4  

V9-1O   18. 

3*19 

Ml 

.1  1  1 

09  •  1  4 

4-  90    27  - 

ISO 

Ch   38 

503 

09.90 

4  -  30 

40^ 

MS  -ft 

91    M78    MSfi 

33:9  -  
34-6  7          -   -- 

5:20,  27  
(  >  •  9  -  - 

381 

Oh    40 

107 

40-1  

103 

or.  o 

6*20 

441 

40*4         

Mft-9 

7.10    14 

£lj  4j     

107 

3(5-3  

7.  29  

441 

41-2  3  

M7  •  1  ft 

563 
527 
451 
369 
376 
347 
300 
340 
543 
271 
247 
646 
271 
652 

10'.) 
IN 
347 
:;22 
423 
:  ',-,:, 
132 

KAK 

7.0-1 

04    or    pr-t 

41-19 

108    108 

37:33  

7:33  

8-17 

440 

223 

1M  •  7    ') 

940 

44-1    15  

233  240 

40:11----  

in  •  94 

8:22  
9:17,  18  
]()•  5 

---365,  460 

.J  JO 
MftO 

11-17   1() 

-  rr>o 

10:9--  
4ft  •  1  1 

41  •  "3 

]()•<) 

•»)-     (07 

111:  I  I.   19.  2--) 
16:18  
Ch.  47  

47-4 

'))()     0|-> 

41:15  -  

41  •  1  9 

11:10  
12:5  -- 
13:1  
iq.  18 

;!,-,<; 
149 

•M  (7 

42 

--    129 
19K 

42:11  
4M-  M 

Ch   48     -   --- 

187   9(j7 

44:16,  17  

4V  14                             947 

13:22,  26  
U-4 

441 

441 

48-7    1M    40- 

48-1  1 

355 

47-  1 

14:3-6  

U.f. 

---  209 

48:21  
48-23  24  

181 
179 

47-9 

1  r  .q 

OO^      1  1  0 

48  '31  36-  

o,;(; 

IT-  I  I 

1  ft  -4 

AA(} 

48  •  M*2  -  - 

l!»:l-2.  -  

50:1-  --- 

r»i  •  1  , 

10:0  
17:S  
17:-2<i--  
19:1,  10,  11- 

1M-9    ft._ 

---  441 
:JM,  :{i;r, 
,M7.  1  •_>:'. 
374 

.      7.M 

iS-'ll'i 

..-350,  :J51 

(V) 

49:1,  3  
40-9    3.. 

--  207 
19.-,.  i,:,l 

INDEX  OF  SCRIPTUKAL  TEXTS. 


681 


3:17:0  

49:7,  8,  16,  20  
49-28  

262 

271 
651 
523 
177 
149 
523 
518 
321 
316 
346 

Ch.  26  129.  187,  527 
26:4,  5,  14  295 

8-2  

318 

8:9  -  

8-  91 

31 

i      300 

Kt  \  .  9 

.-().  1  1I 

26:S  527 
26:1(5  399 
'27-6    7    IS                204    SOO 

10-S 

•;-,s     111 

10-5  

tt(\  .  44 

1  ]  •  1  1  ;  .     . 

31 

r>1  -1  t 

•'7-  (5  90                       99(5   297 

11  •'!(> 

300 

K-I  .  90 

97.9                                298 

n-41 

9  ~<7 

r,l:27  -  

r.i  .  -M 

27:17---216,  297,  357.  365 
27-18                                    990 

HOSEA. 
Ch  1 

49S 

M.QQ 

27:21  271 

97.00,                                      01  7 

ri  1  --14 

4-  1  rr 

1  ~)~i 

tto.j.    ft    7    -19    iq 

609 

'351 

409 

563 
•11  \ 
125 
|.V, 
425 
527 
343 
411 
551 
650 
65  9 

9  7.  on                                       441 

4-11 

QKK 

LAMENTATIONS 
(  'ii    i  -15!  

29*4  5                    38°  440 

5*1 

42 

09  .  i  o                           940    944 

5.0 

103 

•)c|.  14       .  _  233 

7-4    fj  

411 

99-  18                         295 

7-8  

410 

5-13  

30:5--  296 

30:6  240,  244 
30:13-16  2-12 
30*15   17  18         240 

8:9  
9:6  
9:8  
9-10 

---.  380 
212 
381 
361 

EZEKIEL. 

Ch   i     551 

1  "1    S                        -      - 

SO-  17                               941 

10*11   -        --    -- 

-  341 

1:9,  23  -  
2:9,  10  
3-13  _ 

Si  •  in                              S1S 

10-14 

145 

32:4  -  440 
39-26         297 

12-1  

-232   357 

12-12--  -  

273 

4-1   2  -  

Ch    34                   •       -  376 

13:3  

U.  c, 

347 
356 

4:!)  - 

4.9  17 

S4-9  4                                  S76 

S4-9r">                                    S79 

JOEL. 
Ch   1*5  

355 

4-10 

qtc.r;    11     1  r:                 9f!S    9Qfi 

6-4   6  

36-35         -         -            190 

8-14  

37*16  19                         202 

1-17  SO  - 

225 

9.0.. 

398 
343 
563 
551 
400, 
KM; 
427 

232 
527 
439 
381 
31 
651 
441 
366 
527 
402 
268 
353 
405 
271 
593 
269 
267 
262 
129 

38:2,  3,  6  297,  321 

QQ.  rr                                          O9f> 

9-S 

----  224 

Ififi 

9-4 

2*  "?0 

Ch   10  

38:15  321 

on  -  1  7  90                               440 

2:23  

Q.O     19 

2  IT, 
73 

10-14  _   .     

16  -.10-13  ---216,  397, 
404, 

1  p.  .  OQ   40 

40  •  •"»                                        468 

3-946              SO 

129,  294 
271 

40  -if;                                   Qfn 

q.o 

4S-1S   17                                "vvi 

S-18                    100 

385,  543 
263 

r*ii   17- 

4S*'24                                    ^81 

q.  19 

n-1  •"> 

44  .  1  o                                    400 

AMOS. 

no 

n-17 

44.90                                          rqo 

l,S-7    K;  

44.98                  .         .  587 

Jl|  •     |         S'                        

4^-1^  17   -                         ^70 

:6-8  
.9 

•)()  j. 

>)().(;    15. 

4(5  •  1                                       448 

Pli    47                                    Sfi^ 

•  1  1 

21-12  -  

47*1   11                                161 

•19 

262 

21-17  

47-16    18                   166    174 

•14 

268 

21:22  
21-26  

48:28  32 

DANIEL. 

Ch.  1:6,7  428 
2.0    4                                   014 

2.  i    q 

2.10 

40   ^44 

3.  n 

•)•!  •  •$•)      s.  ,.  , 

3:15  

4-  1 

392 

roc 

23-40  -  

•)•{•   (0  

o.r;                                             rjii 

4'4 

155 

94-17  *-)9  441 

Pli    *}                              4^0    ^11 

5:5  107,  115, 
5-10  15  

155,  284 
499 

25:5  268, 

25  -8  11 

3:6,  15  451 

K  .  9  i                                               qon 

.-  .  1  9 

i  'i') 

25-12   13  

5:29  403,  407 
Ch   6                               511 

•v  1  6 

449, 

25:15-17  --- 

-   -  65° 

20  * 

682 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


6:2-  
g-4  6  394 

126 
41  G 
257 
440 
448 
441 
115 
r:q 

2:8-11  
2*13  15-  

267 
313 

G21 

450 
31 
405 
455 
574 
609 
450 

6:10,  19,  28, 
10-1    8 

30  511 

g.g  

HAGGAI. 
Ch  2-3   9  

n-97 

g-io  

19-8    Q 

1  9tt 

3.5       

U.fi 

£"3t* 

8-10        

ZECHARIAH. 

rvi  i  •  7 

MATTHEW. 

Cll    1  '  19                                  /<orr 

8-14 

q.q 

125 
347* 

262 
263 
353 
347 

2-12  

9-9   10  

3-5  

1  -91 

49ft 

Q.  13  

2*4 

OBADIAH. 
ys  3  9  

6:11  

2:16-18--- 

104,  495 

fin 

q-4 

99^    '-Ififi    ^Q7 

10  14  

7:7  69, 

8'4 

123 
402 
G09 
129 
380 
300 
354 

909 

3:11  
q.  10 

400 

q^7 

1  (j 

18 

Q.1Q 

3.  i  q    17 

1  r>'> 

19  -  37, 

JONAH. 
Ch.  1:3  

q.  q 

123 

121 
312 
399 
213 

441 
132 

593 

527 
473 
381 

277 
347 
442 
441 

29  G 

382 
3.-.;} 
56 
252 

391 
129 

/1HH 

9:5,  G  127, 

4  •  1  q    10   oo 

140 

4-  1H 

9.  13 

PQO 

9:17  

i  o  •  r>  7 

4:24  

T-  1 

.,  462 
coo 

3-6  

11-3  

119 

5-25  

510 

4-8 

12-11  -   -  43 

,  51 

399 
376 

5  '38 

505 

MICAH. 
CYi    1  -8 

13:4  

iq-7 

6:1-4  - 

6-17 

---  4159 

qro 

MALACHI. 
Ch   2-7  

538 

400 
400 

299 
443 
63G 
128 
621 
608 
203 
179 
180 

636 
128 
121 
299 
299 
360 
121 

496 

ri:5 
496 

fi-98    9Q 

91  Q 

l.li 

fi-qO 

9'10    41  9 

1-  14      117 

7-6- 

•>•>•) 

q-7                           .-441 

7'  24  27 

OQO 

4-4 

8.11    10 

414    41  fi 

JUDITH. 
pi,    10-4 

4.  iq 

8-oQ  07 

140 

5'1 

8  .00 

(»u    lot: 

5:2  --109, 

5-8 

16:9  

I.  MACCABEES. 
Ch.  1:8---  
1-14 

8.90   04 

9-12  

--  460 

(!.  i  c: 

9-15 

423 

7-  1 

9:17  
9  '23  24 

q.-:o 

7-14                     1  77    "379 

449 

NAHUM. 
rh  1  -4 

2:42  
4:15  
4:49  

4  .  rro    rq 

9:35  
10:17  
10:27  

10-98 

632 

504,  630 
392 

1-10 

9-7 

r.  i  r    17  99 

H-  1  K    17 

442 

3.  K 

n-90  94 

140  144 

3.  o                                   997 

5-4°. 

19-1 

348 

3:9  

HABAKKUK. 

PVi     1-10 

5:58  ----- 

7  .  1  q  . 

12:4,  7---  - 
12-42  

553 
271 

10-  6Q 

10-7'i 

iq.94    opri  . 

343 

1'IKt 

12:39  -  

13:51  
14:5,  34  

II.  MACCABEES. 
r*ii  1-10 

14:3  
14:15-21-- 
14-25  

510 

2:1*;---  -- 
2:18  -- 

3:3  -  ---- 

3.  1  9 

140 

140   451 

14.34.. 

141 

15.  1 

415 

ZEPHANIAH. 
Ch.  1:5  

9.4  7 

1  rr  .0 

-  637 

i  K  .  A    a 

429 

2.q 

15:32,  seq. 

140   143 

t  •  1  ~>    14 

137 

9.  •  r»  .                           .  _  1  QK 

i-  1  U- 

17:1-- 

-    43 

INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


G83 


17:15  

462 
0.4^9 

7:1  

7-  °« 

415 
f>o,7 

9:10  

10-4-        --     

144 
436 
144 
153 
466 
415 
392 
S98 
451 
511 
208 
213 
510 
414 
414 
423 
416 
218 
222 
414 
362 
442 
I.",:} 
379 
623 
641 
414 
71 
640 
387 
98 
392 
497 
CH) 
511 
512 
H-2 
540 
440 
133 
512 
101 

157 
583 
1-2:5 
416 
623 
157 
422 
.-,7.-. 
56 
61 
541 
141 
140 
632 
497 

\£it  

"i  X  •  (' 

40q 

7:9  13  

U.I      1Q 

-429,  612 
143 

10:13  15  140, 
10-30  37  

Ifi  .  OK 

4°.-> 

1!):'.)  

427 

.|.-,1 
640 

w.  1  ~ 

643 
137 
43 

10-34  

8:27  
9-2     

n.  00 

JO:  •>.  o,  o  

90  •  1  K 

!•'•  •{  _  

On-^Q    Q4. 

1  V 

Q.ylQ     AO 

-  --     95 

I-).-;-  

21:1-9  

91  •  1  9    1  °. 

379 

K9°. 

9:43-48  
9  -40 

95 

KQ-I 

12:38---  --- 
12'46         --    

01    .  00 

QIC) 

10-46  52     

153 

12-54  

99  •!    1  °i 

41  R    4'2S 

ll'l  10 

--  379 

19-55  

99  •  1  fi    17 

fi4Q 

n.i9  14 

QfM 

12-58  

99  •  9°.    °i9 

A4.1 

U-1  =:   17 

fi9°, 

1Q-95 

•)•)••!-, 

640 

J9-13  

543 

14-7  

Ph     9°. 

no  7 

12-18-- 

641 

14-$  

90.9 

f)OC 

19-S9- 

414 

U-  If.    17--. 

03-5  

407 

12:41----  
10.  i     9 

623 

04 

15:16  

16-91 

90  .  f\ 

J.1  d.     A9Q 

90  .  01 

•"><U    fi'^0 

13-9 

630 

16-  92   23  

24:17  -- 

94.  •  J.1 

392 

4/Ul 

13:35  
14-1    4^ 

451 

407    f«40 

17:6  
18-1S 

>>4  .  KJ1 

^11 

14-g  

358  440 

18  "35   seq  

9n-10 

414 

14-15   68     -- 

385   387 

19  -20'  38  -  

9s;-!    10 

490, 

U.  9fi     Q9    _ 

98 

19'45   46  

9  ^  •  'iO 

41  (\ 

14'  TT 

49fi 

20-97  

9<i  •  9°> 

41  ~ 

1  -V1 

4.Q7     f\A() 

°0*46 

o/?.qn    o£ 

no 

1  .^.91 

r:ii 

91  .94 

96-^7    ^P.    fiQ   7^ 

QQ7 

15:23,  36,  44---- 
15-38 

----  512 
584 

22:2,  66  

22:12,  55,  61  
22-39  40  

26:47,  57,  59  496,497 

9ft-  ~^                                                 «9Q 

15  "46 

440 

9fi  •  ^7 

fUO 

16*1 

440 

22-55--              

of?  .  71 

oo~ 

LUKE. 
Ch.  1:13  
1*15 

428 
61  '2 

22  •  63   66                496 

97  •  °.9 

r;i  i 

90-10 

97.04.    40 

.-;i9 

23:26--  
23-36  

97  .  rr-i 

^S-i 

MAKK. 
pi-i    1  •  (\ 

-366,  397 
400 

1    .QO      fitC 

ft9 

23-48 

i  .crq 

JOQ 

9Q.CCC 

9  -7 

A(\(\ 

94-1 

1-7  

2:21  
2:24  
2-3(;  

428 
595 
493 

24:13  
24:40---  -  
24-50  51  

1:9-11  
1-17 

152 
-   -     389 

1  -°,^ 

632 

3-1     -- 

290 

JOHN. 
Ch   l-°8       -         

2:3  •  
2-99 

390 
352,  374 

r:r:*} 

3:16  

Q.91      90 

400 
152 

2..)-     na 

4-17  90 

455 
630,  632 
640 

1:29  351, 

9-  1    10 

3.  a 

ftlQ 

4  .  9fj                       r.9q 

4.1     0,7  41  _ 

140 

4  -  23 

2-9  

K.-l      r 

OQ      -|v>^ 

4'26 

OQfl 

2*13  17  

rc.i    17               140 

145,  462 
140 

4.90 

4!) 
141 

3:23  
'}  •  *?0 

•"»••>•)    i-t 

K.I 

5:26  

5.  01 

460 
40.  •t 

5:18  

/?.  19 

390 

(\i)Q 

0.04 

A  .r; 

S.qcr 

(••>i  i 

6.  47  jo 

qoQ    4-90    ^T 

V'ls    *}Q 

1  1° 

7:11-16  

7.00 

rr9    4  .  91    9Q 

O^!*x.^l,    AO--  

414  fi>1 

6-K 

lAQ 

144 

7:  1«;  

s--)-;  •)-, 

358 
140 

(\.  in 

ft.jQ 

-140,  451 
.-  111 

fi-  V) 

i;  -,->:{-- 

8:26-37--      --98 

145.  185 

7:3'>-- 

684 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTUEAL  TEXTS. 


7:35--  
8:2  

8:5  

9.  O                    

463 
629 
427 
638 
630 
376 
608 
451 
102 
440 
496 
105 
361 
380 
630 
401 
414 
601 
435 
603 
630 
428 
604 
,  98 
497 
632 
511 
512 
513 
440 
512 
141 
397 

101 

299 
463 
228 
355 
625 
385 
497 
640 

510 
496 

KfM 

9:3642  121 

q  .  q7                                            AAf\ 

Ch.27  307 

07.9    epn                                 '^07 

Pli    10                                     110 

97*17                              *}OS    4.fiJ. 

10gO  18  23  121 

27-37   38             -            464 

9  .00 

10-25  26  436 

Ch   28--                          '507 

10-1     qpo   - 

11*25   96  -             285 

28-16   10   11                   r>10 

10-99    21                     385 

12-46                                 -"i  1  0 

ROMANS. 
Ch.  8:29  430 

12:1-  -  584 

1  9  •  r>                                      fi04 

11:9  -  
11"  18  --   -     

12:21-23  -  119 
13:1,  seq.  303 
13:1-4  285 
13-5     (532 

n-44  - 

n-47 

n.  .-,( 

1  q  •  1  5                               629    612 

i  -I  •  i  o                          ion 

-i  9  .  i  q 

U.  1                                             f.qo 

I.  CORINTHIANS. 
Ch.  1:5-7  305 
4  •  9  -  -                                   i  1  ~i 

19-14   1  (\ 

14-1     Rpn                     101    104 

1  2  •  42 

14:16---  535 
Ch   15     -     --   --     -    304 

1  q  •  4    upn 

ifj.oq   on                                456 

Ch   5                                305 

1  1  •  9  Pi                             41  ^ 

i  'V  15  in                    98^ 

5-7     Q                                                   ftA') 

U-27 

Ch   6  305 

15-1    7 

16*1   seq         -        302   304 

9-9   10  -                         345 

lfi-9 

16  "6                                  299 

9.  24  27                        -  445 

1  C,  •  91 

16-13                                    629 

q.  or:                                          4(19 

17:23 

Kj-15  417 

10-7  8  305 

18-12                            72 

16-19-40  305  531 

11-21  305 

18:3,  22  

1  8  •  90 

17:10  ---  632 

17-  1(5              .       305 

12:12  -  (iiil 
13-1  3---   -                     r>'» 

19:23,  24,  29-31  
1  o  •  q  i  q« 

17:29  646 
18:19  632 

10.10    01                                   qo^ 

14:33,  40  --  557 
15-32  _                            j  ii; 

II.  CORINTHIANS. 
Ch.  11:24  -  :.:il 
11-25  510 

19  "39   40 

18-22   23  119   285 

90-20    25    97 

18:23,  seq.  305 

ig-g                          -{DC, 

91  -1 

91  -7 

19  -24         -           -          301 

12-21----                       305 

ACTS. 
Ch   1-12  

20  -2                    -        --  299 

GALATIANS. 
Ch.  3:13  513" 
3-16  469 

20:3-6,  9,  10,  13,  seq.  306 
20:9  389 
20-J6,  17  302 
20  •  24                    -          444 

2.011 

4-1   5__                             537 

2:10  

3.iq 

20:28  376 
21-7  H6 

EPHESIANS. 
Ch.  6:12  445 
(j-iq  17  522 

q-9                                      85 

21:8  ---  119 

21-23  24-   -  614 

q-  11 

4-  1 

21  -  3°   40                      -    86 

6-14  398 

90  .  c:                                          406 

PHILIPPIANS. 
Ch  1-30     444 

K.  19 

99.10                                       610 

5:17-40  
5:21  

5-d.O 

99-24   30           510    531     519 

23:  6-9  --497,  638,  640,  641 

3.9                222 

3.  13   14                   444 

7:16  -  
7-43  

56 
652 
506 
63 
127 
247 
126 
290 
197 
119 
TOO 

23:23---  ---  119 
23-26  30  456 

COLOSSIANS. 

7-58  -- 

23-31--  1-20 

Ch.  1:15  430 

8:5-25  
8:26  
3:27  
8:40  119, 
Ch.  9  

<)-qO 

Ch.  24  119 
24:15  ----  638 
24:27  510 
Ch.  25  119 

ort.n    19                         4.07    f^*} 

4:13,  16  303 

4-14                                       460 

I.  TIMOTHY. 
Ch.  3:1-7  -  630 

-.  .  i    (  )                                  426 

Ch.  26  119 
)(>.7                                        471 

5:10  401 

5:17,  18  345 

P.-19..                                 -    111 

<!••:•>   •;-; 

9<;  •  1  1  .                            .     t\:\i\ 

INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURAL  TEXTS. 


685 


II.  TIMOTHY. 

Ch.  2:5 444 

4:7,  8 402,  444 

4:10 306 


TITUS. 


Cb.  1:6-9- 


630 


HEBREWS. 

Ch.  2:11 567 

4:15 567 

5:1,  seq. 567 

5:3 575 

7:23,  seq. 567 

7:27 ---  375 

8:3 567 

9 : 7,  seq. 559,  561 

9:12,  seq.  - 567,  582 

9:22-24 - --  562 

10:1 560 

11:9 - 31 

11:35 511 

11:38 383 

12:1 444 

12:23-- --  430 

l'_':-24 582 

13-11 575 


13:15  ---568, 

i->.  .;M 

584 

:57<; 

471 
402 

1  -1'5      ..    

430 
397 
301 
402 
302 
302 
407 
303 
563 
564 
455 
564 
407 
565 
353 
351 
407 
564 
565 
216 
410 
423 
407 
440 
423 
365 
999 

JAMES. 

PTi     1  -1                       4fi°. 

2*5- 

2.  in 

2.  10 

1  -19 

I.  PETER. 

3*4    18  --    - 

fc'ig 

Ch  4  seq  

i  •  9  _  . 

1  .  1Q 

398 

584 
583 
402 

534 
604 

°,59 

1.10 

fi  •  1       KPfl 

9  •  ^                                5fi8 

7.  q    i  Q                           Qftl 

2-94                            .352 

•  J»  10--              —  001, 
8-35  

5*4 

II.  PETER. 
Ch  2*5  -             -  

14-19   90 

15.7  

I.  JOHN. 

Pli    °.-94 

18-19 

18-O9 

JUDE. 

V«j    1  4—1  5 

19:8-14-  - 

19-17   18  

REVELATION. 
Ph  i  •  K_  _ 

01  -0 

Ph    99 

99-15.. 

- 


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